SK hynix this week announced that it would invest an additional KRW 100 trillion ($64 billion) in its Cheongju campus to expand production of 3D NAND and HBM packaging at the site. Given the vast investment, expect the company to add some massive production capacity, but unfortunately that production capacity is going to kick in only several years down the road. But that investment pales in front of the company's plan to invest $712.5 billion in its South Korean operations.

The massive KRW 100 trillion ($64 billion) in its Cheongju campus investment is only a part of SK hynix's grand plan to invest KRW 1.1 trillion ($712.5 billion) in a variety of projects in South Korea. In particular, the company intends to invest KRW 400 trillion ($259.5 billion) in its all-new Southwestern semiconductor cluster as well as KRW 600 trillion ($389.3 billion) in its Yongin site. While the Cheongju investment is considerably lower than investments in other campuses, it is the only project that is actually detailed enough.

$64 billion go to Cheongju to support NAND and packaging

SK hynix claims that it intends to build a 3D NAND fab, install manufacturing equipment, and expand its advanced packaging capabilities for HBM back-end processing at its Cheongju campus in the Chungcheong region. The company intends to start building its M17 fab next year, so the earliest timeframe it comes online is sometimes in 2029 at the earliest. The fab will cost around KRW 80 trillion ($51.8 billion), whereas the new P&T7 packaging and test facility will cost KRW 20 trillion ($12.945 billion).

SK hynix's campus in Cheongju houses some of the company's primary fabs that manufacture 3D NAND flash, including M11, M12, and M15, and historically it was the company's main 3D NAND memory manufacturing center. However, because multi-layer 3D NAND and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stacks use similar packaging technologies, it is now evolving into a site that also makes HBM stacks: M15X produces actual DRAM dies, whereas P&T3 performs packaging operations.

But the investment in SK hynix's Cheongju NAND and HBM assembly operations pales when compared to how much money the company plans to pour into other projects.

$389.3 billion go to Yongin Semiconductor Cluster to boost DRAM output

SK hynix plans to invest approximately $389.3 billion in the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, which is the company's largest investment commitment ever and which will make the campus its largest DRAM production site. Meanwhile, Yongin is a greenfield site today.

The first fab in Yongin is expected to commence operations in May 2027, while the remaining fabs will be added sequentially. It takes about a year or 1.5 years or so to fully ramp a DRAM fab, so expect the facility to impact the memory market in 2028 – 2029. Under the company's newly announced plan, construction of all four fabs is now targeted to complete the fourth fab by 2033, instead of the original 2045 timeline. The $389.3 billion investment extends beyond 2033.

$259.5 billion go to Southwestern Semiconductor Cluster

Unlike Yongin, the Southwestern Semiconductor Cluster does not even exist. It is currently a planned project, and SK hynix has not even selected a specific site within southwestern Korea. The company says the exact location will be determined after evaluating land availability, electricity, water, transportation, and other infrastructure requirements in consultation with central and local governments.

The cluster is envisioned as SK hynix's next major manufacturing base after Icheon, Cheongju, and Yongin. For now, the planned investment totals approximately $259.5 billion, though given that the project's completion is decades away, we can expect that number to change upwards or downwards depending on the market conditions and the cost of wafer fabrication equipment.

The investment will be phased over many years and cover land acquisition, fab construction, and production tools. SK hynix says preparations must begin now because developing a new semiconductor cluster — including site selection and infrastructure — takes many years. For example, development of the Yongin Cluster took about nine years, according to SK hynix.

Not alone

SK hynix is not alone in investing in South Korea. Samsung on Thursday announced plans to spend some KRW 140 trillion ($90.98 billion) in its operations in South Korea’s Chungcheong region.

Under the plan, Samsung Display will expand OLED production in Asan; Samsung Electronics will build five HBM production lines in Onyang and modernize HBM-related facilities in Cheonan; Samsung SDI will establish a battery production line in Cheonan to validate next-generation technologies before deploying them globally; and Samsung Electro-Mechanics will expand AI server package substrate manufacturing in Sejong.

The price of DDR5 memory is setting new highs these days as demand badly outstrips supply. In a bid to save money, Meta is recovering legacy DDR4 memory from used servers and is installing it into new machines using its in-house developed Vistara ASIC that enables it to connect old memory modules to its latest servers running AMD EPYC 'Turin' processors that only support DDR5 memory.

Interestingly, Meta is not the only company developing such a solution. Panmnesia, a startup from South Korea, has developed an off-the-shelf CXL controller and switch that enables servers to attach considerably larger memory pools without extending latency, which differentiates Panmnesia’s solution from competing CXL offerings.

Custom ASIC enables DDR4 memory to work with new servers

Vistara is Meta’s first-gen custom CXL memory expander ASIC designed to attach outdated DDR4 memory to modern servers. The chip implements a CXL 2.0 Type-3 memory expander over a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and bridges standard DDR4 RDIMMs to host processors. Each ASIC supports two independent 72-bit DDR4 memory channels and can provide up to 256 GB of capacity using 64 GB DIMMs. At present, Meta deploys 128 GB per ASIC using 32 GB DDR4 modules recovered from decommissioned servers.

Meta deploys Vistara in its MemServer platform, where two ASICs connect to a single 158-core AMD Turin processor over PCIe 5.0 x8 links. Each server combines 768 GB of DDR5-6400 local memory with 256 GB of CXL-attached DDR4-2400, which expands memory capacity to 1 TB. The software stack transparently exposes CXL memory as a separate NUMA node and enables Linux to migrate cold pages to the slower DDR4 tier (with 76 GB/s of bandwidth) and retain frequently accessed data in local DDR5 (with 614 GB/s of bandwidth).

The ASIC is based on three RISC-V processor cores for secure boot, device initialization, firmware management, and health monitoring. Meta claims it has optimized its CXL controller and memory pipeline to reduce protocol overhead, minimize queuing delays, and lower idle round-trip latency to around 50ns. The chip also incorporates advanced reliability features, including Reed-Solomon two-symbol error correction and x4 chip-kill support.

Not only Meta's Vistara

Meta is not the only company that wants to attach legacy DDR4 memory to newer servers that rely on DDR5 memory and save some money. While Vistara is available exclusively to Meta, there is a new CXL expander solution from Panmnesia that will be available to other companies.

"There has been a perception that putting a switch between the CPU and devices makes it hard to meet the memory-access latency these systems expect, so directly attached multi-headed devices (MHDs) stayed the norm even though they were harder to scale," said Myoungsoo Jung, chief executive of Panmnesia. "Our work shows this is not an inherent limit of CXL or CXL switches — it is a trait of early-stage CXL, and one that fades as the standard and the products around it mature. With a fabric switch that carries our next-stage CXL controller, scalability, low latency, and stable performance can come together."

CXL is a protocol that sits on top of the PCIe physical interface. As a result of this, many early CXL implementations were built by modifying existing PCIe IP, which is why such implementations inherited architectural characteristics optimized for PCIe rather than for memory-semantic communications, which added substantial latency, according to Panmnesia. By contrast, its new CXL controller IP features a redesigned data path that replaces separate per-layer buffers with shared buffers to eliminate much of the synchronization overhead. In addition, it features additional latency optimizations throughout the protocol stack that offset the additional hop introduced by the switch.

The accompanying CXL fabric switch introduces Port-Based Routing (PBR), which removes the tree-topology limitations of conventional Hierarchy-Based Routing (HBR) used by PCIe and early CXL implementations. The fabric switch still supports both PBR and HBR to enable flexible system topologies, optimized traffic routing, and stable performance. In practice, it enables companies like Meta to install more DDR4 memory into their modern servers without major performance degradation because of high latency.

Panmnesia claims that while early CXL deployments could connect only a handful of compute nodes to shared memory pools, its fabric scales to up to 64 nodes, which means greater flexibility for hyperscalers that tend to run thousands of servers, but which now have to rationalize usage of expensive DRAM.

Panmnesia says its next-generation CXL technologies are progressing toward commercialization. The company has pre-release silicon for its PCIe 6.4/CXL 3.2 Fusion Switch and has completed development of its PCIe 7.0/CXL 4.0 Combo IP, which supports the latest features introduced by the CXL 4.0 specification.

In a world where memory is no longer a commodity but a strategically valuable asset, customers are eager to sign long-term supply agreements (LTAs) with their suppliers to ensure a steady supply of 3D NAND and/or DRAM. Micron this week announced that it had signed 16 strategic customer agreements (SCAs), 14 of which are worth around $100 billion. Furthermore, the company expects to receive cash deposits and other commitments worth $22 billion, but has warned there is no foreseeable end in sight to the RAM crisis driving up PC component prices.

“14 of the 16 SCAs that we have signed have a cumulative revenue at minimum price per our contracts of approximately $100 billion over the remaining agreement term,” a statement by Micron reads. “Under the SCAs we have signed so far, we project to receive cash deposits and related financial commitments of $22 billion.”

Based on Micron’s claims, the company has about $100 billion of guaranteed baseline revenue already locked in under 14 of those 16 strategic customer agreements, assuming customers only buy the minimum committed volumes and only pay the minimum contract price. In reality, Micron can earn more if customers buy higher volumes or pay higher prices. Furthermore, Micron expects customers who signed these long-term SCAs to put up real money up front — or make equivalent binding financial commitments — as part of reserving future memory supply.

Micron claims it has signed strategic customer agreements with four 'very large customers' and three 'medium-sized customers,' which means that the contracts were inked with clients that previously did not commit to LTAs. The contracts are signed with a five-year term (except the automotive LTAs, which have a term of three years), from calendar 2026 to calendar 2030.

Micron claims that memory supply will be insufficient in 2027 and may improve gradually only in 2028. To that end, it is not surprising that its clients are willing to sign LTAs for 3D NAND and DRAM to ensure that they have enough memory for their products.

"With respect to supply, our customers are recognizing that supply shortages in memory and storage will take considerable time to improve," said Sanjay Mehrotra, chief executive of Micron, in prepared remarks. "Even as we expect industry supply to improve gradually in 2028, we currently do not have line of sight as to when memory supply will be able to catch up with increasing demand."

Normally, Micron and other memory producers inked LTAs with select clients only (read: with Apple, Nvidia). 16 LTAs is a lot for this kind of arrangement, and this looks like a business model shift for the company. It is noteworthy that the 16 signed contracts represent roughly 20% of Micron's DRAM volume and 33% of the company's NAND volume over the period through 2030. That said, Micron may sign more LTAs with more companies.

The PC industry is bracing for a slip back to DDR4 memory among enthusiasts. Tom’s Hardware has learned at Computex 2026 that both motherboard brands and many module houses — the companies that produce the DIMMs you can buy — are shifting their strategy toward a resurgence in DDR4 platforms as unprecedented memory shortages and price increases continue to raise the entry point into building a PC. Those pain points are particularly acute with DDR5 memory.

We confirmed with over half a dozen sources: motherboard manufacturers and module houses are seeing an increase in demand for DDR4 platforms and shifting production accordingly. This could create challenges, however, as high-performance DDR4 dies, such as the famous Samsung B-dies, are no longer in production. As such, most of the revamped DDR4 kits will top out at a rather pedestrian DDR4-3600.

On the motherboard side of things, at least two vendors confirmed to Tom’s Hardware that they are ramping production of DDR4-supporting motherboards for the second half of the year and into 2027, which makes sense, given that motherboard sales have seen a “collapse” this year, with sales declining by as much as 37% with some vendors. Others have confirmed that they plan to either refresh or re-release DDR4-supporting options later in the year. Many of these products had been in end-of-life (EOL) status, so production lines had long ago shifted to other products. Now new manufacturing capacity will be dedicated to restoring those product families.

This comes as demand for DDR4 platforms has increased. One motherboard brand cited a double-digit increase in sales over the last quarter, which Tom’s Hardware was unable to corroborate, while others simply said the demand has increased significantly.

AMD and Intel have geared up for a shift back to DDR4, as well. AMD launched the Ryzen 7 5800X3D 10th Anniversary Edition at Computex, which the company says it will continue to sell as long as it makes sense; in other words, it’s not a limited edition run. AMD has also shifted the hybrid bonding process of the 5800X3D, setting it up for a more long-term production run. It joins AMD’s Zen 3 XT chips, which it released in 2024 and continues to sell.

Intel continues to sell its Raptor Lake and Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs, as well, and the company told Tom’s Hardware it “will continue to make sure that there are products which can take care of older memory technologies.” One motherboard vendor said it was specifically ramping production of LGA 1700 motherboards with DDR4 support, as options have slowly dried up in the market.

Although there is already DDR4 in the market, it’s also easier to produce, which would help elevate some of the bottlenecks in the current memory supply chain. One of the key shortages right now is advanced packaging, which DDR5 requires with an integrated PMIC. DDR4, by comparison, is much simpler to package and sell, which should help keep prices from climbing into the DDR5 range.

The major chokepoint for DDR4 is wafer allocation, which is a bottleneck that one memory manufacturer (not a module house) pointed to as a potential issue with a shift back to DDR4 platforms. Wafer allocation is a broader bottleneck within the PC industry, however, with Intel even shifting allocation toward the data center as an unprecedented demand for data center CPUs takes hold.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight. If there’s one thing that nearly all of our sources agreed on, it is that DRAM and NAND shortages will continue throughout all of 2027.

As the demands of AI continue to consume manufacturing capacity at every level of the PC hardware supply chain, 32GB of DDR5 RAM — broadly understood to be the sweet spot for gaming PCs and enthusiast builds — can no longer be found for less than $375. Well, $374.97 to be precise.

RAM price tracking through 2026 will show you that kits that routinely cost less than $100 just a year ago are now fetching upwards of $240 (16GB). As the AI frenzy has taken hold, retailers far and wide have been pumping up their RAM prices to exorbitant levels. However, there's so much fluctuation and noise that average pricing is now something of a ludicrous fugazi. The going rate for 32GB of DDR5 RAM — the cheapest you can expect to pay — has hovered around $320 for some time, climbing past $350 in recent weeks. Price tracking courtesy of PCPartPicker now reveals the cheapest 32GB DDR5 RAM you can buy is $375. Specifically, four XPOWER kits from Silicon Power will set you back $374.97 thanks to a promo code. You can see the listings yourself below.

• Silicon Power Zenith Gaming DDR5 6000MT/s (PC5-48000) CL36 32GB(2x16GB)
• Silicon Power Zenith RGB DDR5 6000MT/s (PC5-48000) CL36 32GB(2x16GB)
• Silicon Power Pulse Gaming DDR5 6000MT/s (PC5-48000) CL36 32GB(2x16GB)
• Silicon Power Zenith RGB DDR5 6000MT/s (PC5-48000) CL36 32GB(2x16GB)

As you can imagine, this is enormous pricing pressure for enthusiasts trying to build gaming PCs or upgrade their rigs in 2026. A component that once cost less than $100 and was something of an afterthought now costs almost four times as much, and that's before you've even fired a neuron in consideration of aesthetics, timings, or brand. More popular kits from the likes of Corsair and Crucial, or RGB offerings to match the rest of your build, will easily set you back more than $400.

Of course, 32GB is really the minimum sweet spot you should be aiming for when building a PC in 2026. If you did want more capacity, 64GB will set you back an astonishing $679.99. 16GB of RAM as a compromise can be found for $200 at B&H Photo, but with SK hynix warning that manufacturing constraints will persist through 2030, there's no sign of prices letting up so that you can upgrade capacity any time soon.

The humble RAM combo deals we've been highlighting in recent months are a small source of solace for builders, letting you score RAM for less than the $375 going rate if you pair it with a decent motherboard, a processor, or even an entire set of PC components. A theme of ongoing Computex 2026 announcements remains a lack of pricing clarity on lots of PC hardware, including Nvidia's RTX Spark laptops and PCs, as well as new-build systems and, of course, RAM components themselves. Vendors are likely wary of scaring off potential buyers with higher-than-expected prices ahead of release. Perhaps more likely, the prices haven't been set because they're still going up. Storage isn't much better, with SSD price tracking revealing that drives which once cost as little as $38 are now fetching $200.

AMD is making a noticeable effort to keep PC gaming prices down, this week announcing the return of its Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and the advent of a new Ryzen 7 7700X3D. Intel, which warned this week that "something has to give" when it comes to memory prices, also teased dragging out some of its legacy products to give users more options on older memory technologies, namely Raptor Lake and DDR4.

If you thought DDR5 was already too expensive right now, Cooler Master and G.Skill have a surprise in store for you. The two manufacturers are partnering up to make "MasterDIMM" — a new line of DDR5 memory kits that come with active cooling and a promise of temperatures that are up to 15 degrees cooler than conventional RAM. These sticks feature a thick heatsink with a fan built-in to emulate a blower-style cooler you see in some GPUs. There are no pricing or availability details yet, but it's not hard to imagine these kits, made for "demanding next-gen systems," will be even pricier than regular DDR5.

MasterDIMM will be properly shown off at Computex 2026 in just a few days, so expect more information then. For now, we know that these are high-end UDIMMs (desktop) that will push the envelope for DDR5 RAM in terms of style. The design of these sticks is very classy, sporting a black and gold aesthetic with part of the copper heatsink visible on the front, along with the fan on the other end. Naturally, they're a little larger than regular DIMM's, so motherboard compatibility remains to be seen.

There are two RGB strips running along the top, also flanked by gold accents, and the whole thing looks oddly similar to a fancy M.2 SSD. The RAM itself is made by G.Skill, while the heatsink is designed by Cooler Master. MasterDIMM will offer speeds up to 6,000 MT/s at CL26 latency with AMD EXPO, or up to 8.400 MT/s on Intel platforms via XMP 3.0. Capacities will scale up to 128GB at the top-end through 64GBx2 configs.

The companies claim the fan inside is whisper-quiet, delivering optimal cooling at just 35 decibels. That's the same noise level as a library. The heatsink and fan combo can drop temperatures by up to 15 degrees Celsius, which would be a remarkable improvement if proven true in testing. Keep in mind that DDR5 RAM, in general, is already rated for operation at up to 95°C, but it stays between 70-80°C in most cases.

