DDR5 RAM prices: a memory shortage that could last past 2030

The DDR5 price rise is part of a memory shortage that manufacturers expect to last for years. SK hynix’s chief executive has warned that customer demand could exceed the company’s supply even beyond 2030. ADATA’s chairman sees a memory market that capacity expansion may struggle to satisfy over the next decade.¹²

For anyone buying RAM for a server or workstation, that is a serious change to the upgrade budget. Waiting a few months for memory to become cheap again is a difficult plan to build a project around.

DDR5 prices in 2026

TrendForce’s monthly series for mainstream DDR5 16Gb chips rose from $34.34 in January to $52.84 in August, an increase of 53.9%. The April dip was followed by four consecutive monthly rises. The chart uses the same DDR5 specification throughout.³

These are chip quotations from the supply chain. A complete registered memory module has its own price, which also depends on capacity, design, condition and available stock. The chart shows the direction of the DDR5 component market; it is not a Neox retail price history.

Why AI demand reaches your server RAM

AI infrastructure needs large amounts of system memory alongside the memory attached to its GPUs. TrendForce’s September report describes rising demand for registered memory modules, or RDIMMs, across several capacities. Supplier inventories remain very low, with much of the additional memory supply going to servers.⁴

Meanwhile, memory makers are directing manufacturing capacity towards high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, and other parts used in AI data centres. Deloitte describes this shift as a constraint on the standard DRAM and NAND markets. It is a supply problem for businesses running ordinary servers too, even if they have no plans to train an AI model.⁵

That is why a discounted desktop kit does not settle the question of server RAM prices. Desktop memory and registered server memory reach different buyers, and the cheapest kit on a comparison site may not be a part your machine can use.

The shortage warnings now reach beyond 2030

In a July interview with Reuters, SK hynix chief executive Kwak Noh-jung forecast that 2027 would be the memory industry’s most difficult year for supply. He expected customer demand to remain above his company’s production capacity beyond 2030, despite its expansion plans.¹

ADATA chairman Simon Chen takes an even longer view. Speaking to Taiwan’s Commercial Times in July, he identified memory and electricity as the two resources likely to be most scarce over the coming decade. He argued that expanding factories would not fully meet the demand developing across data centres, robotics, vehicles and other connected equipment within ten years.²

Analysts also see a problem that extends well beyond the next quarter. Gartner’s February outlook puts structural DRAM supply pressure through 2030. In July, Kearney’s Kushal Fernandes told Design News that, if AI demand continues at its current pace, substantial relief is not expected before early 2030. He expected earlier new capacity to provide only partial relief.⁶⁷

These forecasts differ in timing, but the planning message is consistent: memory supply may remain constrained for several years. A small price dip does not show that the shortage is over.

New factories take years to deliver

There is investment behind the response. Micron’s first new Idaho factory is expected to produce its first wafers in mid-2027, with its second following in late 2028. The company’s New York project has a published production target of 2030, followed by a gradual increase in output through the decade.⁸

Those dates explain part of the gap between announcing a factory and filling a distributor’s shelves. Deloitte estimates that building a memory fabrication plant and increasing production takes three to five years. Its July outlook says tight supply and elevated prices could persist into 2029 or 2030 if demand from the largest cloud companies continues.⁵

A new factory also adds supply to a market whose demand is still growing. Its opening date is not automatically the date that DDR5 prices return to their earlier levels.

What this means for a DDR5 upgrade

If a server is already short of memory, price the upgrade against the work it needs to do. A virtualisation host that cannot run another workload or a workstation that keeps running out of RAM has a cost of its own. For a planned build, allow for current memory prices and confirm availability before fixing the rest of the budget.

Compare complete configurations. Four 64GB modules and eight 32GB modules both provide 256GB, but the right arrangement depends on the platform’s memory rules. Check the server model, supported module type and manufacturer part numbers. DDR5 registered memory and unbuffered desktop memory are not interchangeable.⁹

New and used stock can give you different prices for the capacity you need. Keep the module specification, condition, warranty, delivery and VAT basis together when comparing offers. Ask whether the parts are physically available and when they can ship.

Browse server and workstation memory at Neox, or use our memory reference pages to look up an exact part. For help matching an upgrade, have the server model and the fitted memory’s part number ready.