Having plenty of memory in your PC is more important than ever, now that practically everything runs on the web. But if you’re using a dated laptop or desktop that relies on DDR4 RAM, you might find it hard to upgrade. Manufacturers are winding down production, which is making prices rise… even above the price of newer DDR5 memory.
DDR4 has been a bargain for system builders for years. Heck, that’s why AMD keeps making new AM4 chips even as the world falls in love with the AM5 platform. But the biggest memory producers on the planet—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—are all setting an end-of-life date for DDR4 production. That’s partly because of the sheer progress of technology (you can’t stick to a format forever) and partly because there’s a huge demand for newer memory with the expansion of data centers and the “AI” industry, as Digitimes reports via Tom’s Hardware.
Between decreased hardware output creating a supply squeeze and a shift towards memory production for industrial applications, consumer-level RAM prices are likely to go even higher. While not all configurations are in high demand, you can see 2x8GB DDR4 desktop kits in the $35 to $50 range on Amazon US right now (September 2nd). That’s equal to or higher than the same kits at much faster DDR5 specs. The pattern holds for laptop (SO-DIMM) kits, too.
Pricing trends are showing an increase for all but the smallest capacities of DDR4 kits, even as DDR5 becomes cheaper and more plentiful. That might spell the end of affordable DDR4-based systems (and those venerable AM4 chips/motherboards at retail), and a nasty shock for those who want to upgrade older hardware.
If you’ve been thinking of trying to squeeze a little more life out of an older desktop or laptop with a memory upgrade, I’d do it now before new memory kits become increasingly hard to find.