Now, this is not the first time someone has put a massive cooler, or even two fans, on some RAM, but it's the most mainstream version of such a combination yet. Both G.Skill and Cooler Master are huge names in the PC hardware industry, so it'll be interesting to see how well this product does. Of course, that depends on pricing, and DDR5 prices are still out of control despite some semblance of the AI boom slowing down as of late.

More than a decade ago, Corsair tried to actively cool memory with its Vengeance Airflow modules, and vendors have tried to fit their DIMMs with creative heatsinks forever. Last year, we even tested a Silverstone AIO that could attach optional fans to itself to cool your memory and SSD.

In late 2024, China-based ChangXing Memory Technologies (CXMT) began producing DDR5 modules aimed at the consumer market. Since then, the company has even laid out a roadmap that currently puts its max DDR5 capabilities at 8,000 MT/s across 16 Gb and 24 Gb densities. Fast forward to today, and we're finally seeing Chinese DRAM in a mainstream product, more specifically, a Corsair Vengeance DDR5 16GB stick purchased in China by @wxnod, running at 6,000 MT/s with CL36 speeds.

We can see the "CMK5X16G3E60C36A2-CN" part number, where "CN" denotes it's a China-exclusive kit. It's still certified for both Intel XMP and AMD EXPO (since it runs beyond JEDEC speeds), and we also see the rest of the specs printed on the label, such as the timings and operating voltage. There are also "UKCA" and "CE" signs that indicate this kit meets European and British standards for sale in those regions.

The post above shows CPU-Z screenshots clearly revealing that the DRAM powering this kit is from CXMT and not one of the big three memory makers: Micron, Samsung, or SK Hynix. All of those companies are busy selling out their entire production lines to data centers instead, so it makes sense that Corsair is shifting around its suppliers. CXMT might seem like an unusual choice, but the company is well-positioned for this transition.

See, unlike the major DRAM manufacturers, CXMT doesn't even possess the latest cutting-edge tools to produce memory for hyperscalers. The company isn't tied to any data center contracts, so it has, relatively speaking, empty production lines just waiting for customers. And that clientele CXMT seems to be targeting is regular consumers left in the dust by the rest of the RAM industry.

Until now, CXMT has only really sold to local businesses and lesser-known brands, but being featured in a Corsair kit marks a major shift in the landscape. Even if this kit is exclusive to Chinese markets, it's still made by one of the biggest names in consumer memory — a name that people trust. Besides, most customers won't actually check what factory their DRAM chips are coming from as long as the specs seem up to par.

Speaking of which, we're looking at a DDR5-6000 CL36 kit, which is not the fastest, but it's plenty for gaming and daily tasks. There's generally less than 5% difference between a CL30 and CL36 kit at 6,000 MT/s, so if you're saving a lot of money going for the slower latency, it might be worth it in some cases, such as, you know, a RAM shortage. That brings us to the main question: Is this RAM actually cheaper?

There was no explicit mention of a price, so for all we know, Corsair is sourcing cheaper memory from CXMT but still selling it at the same inflated rates. If supply from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron is tight, it makes sense that DRAM bought from those companies would be expensive, but CXMT-made DDR5 should be significantly more affordable for it to matter and make an actual dent in the market.

Moreover, there would be concerns about how stable these modules are and whether they're fit for overclocking. Since a brand like Corsair is backing them up, a customer would expect it to perform just as well as any other Corsair kit. Another post from the same OP shows a similar KingBank-branded DDR5-6000 kit overclocked to 8,000 MT/s with 44-56-56-128 timings at around 1.5V, so there's clearly some potential here.

PC memory manufacturer Team Group has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit to the tune of $1.1 million over allegations it advertised deceptive speeds for its DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5 memory products purchased in the U.S. between May 3, 2020, and April 8, 2026. Similar to a recent case involving G.Skill, the lawsuit claims that consumers were led to believe that the advertised speeds on Team Group’s memory kits could be achieved out of the box without requiring BIOS tweaks or overclocking profiles.

It was alleged by the plaintiffs that the company marketed its RAM kits using rated speeds that could only be achieved after enabling XMP or EXPO memory profiles via the motherboard BIOS/UEFI menu. Team Group has denied all allegations of wrongdoing and says that its “products were appropriately labeled and performed as represented.”

An individual can claim as part of the settlement class if they purchased Team Group DDR3, DDR4, or DDR5 memory products while living in the United States between May 3, 2020, and April 8, 2026. The settlement only applies to individual consumers, while purchases made directly by a business, such as a company, LLC, corporation, or partnership, do not qualify for compensation. However, if you personally bought the memory as an individual consumer, you may still qualify even if you later used the product for work or business purposes.

As there is no fixed amount out of the total settlement fund of $1.1 million, the money will be divided among every individual who submits a valid claim. Payments will be made based on how many eligible Team Group DRAM products each person claims. The settlement also clarifies that one may claim compensation for up to five memory products per household without providing proof of purchase, while claims beyond that require supporting documentation.

Eligible customers can head to the Claim Hub website and follow the instructions carefully to file an official claim. You can also submit an objection or exclude oneself from the lawsuit completely. The deadline for the claim is currently set for July 7, 2026.

Earlier this year, G.Skill settled a similar $2.4 million lawsuit involving its DDR4 and DDR5 memory products. Plaintiffs argued that advertised speeds above JEDEC defaults required additional BIOS adjustments and overclocking settings that were not clearly disclosed on packaging or product pages. Most memory kits for modern PC platforms ship with conservative default speeds based on JEDEC standards, while higher advertised frequencies, such as DDR5-6000 or DDR5-7200, require users to manually enable XMP or EXPO profiles. The lawsuit argued that average consumers may not realize these additional steps are necessary to achieve the marketed performance levels.

G.Skill was also required to change its packaging and be clearer about overclocking and BIOS adjustments as part of its agreement. The Team Group settlement doesn't seem to include any such provisions and is rather purely offering a payout to affected buyers.

It's a bad time to build a PC right now, given all the component shortages and political tensions that seemingly never leave sight of uncertainty. Bad times call for desperate measures, and that's precisely the window of opportunity that scammers are waiting to bank on. As such, reports of fake DDR5 memory circulating in Asian markets have begun to pop up, with some scammers replacing entire modules with counterfeit, hollow plastic chips. You can see the clever counterfeits by expanding the tweet below.

The post above from Japanese user TAKI shows laptop DDR5 memory (SODIMMs) with some of these fake chips. The sticker on the RAM says it's a Samsung stick, but the modules are clearly from SK Hynix. They also look a bit weird with the edges looking abnormally rounded off, exposing a white material around the perimeter. If you look closely, one of the ICs on the PCB is also knocked out of place, suggesting these components have been dropped on the board rather prematurely.

Looking closer at one of the DDR5 modules, it's clearly been shaved off; that explains the white perimeter. But there's nothing inside because these chips are just made of plastic or fiberglass with no circuitry inside. The second giveaway then becomes clear — since these are literally just bits of plastic, the SK Hynix part number markings are also fake, printed on top to make the RAM look convincing.

These counterfeit memory kits are common on secondhand marketplaces, such as Mercari and Yahoo Auctions, and some are listed as broken. The description on one of these listings outlines a whole story about where these sticks come from, and that the buyer shouldn't purchase them expecting a functional product.

People looking to make a quick buck would pounce on such ads, or even worse, scammers would buy these lots to actually resell as working sticks to unsuspecting customers. And these are SODIMMs with no heatspreaders, so you can actually see the part numbers and likely make out the fact they're not authentic. For desktop memory that does come with heatsinks, you're basically out of luck until you actually test it.

The sellers peddling these fake DDR5 modules also accept no returns, which is common for "as is" purchases. Another possibility is that these sticks are coming from Amazon bait-and-switch scams where people buy an authentic product, swap it for a fake (or nothing at all), and return it, from where it ends up in a returns warehouse. It then gets picked up by a larger seller who might sort and sift through the lot to identify valuable items like RAM and put them up on the aftermarket.

Ultimately, the point remains that you should be extremely vigilant when buying used products, especially in times like these. If a deal is too good to be true, it most likely is. Purchase from reputable stores and vendors that accept returns or refunds, or at least those who'll exchange faulty items for you. While memory is the most price-hiked PC hardware category right now, similar scams run through GPUs and even CPUs.

Make sure to tally any product numbers with authentic ones you find online and thoroughly test the components to ensure they work. The latter practice should be enough to spoof out any bad actors, but try to secure a warranty as well, just in case.

A couple of days ago, Intel, TeamGroup and ASRock came together to unveil the "HUDIMM" spec for DDR5 RAM. HUDIMM use a single 32-bit subchannel instead of populating a 64-bit wide bus with two 32-bit channels. This effectively cuts bandwidth and capacity in half but allows for cheaper DDR5 that uses less ICs per stick. Today, new testing done by HKEPC, with the help of Asus, confirms exactly that — HUDIMM will incur an almost 50% bandwidth penalty, reducing performance significantly.

First things first, HKEPC did not get their hands on an actual retail HUDIMM kit manufactured by TeamGroup; instead, they used standard DDR5 RAM but taped half of the contact points. This allowed for one of the 32-bit subchannels to become unrecognizable, hence simulating HUDIMM. A member of Asus' R&D team has already tried this before the announcement, and we mentioned it in our previous coverage.

This new testing is more substantiated and was done on an Asus ROG Maximum Z890 Extreme motherboard, using an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. The outlet "matched the BIOS that supports HUDIMM modules" because, unlike a retail 1x 32-bit stick, the modified 2x 32-bit RAM's SPD will still tell the memory controller it's supposed to have a 64-bit wide bus. The PC will fail to initialize (POST) otherwise and be stuck with training errors.

We start with a single rank 16 GB 7,200 MT/s stick that showed up as 8 GB. In AIDA64, it achieved read speeds of 32,447 MB/s, write speeds of 25,195 MB/s, and copy speeds of 26,894 MB/s, with an 87.7 ns latency. In contrast, the same stick when untaped hit 58,913 MB/s read, 48,800 MB/s write, and 52,648 MB/s copy speeds. That's essentially double the throughput across the board, but latency was the same at 85.7 ns.

As expected, disabling one of the 32-bit subchannels slashes the numbers in half pretty consistently. You get to build cheaper sticks that require only 4 ICs instead of the usual 8 for a 16 GB DIMM, but it clearly comes at a cost. The standard 16 GB stick is almost at 60 GB/s of effective bandwidth while the simulated 8 GB HUDIMM stick only reaches 32 GB/s. That's the kind of discrepancy you'll notice.

Switching gears to a dual channel setup, HKEPC put 2x 16 GB 7,200 MT/s sticks on the motherboard, which showed 32 GB in the standard config, but only 16 GB when taped. The same story follows; half of the bandwidth is gone when simulating HUDIMM. We drop from 106 GB/s read speeds to just 58 GB/s, the write speeds go from 93 GB/s to 48 GB/s, and the copy speeds fall from 97 GB/s to 51 GB/s. The latency remained identical.

The HUDIMM numbers here basically match the performance of a regular 16 GB stick running in single channel, which is to be expected. It's simple math, really. Across the board, we're just halving the bandwidth and capacity just to be able to make cheaper DDR5. The performance hit is significant, but since HUDIMM is aimed at budget gamers and business users, perhaps the tradeoff will be worthwhile for some.

One claim from the announcement that HKEPC didn't check was asymmetric dual channel support — combining HUDIMM with regular DDR5 with 2x 32-bit subchannels is supposed to drastically improve performance. ASRock said that using an 8 GB HUDIMM stick with a standard 16 GB stick nets more bandwidth than a single 24 GB UDIMM (despite having the same capacity). The 24 GB stick on its own is apparently more expensive to manufacture, too, so this is a sort of "best-of-both-worlds" pitch.

Thanks to the AI boom, component prices have skyrocketed in the past few months, leading constituents to come up with creative ways to fight the RAMpocalypse. ASRock has previously introduced a motherboard with both DDR4 and DDR5 slots to help alleviate the crisis, but now it's teaming up with Intel and TeamGroup to launch "HUDIMM" — a new type of DDR5 RAM that can potentially help you save money.

DDR5 memory (UDIMM) typically uses two 32-bit subchannels per stick, requiring enough chips to populate a full 64-bit wide bus. This constitutes a single rank. HUDIMM, or Half Unbuffered DIMM, uses just a single 32-bit subchannel instead, effectively halving the bandwidth and density of the RAM. This allows for cheaper sticks that use fewer modules and are basically "half-rank" in nature.

ASRock has partnered up with TeamGroup to produce some of these first HUDIMM sticks, which are already working on Intel 600, 700 and 800-series motherboards. ASRock is also making HSODIMM, which is basically the same concept but for SO-DIMM (laptop/mobile) instead of U-DIMM (desktop). The company is targeting entry-level users across both segments that don't need the highest performance, or capacity.

According to ASRock, "two sub-channel (2*32-bit)" architecture is beneficial for high-capacity single DIMM module, however, it is not so practical for current PC market." That being said, HUDIMM has asymmetrical dual-channel support at the BIOS level. This should allow you to mix and match different DDR5 RAM to circumvent the single subchannel limitation and achieve higher bandwidth, while still maintaining compatibility.

For instance, an 8 GB HUDIMM stick paired with a 16 GB UDIMM stick will run in proper dual-channel mode with at least 3x 32-bit subchannels active — one from the HUDIMM and two from the standard UDIMM. This Frankenstein 24 GB setup apparently provides better bandwidth than a single 2x 32-bit 24 GB stick, which would be more expensive to manufacture anyway. Though ASRock's press material shows a 90 ns latency, which would be considered high by any modern standards.

Following ASRock's announcement, Asus also chimed in with its own HUDMM showcase on a ROG Maximum Z890 Apex motherboard. A member of the R&D team took two regular 24 GB DDR5 RAM sticks and just taped half of the contact points, effectively disabling half of the ICs. Instead of showing 48 GB in the BIOS, these taped sticks showed only 24 GB.

The company didn't say whether it was partnering up with TeamGroup as well to add official HUDIMM support, but the fact that an engineer acknowledged it could signal something is in the works. If Asus hops on board the standard, an industry-wide push for this would be imminent, and we could genuinely see more affordable DDR5 soon. There is no word on availability or pricing from any side, however.

Mini PCs have gained a following over recent years by bringing the best mobile silicon to the desktop. The mix of processing power, the compact chassis, power efficiency, and portability hits a PC sweet spot for many folks. Here we are looking at Hong Kong-based Minisforum’s update to its well-regarded AI X1 Pro 370 from last year – the new Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470. As given away by the name, this model packs one of the latest AMD Gorgon Point mobile processors.

Specifically, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 is installed in this machine, and the mini PC’s relative charms rely on the enhancements delivered by the AMD Ryzen AI 400 series. Sadly, the latest AMD mobile processors offer merely incremental uplifts, leaving enthusiasts underwhelmed. The CPU boost goes 100 MHz higher, and the NPU performance has been lifted from 50 to 55 TOPS in the latest silicon. Nevertheless, we thought it would be worthwhile to gauge the appeal of the new Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470, and check out the top-end AI 400 series laptop chip in a mini PC.

Design of the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470

The Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470 looks and feels well-made, hewn from premium materials, with nicely tactile buttons, and is reassuringly dense. An obvious comparison is against an Apple Mac Mini M4, but at 7.68 inches square and 1.87 inches tall, the Minisforum would be visibly larger than the Apple (5 x 5 x 2 inches), set side by side.

If getting something Mac Mini-sized with an x86 chip is crucial, Minisforum offers the AI X1 (non-Pro) models, which almost exactly match the Mac’s dimensions. These non-Pro models from Minisforum are a bit cheaper, but they have fewer expansion options, ports, and a less potent cooling system.

One of the design features I appreciate about the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470 is that it has flexible positioning and mounting options straight from the box. It ships with both a metal VESA mount bracket and fixings, as well as a matching vertical stand. The larger ‘Pro’ models (our test model) also benefit from integrating a 135W PSU, so you only need a common figure-of-8 power lead (supplied) to the wall.

The Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470 has a decent selection of modern ports, mostly front and back. It is good to see OCuLink and 2x USB4 among them, and some will appreciate the dual 2.5G LAN ports at the back. I would have wished for more USB-A ports at the back and a rear audio jack, too.

Other design features of note, which might make this stand out from a raft of rivals, are Minisforum’s integration of a Copilot button on the front of the chassis, its responsive Windows Hello-friendly fingerprint sensor on the top of the chassis, and the inclusion of stereo speakers and dual-array microphones under the hood.

Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470 Mini PC Specifications

Ports and Connectivity of the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470

While the AI X1 Pro 470 has a wide selection of ports, I’d like more. Having 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10Gbps) ports, a USB4 Type-C (40 Gbps, supports Alt DisplayPort 2.0 & 15W PD out), and a 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack on the front, alongside the power and Copilot buttons, is a good start. To the left side, there is a full-sized SD card slot, with a Kensington Lock on the right.

Round the back there are numerous of ports, including another USB4 Type-C (40 Gbps, supports 100W PD-in to power the PC, Alt DisplayPort 2.0, and 15W PD out), another USB Type-A (but USB 2.0), plus an OCuLink Port, HDMI 2.1 FRL, DisplayPort 2.0, 2x 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45), and an AC inlet (next to a reset / clear CMOS hole).

That sounds like a lot of variety, but just a single slow USB-A around the back is poor. It means I’ll be using a USB-C dock/dongle at the back, so the front system ports can remain ‘clean’ and available for handy occasional peripheral plugging. On the other hand, this little PC can connect up to four 4K screens simultaneously, straight from the box.

Wireless connectivity is decent. A MediaTek MT7925 Wi-FI 7 Card fitted to the motherboard also provides Bluetooth 5.4 with BLE support.

Upgradability of the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470

Before even opening up this device, it is pleasing to see that both OCuLink and USB4 are available for fast docking and eGPU connectivity. Inside, there’s quite a bit of room for upgrades, too – especially for a mini PC.

Minisforum provides three M.2 storage slots. With my 32GB/1TB config, one of the slots already has a 1TB drive installed, specifically a Kingston PCIe Gen4 NVMe drive with HMB caching and QLC NAND. Adequate but nothing fancy, it managed peak read and write speeds of almost 5.7 GB/s and 5.0 GB/s, respectively, in ATTO Disk Benchmark. According to the specs, this mini PC can fit three such drives, maxing out at 12TB total capacity (3x 4TB). Extra fittings and thermal pads are supplied in the box.

