RAM prices 2026: the same kits now cost up to six times more

RAM prices 2026 are easiest to see on a single kit. The Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 32 GB 6000 CL30 cost 359 PLN in September 2025. On September 27, 2026 the cheapest offer on Ceneo is 2,189 PLN, more than six times as much for the same two sticks.

This is not one shop having a bad day. I took five kits whose prices PurePC recorded in September 2025 and compared them with the lowest prices on Ceneo this evening. DDR4 rose the least, “only” threefold.

How much specific kits went up

Same models, same manufacturer part numbers, two points in time. September 2025 prices come from the PurePC roundup (sources: Morele and Ceneo), September 27, 2026 prices are the lowest offer on Ceneo.

Kit	September 2025	27.09.2026	Change
G.Skill Aegis DDR4 16 GB 3200 CL16 (F4-3200C16D-16GIS)	165 PLN	519.80 PLN	+215%
Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 16 GB 6000 CL30 (KF560C30BBEK2-16)	302 PLN	1,358.94 PLN	+350%
GoodRAM IRDM DDR5 32 GB 6000 CL30 (IR-6000D564L30S/32GDC)	439 PLN	2,033 PLN	+363%
Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 32 GB 7000 CL32 (PVV532G700C32K)	481 PLN	2,249 PLN	+368%
Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 32 GB 6000 CL30 (PVV532G600C30K)	359 PLN	2,189 PLN	+510%

For 32 GB of DDR5 in the 6000 MT/s class you now pay around 2,000-2,200 PLN, while a year ago 360-440 PLN was enough. In its ranking from September 18, 2026, GRYOnline reports DDR5 prices still rising “by several dozen zlotys in just a week”.

Where the increases come from

Memory makers now sell first of all to AI data centers. According to TrendForce, contract prices of conventional DRAM rose 93-98 percent quarter over quarter in the first quarter of 2026, and industry revenue grew 81 percent to 97 billion dollars. For the second quarter TrendForce forecast another 58-63 percent.

Demand is not slowing down. In August 2026 TrendForce calculated that DRAM and NAND make up 47 percent of this year’s capital spending by the largest cloud providers, and in 2027 that share is expected to rise to 68 percent. Every chip that goes into a server does not go to a component store.

DDR4 is getting more expensive for a different reason. Manufacturers are winding down its production, stock is running out and the price follows DDR5. That is why the old platform is no escape from the increases, just a slower version of the same chart.

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Will RAM prices fall

Nothing points to it in the coming months. In July TrendForce forecast a 13-18 percent rise in DRAM contract prices for the third quarter of 2026. The pace is slower than at the start of the year, but it is still a rise, not a drop.

The same analysis contains one important sentence, though: customers in the PC and smartphone markets have reached the limit of what they can pay. Laptop and phone makers are already raising prices and cutting specs. If consumer hardware sales drop hard, the pressure on memory prices will start to ease. So far no source gives a date for when that happens.

How much RAM you really need for gaming

New games raise the bar, but slower than the panic in the comments suggests. Gears of War: E-Day, one of the biggest releases of the autumn, requires 12 GB of RAM at minimum settings and 16 GB at recommended. The publisher lists 16 GB even for the 4K Ultra profile.

32 GB gives you headroom for a browser, Discord and a stream in the background. It is still a sensible target for a new PC, but at current prices going from 16 to 32 GB of DDR5 costs around 2,000 PLN. Before you spend 2,000 PLN, check how much memory your games actually use.

How to check whether you are short on memory

Launch the game you have trouble with and play for a dozen or so minutes in its heaviest location. Then open Task Manager, the Performance tab and the Memory section. If the “In use” graph hits the ceiling while the game stutters, you are short on RAM. If several gigabytes stay free, buying more memory will not give you a single extra frame.

Often the memory is eaten not by games but by programs that start with the system: launchers, overlays, a browser with dozens of tabs. With 16 GB, the difference between a clean and a cluttered Windows can decide whether a game fits in memory. Cleaning up the system costs a fraction of a new kit, and we do it as part of remote PC optimization.

What to do if you have to buy now

Buy a ready kit of two sticks instead of adding a single module to the memory you already have. Sticks from different batches may fail to run on the XMP or EXPO profile, and then you pay for fast memory that runs slow. Before buying, check in CPU-Z which memory type your motherboard supports, because DDR4 boards will not take DDR5.

Compare prices in several shops on the same day. Back in November 2025 PurePC recorded differences of up to 300 PLN on the same kit, and in extreme cases up to 1,200 PLN. At today’s amounts that spread is even easier to miss.

RAM prices in 2026 are the result of the race for data centers, not a temporary shortage. The same sticks cost three to six times more than a year ago, and the latest forecasts point to further, if slower, increases. If your PC copes, the cheapest move is to squeeze everything you can out of the memory you have and come back to shopping when the market shows its first drop.

Frequently asked questions

Why did RAM get so expensive in 2026?

Manufacturers are shifting production capacity to AI servers. According to TrendForce, DRAM contract prices rose 93-98 percent quarter over quarter in the first quarter of 2026 and kept rising in the following quarters.

Is it worth buying RAM now?

Only if you are really short on it. Check in Task Manager whether a game fills all of your memory. If it does not, a purchase will not improve performance, and forecasts do not predict any drops yet.

How much does 32 GB of DDR5 cost in September 2026?

Popular 32 GB DDR5 6000-7000 MT/s kits cost from about 2,030 to 2,250 PLN on Ceneo (September 27, 2026). The cheapest slower DDR5 5200 kits started at about 1,800 PLN on September 18.

Is DDR4 getting more expensive too?

Yes. The G.Skill Aegis DDR4 16 GB 3200 CL16 cost 165 PLN in September 2025, and on September 27, 2026 the cheapest offer is 519.80 PLN. Manufacturers are winding down DDR4, so stock keeps shrinking.

Is 16 GB of RAM enough for gaming in 2026?

In most new games, yes. Gears of War: E-Day asks for 16 GB even in the 4K Ultra profile. The condition: your system must not fill half of that memory with background programs.

When will RAM prices fall?

No source gives a date. TrendForce sees slower increases and a price ceiling on the side of PC and smartphone customers, which is the first condition for drops, but not yet a forecast of them.