If you’re planning to upgrade your PC memory, then put in your order now, as it looks as though gaming RAM prices are about to go up. Several memory chip makers are reportedly about to put up the prices of their RAM chips, as the recent earthquake in Taiwan has disrupted manufacturing, and the affected companies all make memory chips for PC modules and graphics cards.
This is highly likely to have a knock-on effect on the price of the best gaming RAM, as the makers of memory modules, such as Corsair, TeamGroup, and Crucial, all buy most of their DRAM chips from the likes of Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, and all three of these chip makers are reportedly affected by supply problems now.
Not only that, but graphics cards also rely on these chip makers to supply memory for the latest GPUs. Samsung is expected to be a big player in the production of GDDR7 memory for the next generation of gaming graphics cards, for example, including the rumored new Nvidia RTX 5090.
Following the recent earthquake, however, Taiwanese tech site DigiTimes reports that there are likely to be “major price increases” in the cost of memory, as a result of the disruption to production at some DRAM fabrication plants (fabs) in the country. The site also notes that memory manufacturers are no longer giving out contract pricing for DRAM chips to module makers for Q2 of 2024 (April to June), with the expectation that prices are going to go up.
We’re not talking about small amounts either. In another report, DigiTimes says that chip maker Micron is planning to increase the price of DRAM chips by 25%, citing sources at makers of memory modules who are negotiating prices with the company at the moment.
Memory prices are notoriously volatile and have historically been very sensitive to sudden disruptions to the supply chain. Indeed, Crucial even notes on its website that “if there is an earthquake at a major fab, the supply could be adversely affected, meaning higher prices.”
The situation is also likely to be exacerbated by already-low supply, as DRAM chip makers have reportedly recently reduced production, due to waning demand at the end of 2023. On the plus side, whenever we’ve seen a huge surge in memory prices in the past, they’ve always eventually come down to affordable levels again, but it takes a good few months.
In short, if you’re planning to build a gaming PC, or upgrade the RAM in your existing rig, soon, then buy your memory now before prices go up.