This ‘AI mini PC’ can pack up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM, using two SODIMM slots. You can buy it barebones direct from Minisforum or Amazon. We received a 32GB/1TB model for testing. These Ryzen AI 300 and 400 chips can be sensitive to memory bandwidth, especially for tasks that lean on the iGPU, so it was unfortunate that the 32GB here was a single DDR5-5600 module. In a ‘normal’ market, we think Minisforum would have supplied 2x 32GB, or a 2x 16GB option, but this 32GB was supplied with a single SODIMM, which seems to be a by-product of the RAMpocalypse.

Adding or changing RAM or storage requires removing five screws from the bottom of the device (1 short, 4 long), followed by 7 further internal screws marked with triangles. Then lift the PSU with the secondary cooling fan gently, as there are three wired connections to the motherboard. You don’t need to detach these cables; there’s enough clearance to lean this assembly to the side, get in, and reach the RAM and SSD slots.

Productivity and AI Performance on the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470

We tested the Minisforum AI X1 Pro system, and its AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 processor, using the supplied RAM/Storage configuration with Windows 11 pre-installed and the default ‘Balanced’ profile selected in the BIOS. VRAM was set at 8GB in the BIOS.

Taken in isolation, the results look pretty good. However, as I had an Asus Zephyrus G16 with 32GB quad-channel DDR5-7500 RAM at hand (my personal desktop replacement portable), I thought it would be interesting to check the difference between the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (Asus laptop, PL1 65W, PL2 70W) and Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (Minisforum mini PC, PL1 60W, PL2 65W).

Due to the aforementioned mini PC RAM configuration, the older-gen, thermally-constrained Asus laptop trounced the new-gen Minisforum challenger. Disappointing. I wanted to see if the Minisforum could fight back if I upgraded it to dual-channel. Luckily, I could source a matching DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM, so I’ve also tabulated those results. Spoiler: the RAM upgrade makes a huge difference, convincingly putting the Gorgon Point processor in the mini PC into pole position most of the time.

Above, you have two popular synthetic CPU benchmarks that concentrate on CPU performance. Then the Procyon AI tests I did looked at AI image generation using the onboard NPU. These results equate to a series of 500x500 pixel AI-generated images being produced from a prompt in Stable Diffusion Lite every 10 or 11s. Last but not least, Handbrake was used to convert a reference 4K/60 HDR nature video to 1080p/30.

Gaming Performance on the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470

What we said about the single-vs-dual channel memory above applies even more in 3D gaming workloads that need to squeeze the best out of the Radeon 890M iGPU. Most readers will know about the theoretical benefits of improved memory bandwidth for Radeon iGPU graphics performance, but seeing, feeling, and measuring it is something else. We can thank the AI industry for opening our eyes to this and moving an extra matching memory module far beyond an impulse purchase.

As I was thinking this Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470 would be a good candidate for a living room TV connected media box and 'Steam Machine,' I tested Cyberpunk 2077 using the ‘Steam Deck’ preset at 1080p. The system did pretty well after it was upgraded to dual-channel RAM.

Overall, the gaming frame rates of 50-60fps on the dual-channel RAM-equipped X1 Pro 470 point to it being a pretty decent entertainment box for the living room scenario that I was thinking about. With all these tests done at medium settings (except CP2077), there are still plenty of settings that can be adjusted to achieve an average 60fps at 1080p, if you insist on that.

Bottom Line

During even the most demanding tests, the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470 stayed pleasingly quiet and cool. Running through the benchmarks and stress tests, I didn’t see any processor temperatures rising above the low 70s (Celsius). Moreover, the weighty dual-fan cooling seems to do its job pretty quietly inside the slick metal alloy shell. These are definite advantages over my Zephyrus with Ryzen Ai 9 HX 370.

An unobtrusive fan profile is important to me for long-term use of any PC as a daily driver. I think this system could make the grade, with its idle noise level of 28dBA and highest reading of 32dBA from approximately arms-length away (positioned beside my monitor on the desk).

I’ve enjoyed testing the Minisforum AI X1 Pro 470. It looks good, feels well built, offers flexible mounting and positioning options, and runs cool and quiet. Being able to check it out in dual-channel memory mode also raised my opinion of the device. A decent USB4 dock attached to the rear provides the ports I need, while keeping it tidy, too.

Given the small changes delivered by AMD’s latest mobile chips, bargain hunters might be more interested in the AI X1 Pro 370 from last year, which is still available at $735 barebones, or $1,184 for the 32GB/1TB config. Also, if the AI X1 Pro 470 with 32GB/1TB config we received ($1,379.00 on Amazon) isn’t your little dream machine, the barebones model with HX 470 is just $779. To that, you'd need to add a dual-channel DDR5 SO-DIMM kit, an M.2 SSD, and Windows (or Linux).

With the AI boom driving up memory prices globally, Corsair is running a limited-time promotion offering a 25% discount on DDR5 memory kits. Considering prices have increased by as much as 300%, the rebate may not provide significant relief, especially if you opt for higher speeds with lower latency. Lower capacity kits, on the other hand, like the Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5 6000 MHz CL36 kit, priced at $259.99, can be purchased for around $195 after discount. While that might not sound terrible, it is important to note that the same kit was selling for under $100 six months ago.

Check out the Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5 6000 MHz deal on Corsair.com

Check out the Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 6000 MHz deal on Corsair.com

Check out the Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 5600 MHz deal on Corsair.com

If you’re still interested, head over to Corsair’s official website and use the code “DDR5-25” at checkout to take advantage of the offer. According to Corsair, the promotion applies across Corsair’s DDR5 lineup, including Vengeance and Dominator series modules, and is valid until March 26. The company also notes that the promotion cannot be stacked with any existing discounts.

Memory prices continue to soar, with no signs of relief in the near future. Earlier this month, a report by DigiTimes highlighted how the global memory market is becoming increasingly volatile, with DRAM prices now fluctuating on an almost hourly basis due to the AI-driven supply crunch. Apparently, large buyers, including cloud providers, automakers, and smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, have gained priority access to memory by leveraging their scale and upfront payments. This has resulted in small and mid-sized firms scrambling for limited supply while being forced to pay much higher prices or cut back operations.

Recently, TrendForce revised its Q1 2026 conventional DRAM contract price outlook, increasing its forecast from a 55–60% quarter-over-quarter rise to a steep 90–95%. The firm expects PC DRAM prices to more than double quarter-over-quarter, marking a new quarterly record. At the same time, NAND flash contract prices are projected to climb by around 55–60%, which is also significantly higher than the earlier estimate of 33–38%.

Ultimately, short-term discounts like Corsair’s may sound attractive, but with supply increasingly tied up by AI-driven demand and pricing remaining on the higher end, both consumers and PC manufacturers may have to adjust to a new normal where memory is no longer an affordable component.

RAM shortages are prompting some unheard-of moves on the part of some companies, like Transcend telling its customers that all deliveries were delayed, and Phison's CEO warning that smaller consumer electronics players might be headed for closure. Now, Silicon Power (SP) has added a notification to the header of its online U.S. store stating that "a full refund of the original purchase price will be issued if there is a shortage of replacement products." The new measure hints that, in some cases, SP is unable to source replacement parts or that the cost of replacement parts is now so high as to be unfeasible.

The latter is highlighted by the recent adventures of an Australian enthusiast's struggle to return his RAM kit for a warranty replacement, owing to the fact that the kit has quadrupled in price since he bought it. Retailers try their best to protect themselves from scarce availability and constantly fluctuating prices, all while consumers have to resort to paying highly inflated prices for what were once affordable staple items.

SP's statement is conditional and seems to indicate that in the case of an RMA, the SP store will make an attempt at replacing the item, but also prepares buyers for the possibility that they won't get a replacement unit. This is almost certainly due to the fact that flash chips have multiplied in price and become absurdly scarce, particularly for smaller companies.

As for its UK web-store, Silicon Power doesn't have a specific notice, and its warranty policy simply states that "due to ongoing technology or in case of discontinuity of any product, SP will be unable to repair the product, and therefore replace the product with a comparable one."

We took the opportunity to do a cursory browse of major memory and SSD manufacturers' RMA policies, and at the present time, we found that at least on paper, almost every major player says it will honor a replacement. Having said that, as the crises tighten, these policies might well change, and sooner rather than later. Note that our findings are consumer advice and not legal analysis:

• Corsair - Replacement: "If your Corsair product is not operating in accordance with its published technical specifications, the product will be replaced at Corsair’s expense."
  
• G.Skill - Replacement, conditional: "Any replacements provided will be with the same product model. This warranty obligation is conditioned upon the hardware being returned to the original place of purchase, or another place as directed by G.SKILL [...]."
  
• Kingston - Replacement: "Kingston will, at its option, either repair or replace any part of its products that prove defective by reason of improper workmanship or materials."
  
• Western Digital - Replacement, then equivalent item, then refund: "Western Digital will provide a Customer Replacement Unit (CRU) [...] it may instead provide a product with at least equivalent capabilities to the failed Product. [...] If Western Digital cannot provide a CRU replacement or an equivalent product, it may instead provide the user with a credit."
  
• Samsung - Replacement, then refund at current market value: "(1) repair or replace the Product with new or refurbished Product of equal or greater capacity and functionality; or (2) refund the then current market value of the Product at the time the warranty claim is made to SAMSUNG."
  
• Sandisk - Company chooses replacement or refund at current market value. "(1) repair or replace the Product with a new reconditioned or refurbished Product of equal or greater capacity, or another equivalent product; or (2) refund the current market value of the Product at the time the warranty claim is made."

The fact that nearly every company says it will honor a replacement is relevant against the backdrop of regional consumer protection laws. Most buyers' primary point of contact will be the store where they bought their hardware, but while most regional laws provide the buyer with multiple degrees of protection, for primary Western markets, the seller is apparently not obligated to replace the item and can instead issue a refund if said replacement would prove too onerous.

That seems to be the case with the European Union directive 2019/771, article 13.1.2.a, that sates that the consumer does have a choice between repair or replacement, "unless the remedy chosen would be impossible or, compared to the other remedy, would impose costs on the seller that would be disproportionate". The RAM price rise of 4-5x since last year would likely qualify, though individual EU member-states may offer additional protection, however.

The situation doesn't look too different in the United Kingdom, where the Consumer Rights Act of 2015 says, in section 23, item (3)(a), that although the customer has a choice between replacement or refund, they also "cannot require the trader to repair or replace the goods if that remedy (the repair or the replacement) [...] (b) is disproportionate compared to the other of those remedies."

As for the United States, most major PC hardware makers offer limited warranties, as opposed to full warranties, generally meaning that the manufacturer's policy dictates available options, save when specific state or regional laws apply. Broadly speaking, the stores are merely intermediaries in the process, and any protections they offer are a bonus.

The land down under has what appear to be the most consumer-oriented laws, as recently highlighted by the aforementioned Umart case. A browse of the Australian government's page dedicated to returns, refunds, and replacements clearly states that in case of a major failure of the item, "the consumer can choose," and should the seller be unable or unwilling to replace the item, the customer can "ask for a replacement [or] ask for a refund".

What this all means is that, should a person's RAM or SSD break under the manufacturer's warranty period in most regions, it might be wiser to try and go directly to the manufacturer instead of the place of sale, particularly considering that RAM almost always carries a limited lifetime warranty.

Just don't be too surprised if the AI component crisis continues to impact returns and refund policies, as other well-known manufacturers might be forced to follow SP, due to the shortage of DRAM or NAND flash chips.

The ongoing RAM chip crisis is bulldozing everything in its path, and both retailers and memory kit manufacturers are feeling the sting whenever they need to replace a kit under warranty. But some stores can be particularly vicious about this, as Australian buyer Goran says they discovered when they returned a faulty Corsair 32 GB DDR5-5600 kit to Umart — one of the nation's largest specialist PC hardware retailers — for a warranty claim.

In a story covered closely by the Hardware Unboxed channel, the store took his faulty DIMMs (bought in 2024) and confirmed the failure with a PassMark test, but then told Goran that he would not be receiving a replacement kit. Instead, it offered a refund for the original price of 155 AUD — a mere pittance, considering comparable kits now command between 500 and 600 AUD, or a 3.5x to 4x increase.

Despite currently having many similar kits in stock, the store told Goran that a replacement would be an "upgrade." Had Goran taken the offer, he'd have had to dole out another 400 AUD or more for a similar set.

Naturally, he refused the offer and brought up Australian consumer law, which is quite similar to the European one for these matters. In a simplified form, retailers are responsible for warranty claims and must replace or refund the defective item; then they take the issue to the manufacturer. When confronted by Goran, Umart went to the trouble of quoting the Australian Consumer Law but made a seemingly byzantine and twisted interpretation of it, reiterating that a refund at the original price was the proper remedy.

Savvy PC builders are probably thinking right now that at this point Goran could just save himself the trouble and head straight to Corsair's RMA page, as his set carries the usual manufacturer's limited lifetime warranty. That's when this story gets really interesting, as Umart displayed some serious chutzpa by effectively taking the DIMMs hostage.

The store said it couldn't send the RAM back as it had been "forwarded to the authorized supplier," who "issued a credit in place of replacement stock." So, not only could Goran no longer ask Corsair for a direct RMA, but Umart may have gotten a refund at today's pricing and pocketed the difference. Even still, Goran soldiered on and sent all the information to Corsair support, which promptly went on radio silence for three weeks. That's when Hardware Unboxed stepped in to help clear up the situation, even offering to lend Goran one of their memory kits in the meantime.

Corsair did end up replying to the channel stating that it was handling Goran's case — though the host naturally raised the question of whether the company had done because of the well-known influencer privilege. For its part, Umart essentially reiterated its existing position with a noncommittal statement posted as a comment to the Hardware Unboxed video. That did not sit well with people, and the channel replied back saying it now has collected more similar stories with Umart's warranty services — it's safe to say this story is probably not over.

While the best RAM is still available for purchase, prices have surged exponentially as the AI-created memory supply intensifies. With no clear end in sight for the shortage, prices continue to skyrocket at an unprecedented rate. The situation has escalated so rapidly that 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 memory kits are now selling for $359.99 at U.S. retailers.

It’s astonishing and at the same time sad that $359.99 has become the new baseline for 32GB DDR5 memory kits. The relentless memory shortage sent shockwaves through the memory market, as affordable memory kits disappeared almost instantly, leaving consumers competing for whatever remained. The only silver lining is that, at this premium price point, the available options at least offer decent specifications.

At $359.99, you're limited to Silicon Power’s XPower Storm DDR5-6000 C36, Crucial’s Pro DDR5-6400 C38, or Corsair’s Vengeance DDR5-6000 C36 memory kits, all of which deliver decent performance. Just a couple of months ago, the first two memory kits were retailing for $325.97 and $292.99, respectively — today's prices are a bitter pill to swallow, for sure. In an interesting twist, Corsair's memory kit has actually become more affordable, down from $429.99.

To put things in perspective, the Silicon Power, Crucial, and Corsair memory kits were available for $269.99, $272.99, and $280.99, respectively, in Nov. 2025. It's a stark reminder of how drastically the memory kit has shifted. With increases of up to 33% in just a few months, the landscape is grim for PC owners and builders.

Scalpers are ruthlessly capitalizing on the memory shortage. In a twist of irony, they're leveraging the very force blamed for the crisis, AI, to intensify the scarcity even further: Scalpers have turned to AI to deploy DRAM bots to snatch up DDR5 deals online and relist the memory kits at jaw-dropping prices for desperate buyers. That’s why you now see astronomical listings on Amazon, such as the G.Skill Aegis 5 DDR5-6000 C36 for $1,236.75, or the Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 RGB DDR5-7800 C38 for $1,133.25. These two memory kits are normally priced at less than $120 — but we don't have a time machine.

The memory supply is dwindling, and the spiraling prices show no signs of stabilizing, which is expected when you're in the midst of a shortage. On top of that, AI-fueled bots are outpacing human shoppers. If this trend continues — and it likely will — memory upgrades will soon be out of reach for the average consumer.

Update 6/3/2026 10:54 am PT: Newegg has confirmed to Tom's Hardware that the listings are the result of a pricing error. An internal system glitch has impacted over 50 SKUs, and the retailer is working diligently to fix the issue.

Original Article

Newegg has dramatically increased the price of some Corsair Vengeance DDR5 and G.Skill Trident Z5 memory kits, widely regarded as among the best RAM, to a mind-blowing $3,980. We've contacted the retailer to clarify if this was a planned price adjustment or a pricing error, but we have yet to receive a response. The uncertainty leaves consumers in suspense regarding the future of memory affordability. Given the steep increase and a single specific price applied to multiple different brands and capacities, an error of some description seems more likely. In the meantime, consumers are unable to buy these kits without shelling out an eye-watering amount of money.

Currently, there are approximately 27 DDR5 memory kits priced at an eye-watering $3,980 on Newegg. The vast majority are Corsair Vengeance DDR5 kits, but there's one outlier that hails from G.Skill's Trident Z5 RGB lineup. These listed kits vary in capacity, ranging from 32GB (2x16GB) to 64GB (2x32GB), and span data rates from baseline DDR5-4800 to high-end DDR5-7600.

This Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000 C36 32GB memory kit was retailing for $439.99 a day before the sudden rise to $3,980. The memory kit is still selling for the same price on other U.S. retailers, such as Amazon. The Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-7600 C36 32GB shows a similar trend. The memory kit was $549.99 yesterday, and it was the lowest price in the market for that specific SKU.

Regardless of memory kit density or frequency, each one displays the same price tag. The uniform pricing across the wide range of products strongly implies a potential pricing error on Newegg’s part. However, at the rate at which memory prices are increasing in recent months, it’s impossible to completely rule out the chance that this is the new norm without confirmation from the vendor. As noted, prices elsewhere, including Corsair's own website, do not reflect this increase.

