When Will RAM Prices Drop? The Honest Answer Is 2027

A 32GB DDR5-6000 kit cost under 95 dollars in mid-2025. It has passed 400 dollars at points since. If you have been waiting for that to correct, the short answer to when will RAM prices drop is Q1 to Q2 2027, and even that assumes several things go right.

Where prices are now

Forecasts put 32GB DDR5-6000 somewhere between 180 and 250 dollars by the end of 2026. Better than the peak, still roughly double where it started. TrendForce expects further rises through Q3 and Q4 of this year, and SemiAnalysis sees elevated pricing running into 2027. The more pessimistic reading has shortages across both DDR4 and DDR5 lasting until at least Q4 2027, with 256GB DDR4 server kits already retailing above 3,000 dollars.

DDR4 being expensive is the detail people find hardest to believe. It is old memory made on long-depreciated equipment. It is expensive because almost nobody is making it any more.

Why this is not a normal price spike

Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron have moved production capacity to high bandwidth memory for AI accelerators. HBM earns roughly three to five times the revenue per wafer that conventional DDR5 does. Given that spread, allocating a fab line to consumer memory is a decision to earn less money on purpose.

That is why the usual logic does not apply. Prices normally fall when a shortage attracts new supply. This shortage exists because the supply moved somewhere more profitable, and it stays there while accelerator demand holds. If you want the mechanics behind the premium, we covered what HBM4 memory is.

The 2027 window, and what could break it

Relief depends on new fab capacity reaching full production. Samsung's P4 and Micron's Idaho plant are the two to watch, and both point at the first half of 2027 rather than anything sooner.

The assumption underneath that forecast is that AI GPU demand moderates. It is also the weakest part of it. Nothing in the current semiconductor revenue picture suggests a slowdown, and if demand holds through 2027, the memory makers have no reason to hand capacity back.

So what do you actually buy

If you need a machine now, buy the memory now and accept the price. Waiting six months has been the losing move for eighteen months straight. A Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CL30 kit is the sensible default for a mainstream build, and 32GB is enough that you will not be forced to top up during the expensive window.

If you are already running enough memory, do nothing. Buying at these prices to pre-empt a shortage you are not currently feeling is how people end up with 64GB and no workload that needs it. Our piece on whether to buy RAM now works through that decision in more detail.

The date to hold in your head is Q2 2027. Everything before it is management, not relief.

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