DDR4 RAM becomes more expensive than DDR5 as price spike hits last-gen memory
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In a bit of a change of pace, it appears that DDR4 RAM is becoming more expensive and is no longer a viable option for purchase compared to DDR5 RAM. That’s according to the latest report by TrendForce, which shared the average spot price of DRAM from the past couple of weeks, which shows a trend of increasing prices by some significant amounts.
The graph shows the pricing of various modules that it is used to compare the pricing. In yellow are the prices of these DRAM spot prices for the week starting June 18th to June 26th, while in blue you have the week beginning June 11th to June 17th.
In this comparison, DDR4 16GB (2×8, 3200MT/s) modules increased by 26.56%, from 6.55 to 8.29. At the same time, a single stick of 8GB with the same speed increased by a greater percentage of 32.01%, from 3.78 to 4.99. The biggest increase was seen in the DDR4 8GB 512Mx16 3200 MT/s module that jumped 39.53%, from 3.87 to 5.4.
Why DDR4 prices are increasing
DDR5 has become the standard memory technology, as AMD transitioned to the AM5 motherboards, they fully moved to DDR5 only support. That was followed by Intel’s release of the LGA 1851 platform and the Core Ultra 200 processors that also ditched the multi-memory support depending on the motherboard.
That means any new builds won’t be using the older DDR4 memory technology, and it does significantly reduce demand. With that, Micron has said it is sunsetting its production of the memory, and its shipments will drop until the end of the year.
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One of the other key makers, Samsung, also confirmed it will end its DDR4 production this year, resulting in an end to production for the technology. As supplies begin to dwindle, prices are starting to increase, potentially leading to panic buying and further limited supplies.
All in all, this results in DDR4 becoming less and less worth it. Those who didn’t want to splash out on the new platform have few reasons not to enjoy the faster technology. However, those who might look to replace or upgrade some DDR4 modules may want to act quickly before the price becomes extortionate.
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