The ripple effects of the inflated Vengeance DDR5 pricing are clearly visible in Newegg’s bundles. What was once a sub-$1,000 Ryzen 7 9850X3D combo package has now skyrocketed to a staggering $4,542 overnight. However, this other Ryzen 7 9800X3D bundle remains at its previous price point. The difference is that it comes with V-Color memory rather than the Vengeance series, so the pricing error appears to affect only Corsair's memory kits.

Since the start of the year, DDR5 retail pricing has surged between 25% to 50%. Let's hope the steep price tags on Vengeance memory kits are simply the result of pricing errors, since Corsair is one of the top enthusiast brands. Consumers don't need any more grim news about memory price hikes. Objectively, if these pricing discrepancies are limited to Corsair memory kits, it could indicate that someone at Newegg was doing something about the pricing on these products. There is a possibility that Corsair has raised prices on its Vengeance memory kits, but perhaps not to the exaggerated levels reflected on Newegg's site. It's important not to jump to conclusions until Newegg provides clarification or an official response on the matter.

A Reddit user posted on the r/pcmasterrace subreddit to showcase their unexpected Corsair 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM haul. According to u/AccomplishedFan8690, they bought a single 32GB kit online for $300, but they were surprised to find an entire box arriving on their doorstep. The box contains 10 32GB kits, totalling 320GB. If we look at current pricing on Amazon for the best gaming RAM, most 32GB Corsair kits cost around $400, meaning this complete package is actually worth around $4,000 or more. With no motherboard offering that kind of DIMM support, and 32GB being the sweet spot for gaming, they won’t be able to use all 10 kits, which likely consist of a total of 20 sticks. Instead, they plan to sell the extra RAM for under the current inflated prices.

So it happened to me from r/pcmasterrace

We’re unsure how this happened (or if it definitely happened), but sellers making mistakes in packing and sending orders are not unheard of. For example, a Samsung customer ordered two 9100 Pro SSDs late last year, but received 20 instead, while an Amazon customer canceled their Asus ROG Astra RTX 5080 order and just refunded, but the expensive GPU was delivered anyway. One commenter suggested that the person packing the order saw “1 box” on the order label and assumed that it was an entire box of RAM kits and not just one piece.

This would’ve been an amazing haul last year before the memory chip shortage, but given that prices have jumped by 500% in the last quarter of 2025, one could say that this is absolute gold. Some European retailers are reporting that RAM prices are slowly stabilizing, with some models even cutting prices. However, PC manufacturers continue to warn about looming price hikes, with a U.S.-based retailer saying that it will have to pass on costs to its customers once its existing inventory runs out.

The memory chip shortage is brought about by the massive demand of AI hyperscalers as they rush to build data centers to support the massive demand for compute. However, this is driven by investors pouring billions of dollars into AI, not by organic growth from customers. Some industry experts are even doubting the sustainability of all this spending, saying that there is “no way” that all these infrastructure costs can turn a profit. There really is no telling what the future will bring for RAM pricing, but in the meantime, we can just let u/AccomplishedFan8690 enjoy all that RAM and share the extra at lower prices with some of the lucky few.

As prices of DDR5 memory kits set records in the U.S., in Europe they begin to show signs of descend. At least, this is what a DDR5 pricing graph published to a renowned PC enthusiasts community is meant to show. We also analyzed the pricing of several DDR5 kits from prominent suppliers in Germany, and we can certainly say that these kits cost less than they used to cost just weeks ago.

The chart allegedly depicts aggregated pricing of an 'average' 32 GB DDR5 kit across the European Union from late July 2025 to February 2026. Prices hovered around €95 (minimum, green) – €100 (average, blue) through early autumn, then began climbing sharply in October, accelerating through November and peaking in early February at roughly €430 – €470 on average, with minimum prices slightly lower. Toward the end of the period, both lines trend downward, which may either indicate a modest correction after the spike or an actual drop in prices due to certain factors.

While the graph from deserves attention, it lacks clarity and details (which kits, which countries, retailers, is VAT included, etc.), so we decided to do our own price trend checks of five popular 32 GB DDR5-6000/6400 dual-channel kits* from renowned brands like Crucial, Corsair, G.Skill, Kingston, and Patriot in Amazon Germany using the CamelCamelCamel service.

Among the 32 GB DDR5-6000/6400 kits that we checked, only two models — from Corsair and Kingston — demonstrated steep declines: from around €480 in early February to around €425 now for Corsair and from around €550 in early January to €463 at press time for Kingston. Nonetheless, all memory kits that we checked are now priced below their peaks several weeks ago. Note that all retail prices in Europe include VAT, unlike retail prices in the U.S.

We also checked price trends for the same 32 GB DDR5 kits in the U.S., and while the prices are far from where they were in September, some of them (G.Skill, Patriot) are also showing a modest correction, though we certainly cannot say that they are heading downwards.

While $400 is certainly way too high for a 32 GB DDR5-6000 memory kit in 2026, we are not going to see prices decline to normal levels due to shortages of memory chips, which is going to happen either when excessive demand for all kinds of memory drops, when new DRAM production capacities come online in late 2026 – 2027, or when DRAM makers transit to more efficient process technologies. Yet, the signs of correction clearly show that the retail DDR5 kits' prices are way too high, which affects demand significantly enough for retailers to slash their price tags.

*We used the following kits for our checks, as memory prices currently depend on supply, we did not specify based on whether the kits feature AMD Expo or Intel XMP profiles:

• Crucial Pro 32 GB DDR5-6400 (CP2K16G64C38U5B)
• Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB DDR5-6000 (CMH32GX5M2E6000C36)
• G.Skill Flare X5 Series 32 GB DDR5-6000 (F5-6000J3636F16GX2-FX5)
• Kingston Fury Beast 32 GB DDR5-6000 (KF560C30BBEK2-32)
• Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB DDR5-6000 (PVV532G600C36K)

A charming video from a Turkish wedding reveals a delighted bride and groom being showered with opulent gifts, as per tradition. However, this happy couple isn’t seen being weighed down in gold and jewelry, as if typically the case, instead they are collecting the ultimate riches of the PC tech world – GPUs, RAM, and processors.

The video clip embedded below (expand the tweet to see it) begins with the groom being presented with an MSI Suprim GeForce RTX 5090 in white. The multi-thousand-dollar GPU is hung around the groom's neck using red ribbons. Next up, the same wedding guest presents the bride with a quad-channel DDR5 memory kit, again lashed together using red ribbons. If the guy who presented these tech delights wasn’t the ‘best man’, he is now.

Another wedding guest steps to the fore and adds an Intel Core Ultra Unlocked processor to the groom’s gifts. The subtitles read “right now it’s a full computer set” (machine translation). So, we guess bulky items like the case, motherboard, and PSU weren’t suitable for hanging upon the newlyweds.

Something old
Something GPU
Something borrowed
And something from team Blue

My step-sister married into a Turkish family. It was probably nearly 20 years ago, but I don’t remember her getting any computer tech gifts. The wedding did involve a lot of gold and AK47s, though.

We’ve recently reported on the value of both DRAM and NAND ICs rising above gold, by weight. Such reports may have inspired the Turkish wedding guests in their lovely video clip.

However, we note that while gold never tarnishes, diamonds are forever, cash is king, and happiness is a warm AK47 - an RTX 5090 is probably only going to be serviceable for about a decade, if it doesn’t self-combust in the interim. Meanwhile, a large number of economists and tech watchers expect there to be a sharp correction in the AI-stoked RAM and NAND markets, in due course.

We don’t want to be Debbie Downers about this wedding, though, and wish the bride and groom a long, blissful, and lag-free marriage.

Angeion Group, a settlement administration firm, is calling for eligible G.Skill customers to claim their cash from the company. According to the company’s X post, people who purchased a G.Skill DDR4 or DDR5 RAM kits may be eligible to receive a part of the $2.4 million that the company paid to settle the deceptive advertising case filed against it.

The plaintiffs said that “they were lead to believe that the advertised speeds were 'out of the box' speeds requiring no adjustments to their PCs," and they alleged “that G.Skill deceptively advertised and labeled the speed of its DDR-4 and DDR-5 DRAM (non-laptop) memory products with rated speeds over 2133 MHz or 4800 MHz, and that G.Skill is liable for violations of consumer protection statutes and breach of express warranty." While the company refused to admit any wrongdoing, it decided to settle the case to avoid “the uncertainties, burdens, and expenses associated with ongoing litigation.”

Eligible claimants must have purchased a G.Skill DDR4 memory module with a rated speed of over 2133 MHz or a G.Skill DDR5 rated above 4800 MHz between January 31, 2018, and January 7, 2026, while residing in the United States. You also do not need to present proof of purchase if you’re making five or fewer claims. So, if you think you’re qualified to file a claim, you can fill out the claim form on the official Settlement Website until April 7, 2026.

However, even though the settlement amount is relatively large at $2.4 million, the amount each claimant will get will vary depending on the total number of claims. Claim Depot also reports several deductions from the total amount, including administration costs of $295,000, attorney’s fees of up to $800,000, attorney’s expenses (to be determined), and service awards to class representatives of up to $10,000. Because of this, the amount you get (if you’re eligible for the claim) could be significantly less than the price of one of the best RAM kits you can get today. But even if that is the case, every penny still counts, especially as we struggle with skyrocketing memory and storage prices.

After months of consistent decline, Intel’s consumer CPUs have enjoyed a small but significant spell of market share growth, at least according to the latest Steam Hardware Survey (January 2026 data). The latest statistics raise a couple of key questions. Firstly, could this mark the beginning of an Intel comeback? Secondly, why might Intel platforms be more attractive in the current PC market?

So, the change in share is quite small, at 0.25% up in Intel’s favor, in January 2026 data. We know the SHWS hasn’t got the strongest reputation for rigorous statistical accuracy, despite the size of the user base. Nevertheless, it is entertaining to ponder whether something larger is happening in the CPU market, and why the balance could be shifting.

An Intel comeback?

Though Intel has broken its downtrend in this latest set of survey statistics, it isn’t possible to say whether this is truly a change in fortunes. As Aristotle (probably) said, “one swallow does not a spring make.” So, one result doesn’t provide a lot of certainty for extrapolations.

We’d need three months of data to confirm a popularity plateau, resistance point, or reversal of fortunes for Intel in the gaming CPU market. That means we are still a long way off the establishment of a reliable trend.

Why might Intel gain market share in 2026?

If we assume that Intel is once again going to consistently grow its consumer CPU market share, it is interesting to look at its current strengths and recent platform announcements.

Ahead of the RAMpocalypse, PC DIY forums and social media generally seemed to steer builders toward AM5 plus DDR5 for creating a potent ‘future-proof’ PC system. After several months of exploding RAM pricing, this particular path to PC Nirvana has lost its glossy shine.

In the PC DIY space, pricing and availability may have worked in Intel’s favor over recent months. The iconic PC chipmaker’s 13^th and 14th-generation processors appear to have remained in stock, often discounted. They can be used with cheaper DDR4 RAM (that upgraders may already have), with plentiful well-priced DDR4 motherboards (e.g. B760) still at retailers. Moreover, these remain decent platforms for most gamers, who will typically be performance-limited by their GPU choice. We've also seen some fairly drastic and generous discounts on Intel's current generation processors, with Core Ultra 200 series chips bundled with motherboards, coolers, popular games, or even just slashed in price in the second half of 2025.

A cultural shift from future-proofing to buying the best value $/FPS system today seems to have taken hold in Q4 2025 and persists to this day.

At CES 2026, we also noticed more positives for Intel. Its next-gen Panther Lake chips for laptops were far more warmly welcomed than AMD’s Ryzen AI 400 series refresh. This won’t have started to trickle through to Steam survey results, of course, but Intel traditionally has stronger laptop-maker support, and Panther Lake should ensure that isn’t eroded in 2026.

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.

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.

The ongoing memory shortage has spiraled so out of control that even the spacious aisles of Costco are apparently no longer safe from its RAMifications. A customer has just shared photos from their local store, where the demo units on display no longer have any memory installed in them, suggesting the store may have removed them to prevent them from being stolen. Shoplifting is a common issue at large retailers like Costco, but the vendor has only done this for GPUs previously.

Costco removing RAM from display units. from r/pcmasterrace

Many of the comments theorize that the theft may have already occurred and that Costco, like other stores, simply doesn't replace the stolen parts with new ones because they know they'll just be stolen again. Three of the four computers in the image above still have GPUs mounted inside, possibly hinting that this wasn't foul play. The PC on the right, though, has no GPU or RAM, likely because it's the most expensive offering at $2,600.

The top reply to this post is from a shopper who says the Costco near them actually caught someone on camera stealing from PCs, but the deed had been done by that point. Many other people in the thread also chimed in with personal anecdotes about how their local Costco (and Walmart) also has no memory or graphics cards installed, so this could be either a widespread security measure or indeed a widespread shoplifting issue.

Items that haven't been stolen will usually be sat safely in the warehouse, just waiting for someone to actually buy the system. Stores had to take similar preventative actions during the pandemic-era mining boom that caused GPUs to be scalped at an unprecedented level. This crisis, however, is "natural" such that the prices have skyrocketed from the manufacturer level, so even someone like Costco has to go out of its way to protect RAM these days.

The V-Color Manta XFinity RGB DDR5-6400 C32 isn't something to sneeze at and easily competes with some of the best RAM. Many mini-ITX and microATX motherboards have only two memory slots, a limitation that has long frustrated small-form-factor (SFF) builders. However, the introduction of DDR5 technology and new 64GB modules has transformed the landscape. SFF enthusiasts can now pack 128GB into dual-DIMM motherboards, transforming compact systems into powerhouses capable of handling demanding workloads and multitasking.

V-Color’s Manta Xfinity RGB memory modules come equipped with a sleek aluminum heat spreader, available in black or, depending on the SKU, white. The 1.5mm-thick heat spreader not only improves heat dissipation but also adds a modern touch with its geometric groove design. This minimalist look emphasizes both function and style. The memory modules stand at 1.69 inches (43mm) tall, ensuring broad compatibility with most systems. However, if you use a giant CPU air cooler, it’s wise to double-check your available clearance space before you pull the trigger.

Like many enthusiast kits, the Manta Xfinity RGB modules feature a semi-transparent light bar housing 16 vibrant LEDs for stunning lighting effects. V-Color doesn’t provide proprietary software for lighting control, which simplifies installation and setup. The company lists Asus Aura Sync, MSI Mystic Light Sync, ASRock Polychrome Sync, and Biostar RGB Sync as compatible ecosystems.

Unsurprisingly, the 64GB memory modules utilize a dual-rank design, featuring integrated circuits (ICs) on both sides of the black PCB. Each module contains 16 ICs in total, each with a 4GB capacity, arranged in two groups of eight on either side. These ICs are H5CG58MHBDX051 (M-die) from SK hynix, while the 0P=BH 3YM power management IC (PMIC) points to Richtek.

When first installed, the memory modules will operate at DDR5-4800 with 40-39-39-77 timings. The kit provides only AMD EXPO support with a single available profile. This profile sets the modules to DDR5-6400 with 32-45-45-96 timings and a DRAM voltage of 1.4V. For additional details on timings and frequency choices, refer to our PC Memory 101 feature and the How to Shop for RAM article.

Comparison Hardware

The Intel system features the Core Ultra 9 285K processor and the MSI MEG Z890 Unify-X motherboard with firmware version 7E20v1A60. Conversely, the AMD system utilizes the Ryzen 9 9900X processor and the MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi motherboard with firmware version 7E49v1A64. The Corsair iCUE Link Titan 360 RX LCD CPU liquid-cooling solution efficiently maintains optimal temperatures for both the Arrow Lake and Zen 5 processors, ensuring efficient thermal management across platforms.

The MSI GeForce RTX 4080 16GB Gaming X Trio efficiently handles demanding graphics workloads, preventing any bottlenecks during our gaming RAM benchmarks. The TeamGroup A440 Lite PCIe 4.0 SSD balances performance and capacity, delivering 2TB of ultra-fast storage with speeds up to 7,400 MB/s—perfect for Windows 11 24H2 installations, benchmarking software, and gaming applications.

The Corsair RM1000x Shift ATX 3.0 power supply delivers reliable and ample power to our test systems, directly supporting the GeForce RTX 4080 via its native 16-pin (12VHPWR) cable. The Streacom BC1 open-air test bench offers flexible, tool-free accommodation for all hardware components, streamlining assembly and component swaps.

Intel Performance

The V-Color memory kit consistently outperformed the G.Skill, thanks to its higher frequency. While the performance gap is modest, V-Color delivered measurably better results across both application and gaming workloads—though gaming performance likely isn’t the primary draw for buyers considering this kit.

AMD Performance

The AMD platform told a different story: the G.Skill DDR5-6000 memory kit overtook the V-Color kit despite its superior specifications. The limitation wasn’t the memory itself, though. Our Ryzen 9 9900X can’t handle DDR5-6400 at a 1:1 ratio for the unified memory controller clock (UCLK) and memory clock (MEMCLK). It shows the reality that not every Ryzen chip can do it.

Overclocking and Latency Tuning

Overclocking high-capacity memory modules isn’t always rewarding. Increasing the DRAM voltage by 0.05V reached DDR5-6466 while maintaining the same timings as DDR5-6400. You could always push higher voltage or accept looser timings for better speeds, but the trade-offs often aren’t worth it.

Lowest Stable Timings

SK hynix ICs have shown that there isn’t much headroom to tighten timings. Vendors typically bin these chips to their absolute limits, which isn't a bad thing since it saves you the hassle of manual tweaking. With this memory kit, we could only reduce the tRCD, tRP, and tRAS timings by 1, 1, and 4 clock cycles, respectively.

Bottom Line

The Manta XFinity RGB DDR5-6400 C32 is an impressive memory kit that offers an excellent balance between high capacity and strong performance. It delivers the performance necessary for productivity workloads and demanding applications.

Unfortunately, this launch arrives during a global memory shortage, which means availability may be extremely limited and pricing could be higher than normal.

Before the memory crisis, this kit sold for $479.99, which was already in the premium category. It's understandable given the early production costs of 64GB memory modules. With the ongoing shortage, the Manta XFinity RGB DDR5-6400 C32 has become even more expensive and increasingly difficult to find. Currently, V-Color has only the DDR5-6800 C36 variant in stock at $1,999.99, which we consider excessive. We strongly recommend waiting until the DDR5-6400 model returns to stock at more reasonable pricing before making a purchase.

