DDR5 RAM pricing begins to stabilize in Germany, January saw only a 0.1% increase — Some kits even saw price cuts as volatility begins to plateau

(Image credit: Future)

Amidst the dire and ongoing RAM shortage, there's a tiny sliver of hope stemming from Germany, where DDR5 prices have "come to a complete halt," according to 3DCenter.org's recent analysis. Prices from mid-January only saw a 0.1% increase on average across 20 DDR5 kits at the end of the month. While this doesn't suddenly signal normalcy — the stabilized prices are still high — it's a much-needed slowdown.

The increase in DDR5 prices at German retailers has come to an complete halt in recent days. Although many prices were still fluctuating, there was only an average price increase of +0.1% compared to mid-January.https://t.co/cVLGc32iwW pic.twitter.com/lWipvv4pOXFebruary 2, 2026

Just last week, we covered PCParkPicker's data that told a similar story. Instead of prices steadily going up, we're seeing the graphs level out for the first time in months. And that goes for both DDR4 and DDR5 kits, but the latter's high-speed offerings were still climbing at the time of reporting. That was also American data, reflective of broader industry trends, whereas 3DCenter's analysis is focused on Germany.

In particular, we're looking at the cheapest listings on Geizhals, a popular retailer in the region, whose inventory shows basically no uptick in pricing in the past 2+ weeks. Individual kits still fluctuate, especially if they're more sought-after models as mentioned before, but conversely, there are some kits that've actually received price cuts!

The biggest difference is seen with 64 GB (2x32) 6000 MT/s kits getting a 15% reduction compared to the start of January. The average price for these has fallen from 699 EUR to 596 EUR, implying that nature is taking its course. We can't be too hopeful, though, since 96 GB (2x48) 6400 MT/s kits saw a 17% price increase in the same time frame, followed by an 11% increase in 32GB (2x16) DDR5-6000 CL28 memory.

Regardless, the sweet spot for current-gen PCs — 32 GB DDR5-6000 — is still selling for 400 EUR, which is an astronomical 432% increase since July of last year, the most for the entire category. So, even though this month saw next to nothing in price hikes, we haven't escaped the crisis. The onslaught of attacks has stopped, but the damage already done will take a long time to repair, and that's if there are no more strikes.

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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.

1 Comment Comment from the forums

JarredWaltonGPU

Let me rephrase that headline:

The memory companies have increased the prices so much over the past few months that — in Germany! — they didn't need to tack on an additional increase this month.

Probably because hardly anyone is willing to pay these stupidly high prices. Eventually, prices will have to come down. The only way to keep prices this high is if there's demand for it, and while the AI bubble will provide a lot of demand, you can't put standard DDR5 kits into servers. They need RDIMMs, so just refuse to pay server memory prices for consumer RAM kits. (I'm not planning on buying any RAM for the next year at least, possibly two or three years if things continue in the current trajectory.)

TLDR: Don't buy DDR5 at current prices.
Reply