In an unexpected turn of events, Micron announced plans to buy Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation's (PSMC) P5 fabrication site in Tongluo, Miaoli County, Taiwan, for a total cash consideration of $1.8 billion. To a large degree, the transaction would evolve Micron's long-term 'technology-for-capacity' strategy, which it has used for decades. This also signals that DRAM fabs are now so capital-intensive that it is no longer viable for companies like PSMC to build them and get process technologies from companies like Micron. The purchase is also set against the backdrop of the ongoing DRAM supply squeeze, as data centers are set to consumer 70% of all memory chips made in 2026.

"This strategic acquisition of an existing cleanroom complements our current Taiwan operations and will enable Micron to increase production and better serve our customers in a market where demand continues to outpace supply," said Manish Bhatia, executive vice president of global operations at Micron Technology. "The Tongluo fab's close proximity to Micron's Taichung site will enable synergies across our Taiwan operations."

Deal expected to close in Q2 2026

The deal between Micron and PSMC includes 300,000 square feet of existing 300mm cleanroom space, which will greatly expand Micron's production footprint in Taiwan. By today's standards, a 300,000 square foot cleanroom is a relatively large one, but it will be dwarfed by Micron's next-generation DRAM campus in New York, which will feature four cleanrooms of 600,000 square feet each. However, the first of those fabs will only come online in the late 2020s or in the early 2030s.

The transaction is expected to close by Q2 2026, pending receipt of all necessary approvals. After closing, Micron will gradually equip and ramp the site for DRAM production, with meaningful wafer output starting in the second half of 2027.

The agreement also establishes a long-term strategic partnership under which PSMC will support Micron with assembly services, while Micron will assist PSMC's legacy DRAM portfolio.

The end of a tried and true model?

While the P5 site in Tongluo isn't producing memory in high volumes today, the change of ownership and inevitable upgrade of the fab itself will have an impact on global DRAM supply, which is good news for a segment that is experiencing unprecedented demand. While it is important that Micron is set to buy a production facility in Taiwan, it is even more important that the transaction marks an end to its technology-for-capacity approach to making memory on the island. In the past, instead of building large amounts of new greenfield fabs in Taiwan, Micron partnered with local foundries (most notably PSMC, but also with Inotera and Nanya) and provided advanced DRAM process technology in exchange for wafer capacity, manufacturing services, or fab access.

This approach allowed Micron to expand output faster and with less capital risk, leveraged Taiwan's mature 300mm manufacturing ecosystem, and avoided duplicating the front-end infrastructure, which was already in place.

However, it looks like the traditional technology-for-capacity model — which worked well in the 90nm – 20nm-class node era — no longer works. It worked well when DRAM fabs cost a few billion dollars, when process ramps were straightforward, and when partners could justify their capital risks in exchange for technologies (which cost billions in R&D investments) and stable wafer demand.

Today’s advanced DRAM fabs require $15 – $25 billion or more of upfront investment. This would go into equipment like pricey EUV scanners, as well as longer and riskier yield ramps. In that environment, a partner running someone else's IP absorbs massive CapEx and execution risk while getting limited advantages, which makes the economics increasingly unattractive: after all, if you can invest over $20 billion in a fab, you can certainly invest $2 billion in R&D.

The end of an era

In recent years, Micron's behavior has reflected this shift in thinking. Early technology-for-capacity deals helped it scale quickly, but once fabs crossed a certain cost and complexity threshold, Micron had to move on and own fabs instead of renting capacity. This is reflected in moves like its Elpida acquisition in 2013, where the company purchased a bankrupt memory maker to secure the company's capacity. This was followed up in 2016 with the Inotera acquisition, and now with PSMC.

What remains of the model is essentially pushed to legacy nodes, which are almost all fully depreciated, or to specialty DRAM, which does not require leading-edge process nodes. Other remnants of the model may be found in additional backend services, where capital intensity and strategic risks are also lower.

For leading-edge DRAM, ownership and control now outweigh the benefits of partnership, which marks the end of an era as modern fabs are now too expensive, too strategic, and too tightly integrated with product roadmaps. The acquisition of the P5 site was preceded by perhaps the last technology for a capacity partnership for Micron in Taiwan. Now, the American company will own the site and invest in its transition to its latest process technologies.

Now might be one of the worst times ever to build a new PC. Not only are GPU prices climbing, particularly at the high-end, but the RAM and NAND pricing apocalypse has pushed memory and storage — two components that are traditionally among the cheapest in many builds — to new highs. That makes building a new PC from scratch with DDR5 particularly tough right now. Upgrading, though, is a different story. If you have an old kit of DDR4 kicking around, and maybe an SSD, you can make a substantial upgrade to your PC without shelling out for insanely priced hardware right now.

We’ve put together two builds based on the latest chipset and processors that support DDR4, from both AMD and Intel. Intel certainly has the edge, as it supported DDR4 all the way up to its last-gen Raptor Lake Refresh chips. AMD stopped supporting DDR4 with Zen 3, and if it weren’t for some well-timed refreshes a couple of years back, you probably wouldn’t be able to find Zen 3 chips at all. If you have RAM and a decent CPU already, now is the time to buy a new video card, as prices are expected to further increase over the coming months. A modern Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB balances budget and performance at 1080p, and even into 1440p.

The builds here are complete, short of an operating system (which you can get for free or cheap), but pick and choose components based on what you have to carry over from a previous build. If you have an older AM4 motherboard, you might be able to use it with a Ryzen 7 5800XT. Just make sure to check for compatibility with your motherboard manufacturer. Especially as we ride out the surge in RAM pricing, piecemeal upgrades are your best bet if you’re trying to take the value of your PC dollar the furthest. You could even buy 32GB today and sell your 16GB kit to offset costs.

If you’re coming from a really old build, you may not have a choice but to buy from scratch, and we have you covered there, too. For under $1,300, you can build a well-performing machine that not only plays games well at 1080p (or even 1440), but also serves as a solid productivity PC. In fact, you won’t be able to reach these performance levels until our $2,000 ($2,400 with RAM factored in) best PC build. Compared to DDR5, you’re saving at least $200 by using (or sticking with) DDR4.

Unfortunately, DDR4 builds are effectively a dead end. AMD moved past AM4 and DDR4 a few years back, and Intel abandoned DDR4 as it sunset the LGA1700 socket. However, these builds set you up for a full platform upgrade in the future. You might not be able to drop in a new CPU, but you’ll at least have all the other components you need once RAM pricing is under control.

DDR4 Intel Build

Intel had some fortunate (if unintentional) foresight by supporting both DDR4 and DDR5 on its 12th through 14th-gen CPUs. The Core i5-14600KF we chose for this build still remains an excellent processor. It’s less than 6% behind the Core i7-14700K on average in games at 1080p, and about 7% behind the newer Core Ultra 5 245K in multi-threaded performance. DDR4 represents an additional performance loss, though only around 5% (or less) in most cases. It depends on the workload.

We paired the Core i5-14600KF with a B760 chipset, which should (rightfully) send up alarm bells for regular Tom’s Hardware readers. This is an unlocked SKU, and Intel still doesn’t support CPU overclocking on its B-series chipsets. The Core i5-14600KF is the best deal we could find right now, though. The Core i5-14600 isn’t available, while the base Core i5-14600K sells for around $290. At $230, the Core i5-14600KF is the clear pick for this build.

Although a Z-series chipset is ideal to give you the full performance of the chip, there aren’t a lot of options available. Most Z-series motherboards still available at reasonable prices only support DDR5. For the few Z-series motherboards that have DDR4 support, you can expect to spend north of $250.

Along with the CPU, we chose the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120, both because of how inexpensive it is and because it’s one of the best CPU coolers. Raptor Lake Refresh is known for getting hot, but that’s less of an issue for a chip like the Core i5-14600KF.

For the GPU, we’re going with the Gigabyte Windforce OC RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. This card has more than enough grunt for 1080p, and it can scale up to 1440p with its 16GB frame buffer and a little help from DLSS 4 (and even the newer DLSS 4.5). If you can spend around $150 more, the RTX 5070 is available for true 1440p sweet spot, or you can go with the AMD RX 9070 XT, which is currently our top pick for the best graphics card.

Rounding out the build is an inexpensive Montech XR midtower that posted solid thermal performance in our Montech XR Wood review (this version is $10 cheaper and ditches the wood but is otherwise identical). We also chose the Crucial P310 for its solid pricing and performance, along with the ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G, mainly due to the price and because it’s fully modular.

DDR4 AMD Build

The full build at Newegg when we wrote this was $1,262.84. For the money, you get the latest-gen AM4 processor, in this case a Ryzen 7 5800XT with an 8c/16t configuration and a max boost of 4.8 GHz. Priced at $219.99, the CPU isn’t a great deal (it sold as low as $124.99 previously), as people are already looking for DDR4/AM4 upgrades or new systems. Worse yet, for gamers, AM4 X3D options are either sold out at popular e-tailers, or third-party vendors are charging significantly higher prices. If you want a 5800X3D today, a third-party seller on Newegg has you covered…for over $600 (MSRP at launch was $450). Yikes.

We paired the Ryzen 7 5800XT with the budget-friendly Asus TUF Gaming B550-Plus Wi-Fi ($119.99). This motherboard supports 3000- and 5000-series processors (including 4/5000 G series), offers PCIe 4.0, dual M.2 sockets (one PCIe 4.0, one PCIe 3.0), and six SATA ports. Connectivity includes 2.5 GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, and eight rear USB ports, including a 10 Gbps Type-C. It utilizes the Realtek ALX897 audio solution and has robust power delivery for compatible CPUs.

We also chose Gigabyte’s RTX 5060 Ti Windforce OC 16G for this budget AM4 build (or upgrade) for its ample VRAM, important for the future, and solid 1080p performance across a wide variety of games, even AAA titles. The dual-fan solution should keep things running cool and quiet, and its all-black look blends in with most build themes.

For RAM, we stuck with the same 32GB from the Intel build, so you can have the best experience possible. We chose Patriots’ Viper Steel DDR4-3200 (2x16GB CL16) for the capacity, tight timings, and ‘low’ price of $172.99. You can go faster, but this is a budget build, and you generally wouldn’t notice the difference. Save the money here for spending elsewhere.

Storage-wise, Patriot’s Viper VP4300 1TB PCIe 4x4 fits the bill at $139.99. The drive uses DRAM cache for quick bursts, and lists speeds up to 7,400/6,100 MB/s R/W for longer transfers, which is plenty fast for loading your games and applications quickly. You can use SATA-based SSDs or hard drives for additional storage at a lower price per TB if necessary.

The machine is powered by an ASRock Steel Legend SL-850G 80Plus Gold (Cybenetics Platinum) 850W power supply. This mid-range unit supports ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 standards, including a native 600W 12V-2x6 cable. At under $90, this 'future-proof' PSU is backed by a 10-year warranty.

We selected the Montech X3 Mesh (black) case ($69.90), which includes six preinstalled, fixed-lighting RGB fans for excellent airflow. The chassis supports ITX to E-ATX motherboards, multiple drives, PSUs up to 160mm, coolers up to 160mm, and GPUs up to 305mm. A side-swivel tempered glass panel provides easy access and displays the internals. For under $70, it’s a good-looking RGB case with ample space and cooling for high-performance components.

Conclusion

As you can see, building a new gaming PC today using DDR4 can get you plenty of performance for the money – and all the more so if you have RAM you can carry over from a previous system. Intel’s i5-1400KF and AMD’s 5800XT are formidable processors by nearly all measures. They’ll game and do well with most highly threaded work, too. Nvidia’s RTX 5060Ti 16G is arguably one of the better price-to-performance-to-VRAM ratio cards around, doing well at 1080p, and even stretching its legs to 1440p if you choose.

While these systems aren’t the pinnacle of DDR4-based PCs, they are full, well-rounded builds from Intel and AMD. Swap in your existing RAM and/or storage where you can, to help you get even more out of your build budget.

AMD and Intel have both moved past DDR4 at this point, so some element of building a DDR4-based PC is based on what’s available, not necessarily what’s objectively best. With that in mind, also check your local Micro Center and Best Buy, particularly when it comes to CPUs and motherboards. You might be able to score a deal if you shop at a local retailer.

A few weeks ago, we covered Russian enthusiasts' proposition of assembling their own DDR5 RAM using procured modules and PCBs to cut costs. At the time, it was just an idea put forth by a local modder, but now he's back with a finished build that successfully runs at 6400 MT/s. A single 32GB stick of desktop DDR5 memory with proper XMP support — one that doesn't even look homemade.

Modder VIK-on acquired the actual RAM chips from a couple of SK Hynix-branded 16GB laptop SO-DIMM sticks, priced at 8,000 Rubles (~$100) each, a bit cheaper than their desktop counterparts at the moment. The PCB was sourced from China for around 600 Rubles (~$7.50), while an aftermarket heatsink cost 415 Rubles (~$5.23) from AliExpress. From there, the process was as easy as just putting together the parts like Lego.

This is where we should probably interject and inform that soldering ICs is not a piece of cake, especially if reballing is involved. You need proper BGA reworking stations and a lot of skill to not mess this up. It might seem simple, but it's one of those delicate maneuvers that require ample experience, which VIK-on is brimming with.

After the new stick was ready, it was flashed with custom firmware from an Adata retail kit, allowing the memory to gain 6400 MT/s XMP support that any motherboard will be able to detect in BIOS. The entire project cost 17,015 Rubles, or about $218. That's quite a bit cheaper than a retail 32GB offering currently, which we found listed for at least $350 on Newegg right now. Prices are even rougher in Russia.

In the States, even if we don't take the 6400 MT/s speed into account, the cheapest 32GB stick goes for about $278, and that's an ugly, CL46 Dell OEM SKU. The RAM modules VIK-on used can be swapped with lower-cost parts, which the modder says he's exploring. For instance, instead of targeting 16GB laptop memory, 8GB sticks should be even cheaper.

At that point, one might even consider just using the SO-DIMM sticks as is with a desktop adapter that would add noticeable latency, but offer more convenience. This mod maintains signal integrity and also represents resilience. It's all about ingenuity in these trying times, and hacks like these will only increase in frequency (no pun intended) till markets normalize.

Chinese researchers have developed a capacitor-less DRAM-like memory cell that uses two transistors (2T0C) with dual-gate control, built at a 4F² minimum area, reports TrendForce, citing ResearchGate. The new memory cell architecture uses a self-aligned process. It promises to achieve reliable multi-bit storage, fast DRAM-like write times, and extended retention without a discrete storage capacitor, according to its developers. While it's not a DRAM replacement for now, it could become a viable solution for various eDRAM and stacked 3D memory applications.

Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies on China's semiconductor sector greatly limit the capabilities of the People's Republic to produce chips on advanced production nodes, as companies like CXMT, SMIC, and YMTC do not have access to the latest tools. However, curbing pathfinding, research, and development (R&D) in academia is considerably harder (if possible at all), which is why Chinese scientists can conduct world-class research and develop innovative technologies that are on par with the West.

Before we proceed, let's establish some terminology to avoid confusion. In semiconductor memory discussions, 4F², dual-gate 4F², and 4F² 2T0C are often used interchangeably, even though they describe different layers of the design stack. While all three can appear in the same sentence, each answers a fundamentally different question: how dense the cell is, how the transistor is built, and how the bit is stored.

• 4F² is a layout and density metric that defines the minimum possible area of a memory cell — four times the square of the process feature size — and says nothing about the internal structure of the cell. A 4F² footprint can host a classic 1T1C DRAM cell, an SRAM bitcell, or even a resistive memory element.
• The term 'dual-gate' describes a device-level detail: a dual-gate transistor uses two independently controlled gates to improve electrical control over the channel, reduce leakage, and stabilize threshold voltage. Dual-gate transistors are widely used in the semiconductor industry in logic (FinFET is a dual-gate transistor), SRAM, or DRAM-like cells.
• Finally, 4F² 2T0C describes the actual memory architecture featuring two transistors that store data without a dedicated capacitor by relying instead on charge retained in a transistor channel or floating node. This design gives the cell DRAM-like behavior: it still needs refresh, but avoids the scaling challenges associated with deep capacitors.

When combined, the phrase 'dual-gate 4F² 2T0C memory' means a capacitor-less DRAM cell, based on dual-gate transistors, with DRAM-class density at a minimum. In short, we are dealing with three separate concepts combined in a unique design, rather than a singular invention.

4F² dual-gate 2T0C memory

Being unconstrained by curbs set by the U.S. and allies, National Key Laboratory of Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Technology at the Institute of Microelectronics of Chinese Academy of Sciences (IME CAS) teamed up with the Beijing Superstring Academy of Memory Technology (SAMT), and Shandong University to develop a 4F² 2T0C memory cell architecture that can store two bits of data per-cell (4 levels of charge), offering a write latency of around 50ns, and data retention for up to 470 seconds, making it a viable memory technology. However, while this isn't a DRAM killer, it may be a potent candidate for embedded DRAM and stacked 3D memory built on top of logic.

The breakthrough

The 4F² dual-gate 2T0C memory cell architecture developed by researchers at IME CAS uses two vertical IGZO transistors—one for write (TW) and one for read (TR)—that share a common storage node (SN). Dual-gate operation improves electrostatic control and read stability, enabling capacitor-less, multi-bit storage (2 bits demonstrated) within a compact 4F² footprint. The scientists used a self-aligned single-step (SASS) process to build the cell.

Tests conducted by IME CAS scientists prove that the vertical dual-gate transistor combines high drive current with a sharp turn-on, which makes it easier to clearly distinguish stored charge levels during reads. The cell can hold data for about 470–500 seconds for '1' and '0,' respectively, which is inherently higher than that of DDR5 (which counts in milliseconds), but it is certainly not enough for a storage device.

In addition, the cell can complete a write operation in roughly 50ns, according to its developers. While a 50ns latency is comparable to that of DDR5 (which is about 20 – 40ns), read latency is much more important for real-world performance, but since it depends on sense amplifier architecture (keep in mind that we are dealing with multi-bit storage here) and the actual system, scientists from IME CAS do not publish it.

Reliability testing at 85°C confirms that the device remains stable under prolonged thermal and electrical stress, and threshold voltage shifts are limited to −22.6 mV under negative bias temperature stress (NBTS) and 87.7 mV under positive bias temperature stress (PBTS). A threshold-voltage shift below about 100 mV is considered functionally benign because it does not materially change the transistor’s on/off behavior, timing, or noise margins, so seeing <100 mV shifts at 85°C under accelerated stress can be considered as strong stability (especially for IGZO transistors that are vulnerable to bias stress).

The magic behind the reliable operation of the 2-bit 4F² dual-gate 2T0C memory cell, as well as its solid retention time, is the usage of both gates of the read and write transistors as capacitive contributors to the same storage node, which doubles storage node capacitance (C_SN) compared to single-gate cells, without increasing overall area. As a result, the 2-bit 4F² dual-gate 2T0C memory cell architecture can enable both high density and high reliability at a small area.

SASS production flow

Scientists at IME CAS used its proprietary self-aligned single-step (SASS) production flow to build their 4F² dual-gate 2T0C memory cell. The SASS flow enables the entire vertical dual-gate 2T0C sidewall stack to be built in just one lithography and etch step that simultaneously patterns all pre-deposited layers. This means that write (TW) and read (TR) transistors are formed simultaneously rather than stacked in separate passes, which excludes misalignment and repeated thermal/contamination exposure, which potentially improves yields.

In the demonstrated 4F² vertical cell, the channel height is 120nm, the IGZO channel thickness is ~6nm (it is deposited using atomic layer deposition), and the effective gate length is ~40 nm, as seen in the cross-sectional TEM image. The TEM image also confirms a ~90° vertical sidewall with no top/bottom-device misalignment.

As noted above, the SASS process produces the full stack in one lithography/etch step that patterns pre-deposited layers, which is a fairly simplistic manufacturing method.

First, the researchers deposit a full multilayer stack on the wafer. This stack already includes everything the cell will need later: 30nm of indium tin oxide for ground (GND), the bit line (BL), and the storage node (SN); 40nm of tantalum for the read and write word lines (RWL/WWL); and 40 nm layers of silicon oxide to electrically isolate them. Altogether, the structure consists of five electrode layers separated by four SiOx layers, all deposited before any patterning takes place.

Next comes the main SASS step. Using one lithography mask and one vertical etch, the process cuts through the entire pre-deposited stack at once. This single etch step patterns all five electrode layers and four insulating layers at the same time into a clean vertical sidewall. Since everything is defined in one cut, the write and read transistors are perfectly aligned by design: there are no overlay errors from multiple patterning steps, which is why it is called 'self-aligned.'

Once the sidewall is in place, it is turned into an active device. The exposed tantalum is heated in oxygen at 400 °C, where it self-oxidizes to form a ~9 nm tantalum-oxide high-k gate dielectric directly on the metal. The vertical surface is then coated layer by layer: a ~6 nm IGZO channel is deposited using ALD, followed by the second gate stack, made up of a ~15 nm hafnium-oxide dielectric and a ~25 nm indium-zinc-oxide conductive gate layer.

But is it viable?

Despite detailed knowledge of device-level and vertical nanometer-scale dimensions, the absence of disclosed lateral half-pitch information prevents mapping the IME CAS process to a specific DRAM node. Keeping in mind that we are dealing with a research-grade materials stack and have no idea about yields, any general assessment of the cost efficiency of the process would be inaccurate.

That said, while the production flow looks simple and the lack of capacitors opens doors for eDRAM applications (as logic nodes are not exactly great for producing DRAM-class capacitors), there are questions about the practicality of 4F² dual-gate 2T0C memory. First up, a multi-level cell architecture requires advanced sense amplifiers that are both complex and power hungry, something not appreciated by embedded applications. Secondly, while IGZO TFTs are mature in displays as feature sizes are fairly large and yields are high (and forgiving), memory arrays demand dramatically smaller sizes, and defects are not forgiving.

Given all the uncertainties, it is impossible to assess whether IME CAS's 4F² dual-gate 2T0C memory architecture makes sense for commercial applications.

Despite similarieis, it's not a replacement for DRAM

Chinese researchers from IME CAS have demonstrated a 4F² dual-gate 2T0C, capacitor-less DRAM-like memory cell that reaches the minimum DRAM-class cell area without using a storage capacitor.

The cell is fabricated using a self-aligned single-step (SASS) process and is based on two vertical IGZO transistors sharing a common storage node. Tests conducted by IME CAS show 2-bit storage per cell, write times of around 50ns, and data retention of roughly 470–500 seconds, while the devices remain stable at 85°C. Meanwhile, the dual-gate design enhances retention by increasing the effective storage-node capacitance without increasing the cell area.

For now, 4F² dual-gate 2T0C DRAM-like memory is not a replacement for commodity DRAM. Yet, the work points to a route for embedded and 3D-stacked memory. However, the absence of disclosed lateral pitch, information about manufacturability, the multi-level cell architecture, and uncertainties about the feasibility of IGZO TFTs for mass production of memory cast doubt about the future of this memory architecture. But although we can question the practical applicability of 4F² dual-gate 2T0C DRAM-like memory architecture for existing applications and products, this does not belittle the achievement of Chinese scientists, who managed to make this technology work.

Micron this week announced that it would formally break ground on its fab site in Onondaga County, New York, on January 16. When fully built, the new site will house four fab modules and will cost around $100 billion in total. All four fab phases are scheduled to be completed by 2041, according to the company. The site will be an instrumental part of Micron's plan to build 40% of its DRAM output in the U.S. by the 2040s, up from virtually 0% today.

Five years of reviews and approvals

Micron's fab complex near Clay, New York, will be the largest semiconductor production facility in the state, as well as one of the largest fab complexes in the U.S., which will also outpace the company's site in Idaho when fully operational. In addition, $100 billion represents the largest private investment in the state ever, and one of the most expensive semiconductor manufacturing operations in America.

The groundbreaking ceremony to be held next Friday follows rigorous environmental review and necessary permit approvals, which has taken Micron around five years, something that delayed the whole project by around half a decade. Surprisingly, the groundbreaking ceremony precedes ground preparation, which is a rather unique situation. Normally, groundbreaking follows ground preparation, not preceding it. Yet, ground preparation will start more or less in-line with the schedule that the company outlined in 2025.

Micron's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) filing, published in November 2025, indicates that Fab 1 site preparation was set to start in late 2025, but was obviously delayed by several weeks. The construction of the first facility is now set to begin in late 2026, and will run through Q2 2028. Given that equipping a fab typically takes nine to 24 months (depending on how you count), Micron expects the fab to start operations as early as Q1 2029. However, it will still take some time before the fab is fully equipped and ramped, so expect tangible DRAM output from Micron's New York Fab 1 by 2030, around five years later than originally planned.

The same documents schedule Fab 2 to break ground in the second half of 2028, Fab 3 in the second half of 2033, and Fab 4 in the first half of 2039. As a result, Micron's fab site near Clay, New York, will reach its full build-out and volume production by 2045, again, roughly five years behind the original timeline.

A long road ahead

Micron's new campus in New York will manufacture DRAM using advanced process technologies and is ultimately planned to feature four fabs with four cleanrooms of 600,000 square feet (55,700 m²) each, constructed in four major build-out phases.

To put the 600,000 square feet number into context, GlobalFoundries Fab 8, located in Malta, New York, has a cleanroom space of approximately 460,000 square feet (though this is set to expand). The initial fab will cost around $20 billion, with successors expected to cost more, as Micron adopts more Low-NA EUV tools (priced around $235 million per unit) and eventually High-NA EUV tools (circa $400 million per unit) for its process technologies.

The New York complex will complement Micron's new site near Boise, Idaho. Last year, construction of the first new fab in Idaho (ID1) was completed, and the facility is now projected to begin wafer output in the second half of 2027. The company is also hard at work in its efforts to speed up the completion of its fab ID2, which will be built adjacent to ID1, benefiting from shared infrastructure and R&D co-location. It is projected that ID2 will start mass production of DRAM ahead of New York's Fab 1, though no further details are known.

Micron's wafer fabrication facilities near Boise, Idaho, will be adjacent to the company's R&D center, so will adopt the latest process technologies and will benefit from short feedback loops between the fab's process-integration teams and R&D personnel nearby. Such close collaboration will likely enable faster time-to-yield, which will improve Micron's profitability.

The close collaboration between process-integration and R&D teams will be particularly instrumental given Micron's current focus on high-capacity enterprise-grade DDR5 for servers and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI accelerators. Both types of products tend to consume large DRAM dies, so rapid yield improvement is particularly important for these kinds of applications, as larger DRAM dies are expensive to make.

The grand plan

Right now, Micron has five wafer production facilities globally: two 3D NAND fabs in Singapore, a DRAM fab in Japan near Hiroshima, and two DRAM fabs in Taiwan (near Taichung and near Taoyuan). In addition, the company has an HBM packaging facility in Singapore, plans to build another fab module in Japan, as well as an HBM assembly plant in the U.S.

Given that the HBM packaging facility in Virginia is expected to come online after Micron ramps up production of HBM memory devices in Idaho, expect it to begin assembling HBM5 or HBM6 stacks towards the end of the decade.

Micron's grand designs include building 40% of its DRAM output in the U.S. by sometime in the 2040s. To achieve this, Micron plans to invest around $150 billion in six fab modules in America through 2045, as well as spending an additional $50 billion on R&D over the same period. However, it is unclear whether $50 billion will be spent exclusively in the U.S. (which will be a major boost for the American semiconductor industry) or whether it will be spread across Micron's R&D facilities across the world.

In any case, Micron's groundbreaking ceremony in New York next week will mark a key landmark in the company's expansion in the U.S. as well as a major milestone in the broad return of DRAM production to America.

Colossal DRAM prices are reaching China's spot market, prompting a viral comparison on social media after it emerged that a standard shipping carton of server memory now costs more than some real estate properties in Shanghai. In China’s spot market, vendors are quoting prices that put a box of 100 high-capacity DDR5 server memory modules at roughly 5 million yuan, a sum that easily rivals or exceeds the value of many apartments for sale in Shanghai, according to recent reporting by the South China Morning Post.

The math behind this concerns 256GB DDR5 server modules from Samsung and SK hynix, which, according to figures cited by Chinese outlet Jiemian, have climbed beyond 40,000 yuan ($5,700) for individual sticks, with some listings reaching as high as 49,999 yuan. At those levels, a wholesale carton quickly crosses seven figures in U.S. dollar terms, effectively turning what was once bog-standard inventory into a serious asset.

Notably, these prices don’t seem to be being met by equally strong demand. Merchants operating in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei electronics market told the SCMP that while quotes have surged, buyers are increasingly reluctant to commit. One vendor described the recent increases as "totally outrageous," saying customers are backing away rather than chasing supply. Another summed up the mood more bluntly, pointing to "high asking prices, but no buyers."

Huaqiangbei plays a peculiar role in China’s semiconductor ecosystem. It sits between official contract channels and the gray or secondary market, where pricing can move quickly in response to shortages or sudden shifts in availability. That makes it a useful early indicator of stress, but also a place where prices can detach sharply from underlying demand. In this case, traders say the fear of being caught with extremely expensive inventory is freezing activity.

The global memory industry has swung from oversupply to constraint, with industry forecasts published late last year pointing to steep increases in DRAM contract prices in early 2026, driven by suppliers reallocating capacity toward server and high-bandwidth memory for AI workloads. Conventional DRAM output has tightened as a result, even in segments where end demand has not fully recovered.

China’s domestic memory ambitions do little to ease near-term pressure. While local producers are expanding and preparing new financing rounds, they remain small compared to the established Korean suppliers that dominate high-capacity server DRAM. For now, that leaves China’s market exposed to global supply decisions and prone to sudden price spikes.

The result is something of a paradox playing out in real time. Memory has become extraordinarily expensive on paper, expensive enough to be likened to property, yet that very expense is suppressing real demand. In Shenzhen, memory consignments may be worth an apartment, but they are seemingly much more difficult to sell.

A major Japanese PC and electronics store is pleading with customers to sell their old PC gear. “As a favor, if you buy a new one, please sell your gaming PC to our company,” begged the X-account of Sofmap Gaming in Akihabara, the Electric Town district of Tokyo (machine translation, h/t PC-Watch). The store shared a photo of some almost barren shelves, presumably taken at its triple-floor retail establishment.

“Gaming PCs, even used ones, are really out of stock right now,” wrote Sofmap, as an explanation for its call for old rigs. In the above Tweet, it asks customers to come in and sell their old PCs, highlighting that “We buy them back at pretty high prices...”

Moreover, the company underlined that it wasn’t going to be fussy. “Whether it's a gaming desktop or a laptop, or even a regular non-gaming one, we pretty much buy any PC...”

These are clearly the words of a PC retailer facing consumer demand that it just can’t meet. We reported on Akihabara store trying to limit new RAM, SSD, and HDD sales back in November.

Old becomes gold

The memory supply crunch impacted the PC industry faster and more deeply than many would have predicted. The insatiable demand for memory from AI data center makers, with their deep circular-funded pockets, caused the first pricing jolts in the PC memory market. That’s reasonable, as consumers and industry both need to be fed product from the same big-three memory makers.

Consumers saw the first impacts on modern DDR5 pricing. Some DDR5 kits, if you can find them in stock, like this Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-5200 16GB (2x8GB) on Amazon is now $235. That price is more than 3.5X what it cost last October ($66).

However, there remains some hope that DDR4 pricing and availability, thanks to old stocks and upgraders already having DIMMs, could provide a safe haven for continued PC building. This perception even seems to permeate PC component makers, with more DDR4-supporting motherboards being manufactured, plus hints about new processors for DDR4 platforms.

However, we are continuing to feel RAM crunch aftershocks. Prices of pre-built PCs were the next market affected. Graphics cards with more generous VRAM quotas are also strongly rumored to be facing constraints. We should at least expect a price rise for GPU-restocks, with next-gen GPUs rumored to be delayed…

Now, underlined by this Japan retail report, it even seems like stocks of old used PCs are being snapped up by consumers.

How old is too old?

Of course, some old PCs are too old for retailers like Sofmap, even during today’s PC drought. We’d expect retailers that dabble in used PCs for non-enthusiast users to limit their purchases to DDR4 platforms, with hardware support that slots above the Windows 11 minimum requirements (Intel 8^th Gen, AMD Ryzen 2000).

There’s an entirely different market for really old PCs, though. Vintage computers of certain eras have been increasingly pricey for quite a long time now. I was in Japan this time last year and astonished by the bountiful supplies of old PCs at used electronics retailers like Hard-Off. Hopefully, these computing gems (see the above picture), many of which live in the awkward zone between vintage and modern, will remain plentiful and affordable for PC retro-fans and tinkerers alike.

Memory prices are booming, pricing out many prospective PC builders in 2026. But, according to AMD's SVP & GM of the Client Business Unit, Rahul Tikoo, it's nothing to be worried about. During a roundtable interview with Tom’s Hardware at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada, we asked Tikoo how the company is responding to skyrocketing DRAM and storage prices, and how that might affect AMD going into 2026, as market intelligence firm IDC forecasts that PC shipments to fall by as much as 9% this year.

“We don’t see an issue there other than, you know, tightness leads to higher prices, eventually. So, from that perspective, I’m not seeing any impact to our business this year,” the executive told Tom’s Hardware. “I think that people who need the technology need the technology, and they’re going to buy the technology — though consumers might decide that they have a choice to make on how much memory, what CPU.” He also added, “Which is okay because we have a wide assortment of products available.”

AMD currently offers 215 SKUs, which are "AI PC" capable. There are also an equal or larger number of non-AI PC options available from the chipmaker. This means prospective PC buyers across a host of budgets and form factors may be able to find an AMD CPU to fit their build and budget. Old AM4 CPUs still in production have been topping Amazon’s sales charts, with another AMD executive even teasing the return of older Zen 3 processors.

Tikoo’s answer is logical — after all, AMD does not influence the memory chip supply chain, and they’re also seemingly not directly affected. Though the company sells Radeon GPUs, which are gaining ground on Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards, its market share is still small, sitting at just 7%. On the other hand, Nvidia dominates the GPU space, with a staggering 92% footprint. Therefore, it's likely that Nvidia is heavily affected, especially since Nvidia is reportedly no longer supplying VRAM to its GPU board partners. So, the only thing that it can really do is to offer a wider range of SKUs that utilize older DDR4 memory, which is currently slightly more affordable than DDR5.

Unfortunately, it offers little comfort to the average consumer — especially those who have already invested in a Zen 4 or Zen 5 chip, as the AM5 platform exclusively uses DDR5 memory. In line with what industry players are saying, you should only buy RAM kits or SSDs right now if you need them. If you don’t have an urgent requirement for more memory or storage, then we recommend you wait out the RAM-pocalypse before eyeing up a new upgrade, or find a solid bundle deal.

Although Tikoo doesn't see a major impact to AMD's business from DRAM shortages, the reality of higher pricing is hard to ignore. Estimates on when the DRAM shortage could ease range anywhere from six months to multiple years. As we begin 2026, we'll keep a close eye on memory pricing and where it's headed.

Just as CES 2026 ramps up, we may have arrived at the nadir of the RAM pricing crisis. Two bundles, posted and sold by Newegg itself, offer two G.Skill Trident 128GB DDR5 RAM kits at a staggering price of $1459 (or $1469, if you like RGB), with a measly $50 Starbucks gift card. The Newegg product listings read: "Free Starbucks Gift Card with purchase, Drink Coffee while you game!!", a truly historic low point in the history of PC building. No doubt, you'll likely be using that very same gift card on your way to work, to earn back the dollars spent on this exorbitantly expensive memory.

DRAM pricing has been spiralling since October, and companies may be looking for ways to sweeten the deal, as prices ramp up. Elsewhere in the industry, PC companies have been looking for creative ways to get around things. For example, Gigabyte is launching DDR4-based AM4 motherboards in 2026, almost a decade after the socket officially launched.

The G.Skill kit itself costs more than a brand-new RTX 5080 GPU, which is usually the most expensive part of a high-end PC build. But in an era where AI companies are willing to spend big on DRAM ICs, it's consumers who end up paying the price. If the Newegg offer doesn't entice you, that's not entirely surprising.

An IDC report suggests that due to rising memory costs, the PC market could shrink by 9%, under the most pessimistic scenarios. However, it doesn't take a genius to realize that paying such high prices for a bundle with "free" coffee isn't going to win over many customers. PCPartPicker's memory pricing tool also suggests that the average selling price for a 64GB DDR5-6000 RAM kit has skyrocketed to over $800, almost four times higher than September 2025 levels. But that's not to say you can't find any deals entirely, as they still exist, just be prepared to pay over the odds, compared to the prices seen earlier this year.

If it was becoming too easy for you to navigate the ongoing DRAM shortage, there's another entry on the leaderboards for the most expensive memory you can buy. Nemix, an American company, has just listed a whopping 2 TB of DDR5 ECC RAM on Amazon for $38,999, while you can also find the same sticks in a 4 TB configuration for $76,999.99 on Nemix's website.

Spec-wise, you're looking at four kits of 2 x 256 GB sticks for two terabytes — 512 GB per box, eight sticks total — and eight kits of 2 x 256 GB sticks for four terabytes, running at 6400 MT/s with a CAS latency of 52 across both configs.

Nemix offers a lifetime warranty on these, but a quick Google search shows mixed online reviews, which should weigh on a customer's decision if they're spending this amount on memory. Regardless, the prices are still the main highlight here.

You don't need us to tell you that's car money for server RAM. You can get a Ford Mustang in lieu of that 2 TB setup, or a Tesla Model S instead of the 4 TB option. Even before the current component crisis, server memory has always been more expensive than standard desktop memory because it's registered and error-correcting (ECC), which makes it RDIMM rather than UDIMM.

See, in normal DDR5 RAM that we use in our gaming computers, bit flips occur rarely, but they're mostly harmless beyond a crash. Servers can't afford that; they need the utmost stability, so they choose ECC memory that can actively correct single-bit errors on the fly. The sticks also have an extra buffer chip sitting between the memory and the CPU which helps reduce the load on the latter, and allow for higher capacities.

Therefore, server memory is fundamentally still DDR5, still using the same modules, but it's different enough to warrant the added cost. You've been able to purchase high-capacity DDR4 server RAM for some time. We found Nemix's own 2 TB kit for $13,468.89 on Amazon, which was only hiked by around $6,000 in the past few months. Relatively generous, if you consider the rest of the market.

The DDR5 RAM we're highlighting is new, though, as it landed on Amazon just 29 days ago, when it was $32,997 at the start, then $34,012, and finally $38,999 today, when it was spotted by @FanlessTech. Over the past month, even this kit has experienced a similar ~$6,000 increase.

We should point out that you can build a Mac Studio cluster with 2 TB of RAM for around $50,000, so this might actually not be a great deal depending on who you are. However, if you're running a server and need this kind of pool, you're already past being shocked at these prices. The world moves differently up there.

An enterprising Russian enthusiast has taken to building his own memory amid the extreme price increases driven by a global shortage. As the world suffers from dried-up memory inventories, some people are wondering when things will go back to normal, while others are looking toward exotic alternatives like SODIMM-to-UDIMM adapters. Now, a bunch of modders in Russia have taken matters into their own hands and are proposing a radically inventive solution: making your own RAM by assembling the relevant parts yourself.

The idea comes from Russian YouTuber PRO Hi-Tech's Telegram channel, where a local enthusiast known as "Vik-on" already performs VRAM upgrades for GPUs, so this is a relatively safe operation for him. According to Vik-on, empty RAM PCBs can be sourced from China for as little as $6.40 per DIMM. The memory chips themselves, though, that's a different challenge.

The so-called spot market for memory doesn't really exist at the moment, since no manufacturer has the production capacity to make more RAM, and even if they did, they'd sell to better-paying AI clients instead. Still, you can find SK Hynix and Samsung chips across Chinese marketplaces if you search for the correct part number, as shown in the attached screenshots.

Moreover, the Telegram thread says it would cost roughly 12,000 Russian Rubles ($152) to build a 16 GB stick with "average" specs, which is about the same as a retail 16 GB kit. There's also a ZenTimings snapshot showing CL28 timings, claiming that even relatively high-end DDR5 RAM can be built using this method, but it won't be cost-effective.

Therefore, it doesn't make too much sense just yet to get the BGA rework station out and assemble your own DDR5. Things are expected to get worse, though, so maybe these Russians are on to something. We were able to spot DDR5 ICs on AliExpress ourselves, and GDDR6(X) was even more common, so there's certainly a market for it.

On the contrary, used kits can be used to salvage memory chips cheaply, or laptop memory can come in handy since it uses the same ICs. These chips are desoldered from the donor board and reattached (reballed) to the new PCB. We've actually seen something similar with DDR4 memory before, and at one point, China's crackdown on smuggling had caused reballed DRAM prices to drop further, but we're far from that now.

RAM prices are soaring globally, with some system integrators even offering options to bring your own RAM, now seemingly succeeded by build-your-own RAM. Competition breeds innovation, goes the saying, but desperation can often drive similar motivations, as is evident in this latest development in the ongoing memory crisis.

With the memory crisis reaching its peak and expected to only worsen, even the slightest of mix-ups are exacerbated and feel almost absurd. That's what happened to an unlucky user on the r/pcmasterrace subreddit, who sent in their 96 GB kit of Corsair Vengeance DDR5 memory for an RMA, but received seemingly fake RAM in return that didn't work.

Corsair sent me DDR5 Ram Replacement Sticks and the new RAM looks like this? from r/pcmasterrace

For some context, 96 GB of DDR5 desktop memory will run you at least $1,000 today — that's how much it is listed for on Corsair's website — so, obviously, you don't want it to get misplaced in some warranty claim. What happened in u/Loudenoughforme's case, though, was instead of receiving the proper replacement, Corsair sent them dummy sticks known as a "Light Enhancement Kit."

As the name suggests, these are empty DIMMs designed to look like real RAM, but they contain no memory inside, as they're only meant to enhance aesthetics. They have RGB strips on top that light up when slotted in, making their sole purpose to populate all the RAM slots on your motherboard for that complete look, without spending the extra money.

There's real logic behind doing this as running 4 (or more) sticks of RAM at the same time can reduce performance; in most cases, two sticks are ideal and preferred for high-speed DDR5, so decorative kits can really come in handy. Anyhow, Corsair's Light Enhancement Kit only costs $35 and is really easy to spot, thanks to the oddly-spaced pin layout that stands out against the dense contact points for actual memory.

Therefore, the commenters were quick to point this out and someone from the Corsair team even managed to directly get in touch with the user, asking for their ticket number. So, it seems like the case is closed and OP should receive their highly-coveted, working RAM soon. As for who this mix-up can be attributed to on the back end, well, that's anyone guess at this point.

As prices for DDR5 RAM get ever higher and availability becomes ever scarcer, it's unfortunately no surprise that the number of corresponding scams increases. The latest story comes from an unlucky European shopper who got DDR4 sticks in DDR5 clothing.

The story in question comes from the shores of Reddit. User and enthusiast Leading-Growth-3861 (Growth) already owns a prebuilt PC, but he was rolling his own build for the first time. He chose a good time, as supplies for components are dwindling rapidly.

Upon opening the RAM package and inspecting the DIMMs, he noticed the heatspreader on the sticks seemed a bit loose. Even still, he went to plug them in... and couldn't, because the notch on the PCB wouldn't line up no matter what he did. That's when he realized what had happened: someone had removed the DDR5 sticks beneath the heatspreaders and inserted DDR4 sticks to make the scam appear convincing.

Where it gets interesting is that, according to Growth, the RAM was not marked as second-hand or open-box, merely "Sold and Dispatched by Amazon," signaling that it was meant to be a fresh, new item. In turn, this seems to indicate that the replacement theft occurred somewhere along Amazon's supply chain, as Growth made no remarks about the main box the item(s) arrived in.

His tale thankfully has a reasonably happy ending, as Growth got a refund from Amazon (UK, presumably, given his mention of pounds). The e-tailer even went so far as to refund him more than he paid, since he originally paid "about £100 less than what it's currently priced."

This latest story is but one in a long line of scams involving DDR5 ever since the proverbial hyperinflation started. Not too long ago, a Spanish buyer got DDR2 modules with weights posing as DDR5, while another Reddit user ordered laptop memory and got his package stolen. It's a sad state of affairs that leads us to post this advice, but if you're ordering PC components, ensure you video the opening of the package so that you're protected against any potential surprises like this one.

SK hynix on Thursday said that its range-topping 256 GB DDR5 RDIMM based on 32 Gb memory devices has passed the Intel Data Center Certified process, the industry's first memory module at this capacity to do so. Normally, certification of a memory module by Intel would be mundane, but this module is special; it combines capacity, low power consumption, and performance, thus potentially saving data center operators millions of dollars.

AI servers not only consume plenty of premium high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used on AI accelerators like Nvidia B300, but also tons of commodity server DDR5 SDRAM that connect to x86 processors. A single high-capacity DDR5 memory module can consume up to 15W or even 25W (depending on performance, capabilities, and workloads), so a fully equipped 12-channel Xeon 6 memory subsystem can draw between 180W and 300W, comparable to the CPU's power consumption.

A 32 Gb memory chip made on SK hynix's 1b process technology (5^th Generation 10nm-class DRAM process) consumes significantly less power than two 16 Gb memory ICs made on the company's 1a production node (4^th Generation 10nm-class DRAM node), so using a 256 GB DDR5 RDIMM based on the latest DRAMs leads to significant energy savings.

SK hynix claims that these new 256 GB DDR5 RDIMMs "achieve up to approximately 18% lower power consumption than previous 256 GB products."

Offering 32.4W lower power consumption per single-CPU Xeon 6 machine translates into significant savings for modern AI or hyperscale cloud deployments that typically use tens of thousands of machines.

As a result, a relatively simple Intel certification to earn the Intel Data Center Certified badge could drive success for SK hynix in the data center market, particularly in the Xeon 6-based AI server space.

"We are now able to respond more swiftly to customer needs, solidifying our leadership in the server DDR5 DRAM market," said Sangkwon Lee, head of DRAM Product Planning & Enablement at SK hynix. "As a full-stack AI memory creator, we will actively address the growing demand for high-performance, low-power, and high-capacity memory solutions to further enhance customer satisfaction."

A buyer in Spain has reported receiving a sealed DDR5 memory kit that contained counterfeit parts, raising fresh concerns about return fraud affecting high-value PC components sold as new through major online retailers, as AI-induced supply shortages cause prices to skyrocket. First reported by VideoCardz after a reader tip, this latest example of memory mail fraud involves an ADATA XPG Caster 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL40 kit purchased from Amazon.

According to the account, the buyer ordered four identical kits, all of which were shipped from Ireland. Three arrived first, with the fourth following a few days later. One kit was resold unopened, another was installed and functioned normally, and the issue only became apparent when a third box was opened during a later system build. Despite being shrink-wrapped and appearing untouched from the outside, the contents inside were not DDR5 memory at all.

Instead, the box reportedly contained two much older DDR or DDR2-era memory modules with printed stickers applied to resemble DDR5. Alongside them was a thin metal ballast plate that appears to have been included to replicate the expected weight of a genuine kit. The buyer says the stickers could plausibly fool a buyer unfamiliar with hardware components, although on closer inspection, the reader admits the box print quality looks questionable.

A fourth kit was left unopened to allow for a direct side-by-side comparison between a legitimate package and the compromised one. Based on the packaging condition and the mixed outcome across multiple boxes from the same order, the most likely explanation is return fraud, where a previous customer swapped the contents, resealed the box, and returned it, after which it was resold as new.

We’ve seen plenty of examples of this in the past, and it’s an issue that’s only going to become more prevalent given the current state of the memory market. In this case, the addition of a ballast plate suggests an attempt to trick whoever processed the Amazon return by adding weight to the box, as well as tricking the final recipient, who wouldn’t think twice about opening it since nothing would have felt amiss.

According to the buyer, a return request has already been filed with Amazon, though it’s not clear whether a refund has been or will be issued. While recording an unboxing can help document the condition of a product, such evidence is not guaranteed to resolve disputes with retailers or payment providers. In cases where refunds are denied, chargebacks may be the only remaining option.

Earlier this week, Dell was wrongly flagged for charging even more than Apple for memory upgrades in their laptops, which later turned out to be a misinformed call; nevertheless, Framework was quick to pounce on the opportunity and call out fellow vendors, while warning its own RAM price hikes to follow soon.

The story begins with YouTuber Max Tech, aka Vadim Yuryev, who took to X in a now-deleted post to express his disappointment with laptop memory prices. In particular, he posted a screenshot from Dell's website, showing a Snapdragon X Plus-equipped XPS 13 with 16 GB of RAM. The issue? Going from 16 GB to 32 GB apparently cost a whopping $550... at least in the screenshot.

In reality, the upgrade's worth just $150 on Dell's site right now, at least on the laptop Yuryev's original tweet referenced. For context, Apple has charged $400 for the same 16 GB upgrade for years, way before any DRAM shortage, so people were rightfully shocked. However, as mentioned, this screenshot was either actually altered or, more likely, showed a $550 price hike because memory wasn't the only thing being upgraded.

See, Dell's laptop configurator works in a confusing manner where selecting certain options triggers others to automatically change, too. For instance, the jump from 16 GB to 32 GB RAM may have come with a jump in SSD capacity as well, or even a higher spec'd CPU, but since these changes happened silently in the background, they look like standalone charges for the RAM alone.

As you can see in our screenshot above, when you select the 32 GB RAM option, it prompts you to confirm the change since the CPU will be upgraded alongside it — from a Snapdragon X Plus to X Elite, so the total cost of the upgrade is $300, but Dell is offering a $150 discount on that. Try playing around with the configurator yourself to discover just how much of a maze it is, though you can still tell what's changing. A pricing error or perhaps a currency/region issue in the original screenshot also can't be ruled out, but one thing is certain: Dell definitely isn't charging $550 for 32GB of RAM. At least not yet anyway.

The OP must've realized his oversight after replies and media coverage pointed it out, at which point he deleted the original post. Unfortunately, Framework already replied with a scathing post, letting users know that it'll need to raise memory prices soon as well, but that it won't overcharge customers like "apparently" Dell and Apple. A point made based on erroneous information, but perhaps deserved nonetheless.

Framework's tweet remains up, but the post above it from Vadim is gone. However, Framework's point that its memory upgrades are more affordable than rival laptop makers (for now) still stands. Moving forward, that will change. "We are going to need to increase our memory pricing soon," Framework warned in a follow-up. "But we won’t use this as an excuse to gouge customers like Dell apparently has, and that Apple does as their norm," the company added. Only time will tell when Framework will increase its prices and by how much. A few weeks ago, the company stopped selling standalone RAM in order to stop the supply from being consumed by scalpers.

While us mere mortals are stuck facing the aftermath of the AI boom with soaring DDR5 prices and dwindling inventories, a chance hunter on Reddit has bagged possibly the best deal we've seen in a while. A fully-fledged, high-end custom gaming PC with all the bells and whistles — including, most importantly, 64 GB of DDR5 RAM — that would cost at least $2,500 to build right now. Our lucky buyer? They got it for just $600 at a pawn shop, and that's negotiated down from $750!

This win was posted by u/uneektnt on the r/pcmasterrace subreddit, where they unwittingly hoped it's "decent enough for some games," not knowing the beast they'd just acquired. Specs-wise, we're looking at a Core i9-14900KS processor, the best consumer chip Intel has made to date (yes, it beats Arrow Lake). That's paired with Nvidia's RTX 4070 Ti Super, a proper 4K-capable GPU that churns through 1440p-Ultra gaming like butter.

Got this beast at the pawnshop today from r/pcmasterrace

If that weren't already crazy enough, the PC also came with 64 GB (32GB x 2) of T-Force Delta RGB 6000 MT/s memory that's sitting at a casual $689.99 on Newegg right now — so, the entire PC was cheaper than just the cost of the RAM. To put that into perspective, this exact same kit cost less than $200 a few months ago. Aside from RAM, storage has also seen massive surges but, unfortunately, u/uneektnt didn't disclose that info, though we can at least see an M.2 SSD mounted in the pictures.

Taking to PC Part Picker, kitting out a similar system turned up a value of about $1,800 without a GPU, which we left out since most RTX 4070 Ti Super variants are overpriced right now. Generally, street pricing for this card floats around the $800 mark, and the cheapest we could find was a $979 PNY model. Regardless, you're looking at over $2,500 of parts that this lucky buyer was able to snag for almost one-fifth of its worth.

With that, the duology is complete: both a PS5 and, somehow, a high-end PC are cheaper than 64 GB of DDR5 RAM. Even if memory prices weren't in a doozy, this is an incredible deal that would've cost at least twice as much in routine times. It also serves as a nice contrast to a previous story where someone traded 192 GB of memory for an RTX 5070 Ti, which is a worse deal than it sounds.

"With great prices comes great responsibility", or so the saying goes. The DDR5 shortage has led to near-hyperinflation on the best RAM, and stores everywhere are raising prices by the day, all while manufacturers continue to issue alerts. Some chipmakers are dropping out of the consumer market entirely. However, the ongoing crisis does make for some amusing, or should we say heart-warming anecdotes, like this Facebook PC enthusiast who traded 192GB of DDR5-5200 RAM worth $2,200 for one RTX 5070 Ti worth roughly $800, despite his memory being worth roughly triple what he got in return.

The trade took place in the Facebook group "Pc, Gaming, Setups, and Building Advice", where one Abdul Kareem As, who had a Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 C38 192GB (4x48GB), traded the RAM haul for a PNY RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. Like us, you're probably thinking that this negotiation wasn't the smartest deal in history.

Abdul was fully aware of the apparent delta in market value between the two items, though. In a comment, he says that "he's not greedy like others here" and says he reportedly bought the RAM for $375 and ultimately got an RTX 5070 Ti for that amount.

True to his word, he states that it "would have felt unethical to sell at such a high price" and that he's happy with his decision. Likewise, he didn't want to parcel out the kit for maximum profit either. It's safe to say he bows to no one, and this is probably the best Christmas story we techies will see this year.

The exchange took place on Thursday, and today's prices pin the Corsair Vengeance DDR5-5200 C38 192GB memory kit's value at around $2,201.99, which is more than 3X the $649.99 price when the memory kit hit the retail market last year. We did some digging for the cheapest no-frills memory and found a Crucial 96 GB DDR5-5600 kit for $749.99, so you could complete the set with two of those. For a 4 x 48 GB kit, you'd have to spring $1,999.99 for G.Skill's 192 GB DDR-6000 set.

As for the graphics card, it's a no-frills, solid PNY RTX 5070 Ti. Another dive into Newegg pulls out a couple of RTX 5070 Ti graphics cards from Zotac, MSI, and Gigabyte for $749.99, with the standard low-end tag hovering around $800. So all things considered, Abdul's grand generosity had a $600 to $700 value, meaning "fair" value for the trade would have been closer to two 5070 Ti cards, not one.

He also mentioned that he had a choice between getting the graphics card or an Asus 27" QD-OLED 240 Hz display. There's no telling what exact model that would be, but it's possible it's the ROG Strix XG27AQDMG, a 1440p WOLED display that goes for $699. If it's specifically a QD-OLED display, our bet is on the ROG Strix XG27UCDMG, a 4K variant that would set you back a nice $949. Abdul would perhaps have been wiser to exchange the display for both pieces of hardware, or for one of them plus some cash.

Nevertheless, while it's easy to deride Abdul's negotiation savvy, it's worth noting that the rise in DDR5 prices was so rapid and violent that anyone not following the space closely might not be aware of the price crisis. Even so, it seems Abdul was fully aware of the value of the goods he was carrying, but decided instead to make someone's day.

The ongoing structural change of the DRAM market caused by the shift of manufacturing capacities to production of high bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI accelerators has already caused a massive price hike of commodity DDR and LPDDR memory — but the worst is yet to come.

According to the general manager of Chinese memory giant TeamGroup, contract prices of DRAM and NAND products have almost doubled recently. Supply of commodity memory is set to worsen in early 2026, and normalization is unlikely before 2027 – 2028 when more production capacity emerges, reports DigiTimes.

December contract prices of some categories of DRAM and 3D NAND increased 80% to 100% month-on-month, according to Gerry Chen, general manager of TeamGroup, a prominent maker of memory modules, solid-state drives, and products based on 3D NAND. Spot prices tell a similar story. A 16Gb DDR5 chip was priced at $6.84 on average at DRAMeXchange on September 20. On November 19 average spot price was $24.83, but on December 1 average spot price of a 16 Gb DDR5 IC increased to $27.2 (session low was $19, session high was $37).

Essentially, memory alone for a 16 GB memory module costs around $217.6. A PCB, assembly, and testing, additional parts like PMIC will add $8 – $10, so a 16 GB memory module now costs $225 – $228 without manufacturer premiums, logistics, and taxes.

Chen expects availability of DRAM and NAND to worsen in the first and second quarters of 2026 once distribution stockpiles are exhausted. At that point, he cautions, obtaining allocation could become difficult regardless of willingness to pay. In his view, relief would not come quickly: he projects the current shortages to extend into late 2027 and potentially beyond.

The reason for shortages of commodity memory is well known: DRAM makers reallocate their production capacities to HBM (which uses larger DRAM dies than commodity types of memory) that is consumed by AI accelerators, like Nvidia's B300 or custom accelerators by large cloud service providers, such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft. These companies tend to book supply years in advance, so at some point, DRAM makers will not have enough capacity to meet demand for commodity DRAMs.

Building a new greenfield fab takes at least three years, so even if companies like Micron, Samsung, or SK hynix made a decision to build a memory fab today, it would come online in late 2028 at the earliest and would be fully ramped only sometime in 2029.

When it comes to NAND, NAND suppliers also prioritize large customers, which happen to be makers of AI servers. Chen does not expect capacity to swing back to PCs, smartphones, and other consumer devices in 2026, which will affect the prices of these devices.

The effects are clear to see. Enthusiasts are seeing RAM prices for custom-built PCs increase by orders of magnitude week on week, with 64GB of DDR5 RAM now costing more than a PS5 in some cases. This week's Black Friday and Cyber Monday RAM deals might be the last chance to buy RAM before prices skyrocket even further.

A PC builder who ordered new RAM found nothing but an empty package on arrival, according to a thread posted November 28 on the PCMR Reddit. The user said the parcel — which included a Crucial 32GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM memory module — had been reported as delivered at 4:15 am with a fake signature.

While this case involves a single buyer and a single courier, it sits within a broader trend. Posts across Reddit’s PC hardware communities show a pattern of components disappearing in transit, particularly small and valuable parts that are easy to pocket. In several threads, customers recount receiving empty boxes and cartons filled with low-value household goods. Some deliveries were marked as completed before the buyer even had a chance to check the doorstep.

The recurrence of these and similar stories has sparked an ongoing online conversation about who is responsible when a package arrives looking wrong and what evidence helps when a retailer questions the claim. Parcel theft is rising in the UK — where sellers remain legally responsible for packages until they’re handed over to the lawful recipient — and the U.S., where regulators and consumer-rights groups have noted an increase in complaints tied to delivery disputes.

My ram got stolen from the courier from r/pcmasterrace

In many of the cases described online, buyers say they are asked to secure a police incident number before a retailer will process a refund. That can be straightforward when the package has clearly been tampered with on arrival. However, several Reddit users describe being passed back and forth between the retailer, courier, and local police as each side tries to assign responsibility to someone else.

Unfortunately, package theft is especially problematic when you’re putting together a custom build. A missing memory kit can halt an entire upgrade, and a stolen GPU or CPU can leave someone with a half-assembled system and an RMA window ticking away on the parts that did arrive intact. That’s not to mention ongoing challenges related to supply chain uncertainty and price increases that add more time and cost.

Many buyers who have been stung by this before take similar mitigating steps. They photograph the parcel before opening it, record the condition of any tape or labels, and film the unboxing if the item is especially valuable. Several say they avoid doorstep drops entirely for components and instead use staffed pickup points, parcel rooms in buildings, or secure lockers. Others fall back on credit-card chargebacks when an investigation stalls.

With high-end components now being shipped in increasingly smaller, lighter boxes, they pass quickly through a network that often leaves customers to prove that the package they opened is not the package that left the warehouse.

Like many China-based semiconductor producers that have been hit with U.S. export restrictions, CXMT is one of the companies that prefers to fly under the U.S. government’s radar, so it rarely shares its achievements publicly. Nonetheless, from time to time, the company has to showcase its latest products to attract potential customers. Recently, the company disclosed that it had developed DDR5-8000 and LPDDR5X-10667 memory devices for PCs and mobile devices, according to @tphuang.

CXMT didn't disclose which fabrication process it used to produce its latest DDR5 and LPDDR5X memory devices, though it is unlikely to be a breakthrough, as the company doesn't have access to the leading-edge fab tools required to build DRAMs using sub-18nm manufacturing technologies. Nonetheless, given the speed bins and capacities offered by CXMT, it has managed to produce advanced DRAMs without leading-edge lithography or other advanced tools, which is surprising in itself.

CXMT’s DDR5 chips with an 8,000 MT/s data transfer rate come in 16 Gb (2 GB) and 24 Gb (3 GB) capacities, thus enabling module makers to build both binary (16 GB, 32 GB, etc.) DIMMs and non-binary DIMMs (24 GB, 48 GB, etc.) for applications that support them. DDR5-8000 is not the highest-speed JEDEC-standardized bin (DDR5-8800 is), so CXMT still has room for further development.

As for LPDDR5X-10667 memory ICs, they will also be available in 12 Gb and 16 Gb capacities, but for some reason, CXMT didn't disclose the capacity of the actual packages that it will sell to smartphone makers and other customers.

We do not know how quickly CXMT can ramp up production of its latest memory devices and whether it can make 24 Gb chips in decent volumes with decent yields.

Launching high-performance, high-capacity memory chips is a major development for CXMT, as it not only proves that the company can continue improving its products on an annual cadence despite sanctions imposed by the U.S. government and its allies, but also serves a broader purpose: ensuring China’s semiconductor self-sufficiency.

At a trade event in China, CXMT has demonstrated a wide range of memory modules aimed at a broad spectrum of devices, including unbuffered DIMMs for PCs, SODIMMs for laptops, CUDIMM and CSODIMMs with clock drivers that are aimed at higher-end desktops and notebooks, as well as RDIMMs, MRDIMMs, and TFF MRDIMMs for servers.

RAM pricing is quickly developing into an existential problem for high-end PC gaming new-builds and upgrades. If you didn’t already have an uneasy feeling about a 64GB RAM kit costing more than an entire PS5, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney’s sage observations might begin to stir your gizzard.

Sweeney’s social media musings, embedded above, came in reaction to a fellow Twitterer’s observation. In brief, the Fortnite figurehead was commenting on a post expressing shock-horror that a Crucial Pro DDR5-6000 kit they bought from Amazon for $260 in mid-October, jumped to $498 little more than a month later. This is despite being in the midst of the Black Friday ‘deals’ extravaganza, which seems to mean nothing in relation to this vital PC system component.

On the massive inflation observed by the Amazon shopper in the U.S., Sweeney remarked, “RAM price increases will be a real problem for high-end gaming for several years.” That’s a worryingly far-reaching prediction. Many users might be able to fend off new build or upgrade plans for a few months, but if we are talking several years, plans for next-gen systems could be adversely affected, or have to be shelved long-term.

Don't blame the resellers (yet)

Sweeney explained to his social media followers that “Factories are diverting leading-edge DRAM capacity to meet AI needs, where data centers are bidding far higher than consumer device makers.” That’s simple economics, where DRAM makers shift production to more profitable lines. It is hard to blame them for making hay while the sun shines, with the boom/bust cycles the industry is prone to. However, the Epic boss’s statement avoids pointing fingers at consumer-facing companies like Amazon or Crucial for engaging in any pricing shenanigans.

We have also recently highlighted the perils of buying PC RAM kits, even as we approach the peak of Black Friday. Great deals on great RAM kits like the G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 6000 kit on Newegg at $599 ($40 off), are definitely not that great if we step back and look at prices for just a few weeks prior. This same G.Skill Trident Z5 RAM kit was sold for as low as $220 as recently as September 20. That shift will give plenty of folks non-buyer's remorse.

Of course, the AI server building frenzy isn’t just affecting DRAM markets. In recent months, it has also been sucking bargains from consumer SSD-land, and effects are even now being felt on storage solutions like HDDs and high-capacity microSD cards. Where will it end? Some financial soothsayers have gotten more vocal about an AI bubble popping in recent weeks. However, Sweeney doesn’t seem to feel like an AI bubble is anywhere near popping pressure, going by his “several years” prediction.

Thanks to the AI boom devouring the majority of the world's memory and storage supply, end-consumers are now facing increasingly inflated prices for common components. DDR5 RAM, a necessity for building current-gen Intel or AMD systems, has now reached record highs in terms of pricing; a 64 GB kit of G.Skill's Trident Z5 Neo 6000 MT/s RAM is listed at $599.99 on Newegg right now — that's $200 more than a PS5 Slim or a Microsoft Xbox Series S, and just $50 shy off an entire PS5 Pro at the moment.

That $600 price tag has a 6% discount already applied to its original $640 ask, as part of a Black Friday deal. For context, a more exclusive 64 GB limited edition Corsair Dominator Titanium kit cost only $349 when we reviewed it a few months ago. Earlier this year, we posted about DDR5 deals on Prime Day where the standard edition of the same kit was just $299, and you could get other comparable 64 GB kits for as low as $140.

A quick glance at price tracking data, and G.Skill's Trident Z5 Neo kit has regularly sat at $205-$220 for the past few months, and it was only in late October that it started to pick up steam. From September 20th when it was listed at $220, to $640 now. In just 2 months we've witnessed an astounding ~190% surge.

Right as this particular Trident Z5 Neo kit began to skyrocket in price was when the industry first started to pick up on the affects of the AI crunch. A few days later we published our initial coverage on DDR5 RAM price hikes; from there, the situation has only worsened to reach worrying levels.

Insane mark-up aside, the kit itself is one of the best on the market, recommend as the top pick for DDR5 memory in our roundup. Unfortunately, it seems like high prices are going to be the story going forward. The surge in demand for AI projects will see production lines will prioritizing serving AI clients, leaving consumers to pay through the nose or make the best of what they have. Experts speculate that both DRAM and NAND constraints will become normal throughout 2026 as Big Tech looks to pursue AGI.

In the meantime, hard drives are vanishing from store shelves to the point where microSD cards are serving as a feasible replacement for them. Large-capacity nearline HDDs are backordered for 2 years, as a result of which QLC SSDs are now being swept up at alarming rates. Many distributors are even selling memory and motherboards bundled together to combat the global shortage.

Even Valve's upcoming Steam Machine will end up costing more than expected due to the production window of the device aligning with the DRAM crisis. That being said, memory has almost always lived in a rollercoaster cycle, with manufacturers oversupplying for a couple of years, then undersupplying for the next few. Looking at it optimistically, you're probably going to find DDR5 at bargain prices again in 2027.

Due to shortages of commodity dynamic random access memory, prices of DRAM have already increased by around 50% year to date and are on track to increase by a further 30% in the fourth quarter and then by 20% more in early 2026, according to data from Counterpoint Research seen by Tom's Hardware. Server-grade DDR5 prices are likely to continue rising and double year over year by late 2026. Furthermore, as Nvidia uses LPDDR5X memory with its Grace and Vera CPUs, smartphone-class memory prices are poised to climb as well, Counterpoint asserts.

Demand for HBM memory — which uses more wafer space than commodity memory ICs — and the lack of new DRAM manufacturing capacity due to come online shortly are driving commodity DRAM prices to new highs. A 16GB DDR5 chip used to cost $6.84 on average at DRAMeXchange on September 20. As of November 19, its spot price was $24.83 on average (session low was $17.5, whereas session high was $35, which is why the average price was inflated). Without a doubt, this has an immediate effect on the DIY PC market, but it will certainly affect other parts of the industry, including those that tend to stockpile inventory worth months of sales, such as the automotive, server, and smartphone manufacturing sectors.

Given the galloping increases in DRAM prices, Counterpoint models a scenario in which DDR5 64GB RDIMM units could cost twice as much by the end of 2026 as in Q1 2025. Furthermore, as Nvidia uses LPDDR5X in its Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin platforms and as demand for such servers is skyrocketing, prices of smartphone memory will also rise in the coming quarters. Indeed, each Grace CPU in today's platform is equipped with 480 GB of LPDDR5X memory (a premium smartphone uses 16 GB of LPDDR5X), but this is going to at least double with Vera CPUs, possibly straining LPDDR5X supply.

"The bigger risk on the horizon is with advanced memory as Nvidia's recent pivot to LPDDR means it is a customer on the scale of a major smartphone maker — a seismic shift for the supply chain which can’t easily absorb this scale of demand," said MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint Research.

Budget smartphones that depend on LPDDR4 will be the first to feel the impact, but higher-end handsets and broader consumer electronics are also exposed. Some mid-tier and premium devices may face bill-of-materials increases of roughly 25%, which will either tighten manufacturers' margins or make them more expensive, according to Counterpoint Research.

In fact, the co-CEO of SMIC warned last week that the DRAM shortage could hit automotive and smartphone makers sooner rather than later. Specifically, the DRAM shortage may affect sales of logic chips in the automotive, smartphone, and consumer electronics segments.

"Be it carmakers, smartphones or consumer electronics, everyone that uses memory is facing pressure from price hikes and supply constraints in the coming year," said Zhao Haijun, co-CEO of SMIC, during a conference call with analysts and investors on Friday, as reported by Bloomberg. "Our customers are reluctant to place too many orders in the first quarter as they are not sure how many memory chips they can secure."

SMIC is far from the world's largest producer of microelectronics for the automotive or smartphone industries, yet the share of automotive in its revenue is growing, accounting for 11.9% ($283.5 million out of $2.382 billion in revenue) in the third quarter. The smartphone share of SMIC's revenue declined to 21.5% ($512.13 million) from 25.2% in the prior quarter, which could reflect customers' reluctance to place orders amid uncertainty over DRAM supplies.

The ongoing DRAM shortage and subsequent doubling (or more) in price we've seen in recent weeks is a serious hurdle for prospective PC builders, and threatens to make computing and electronics devices pricier for at least a couple of years. According to X posts by @juklanosreeve (Jukan), Morgan Stanley's market analysts believe that even large manufacturers and integrators are set to take hits, going as far as downgrading stock position advice ratings for some.

For reference, Morgan Stanley has three ratings for stock performance predictions: OW (Overweight, or good), EW (Equal-weight, or neutral), and UW (Under-weight). Dell reportedly got a hard slap from OW to UW, while HP, Asustek, and Pegatron went from EW to OW.

Other OEMs like Acer and Compal were already UW to begin with. Morgan Stanley revised the stock price targets by roughly 20% for most of the aforementioned companies. The reason why Dell got a harsher prediction than the rest is because it sells a lot of servers, and servers normally utilize gargantuan amounts of RAM.

In a separate chart, MS estimates that memory alone for a "high-end" server is a whopping 40% of its materials cost (BOM, Bill of Materials). A "general-purpose" server doesn't fare much better, at 30%. Standard and "AI" PCs (whatever that means today) sit at 20% and 15% respectively.

If you're wondering why Apple is still rated OW, Jukan states that the Cupertino giant bought up a huge supply of DRAM before the shortage came into full effect, and also has a long-term agreement with Kioxia for presumably a chunk of its production.

Given how Apple has generally dealt with such crises in the past and is the type of company to plan ahead, Jukan may be right. It isn't difficult to hypothesize that Macs, iPads, and iPhones might see only a small price increase, if any, and should continue to be widely available for the time being.

It seems likely that Morgan Stanley believes OEMs/ODMs will eat part of the cost of the DRAM, lowering their margins, instead of just passing it all on to customers. That's probably as good an illustration as any of how bad the crisis really is.