Store prices stockpile of 128GB DDR5 RAM at $4199, raising doubt over memory shortage

Deal hunters visit Micro Center for discounts on essential PC parts. Unfortunately, the memory shortage hasn’t spared the popular U.S. retailer. A Reddit post grabbed attention when it showed a 128GB DDR5 RAM kit with a shockingly high price tag of $4199. With shelves still full, gamers are accusing the industry of exploiting buyers.

A shopping experience that would scare any PC builder

Redditor Hell-Diver7 was in disbelief after browsing the inventory of a Micro Center location. One stunning discovery was 2 64GB sticks of Corsair Vengeance DDR5-6400 RAM marked higher than some RTX 5090 GPUs. Fortunately, the modules are now available for less on the store’s website. Nevertheless, many of the products in the pics have not seen reductions.

The phenomenon is not limited to a single retailer. Roth_Skyfire explains that in his area, “There's so many, hundreds of packs of RAM in stock, all at like 5x the original price.” He claims there is no memory shortage, “just overpriced goods no one is willing to pay for.”

As manufacturers like Samsung and Micron cater to AI data centers, SSD prices have also skyrocketed. Even on sale, buyers would have to spend $700 on a 4TB WD Black NVMe M.2 drive. Like with the DRAM, Micro Center is not at risk of running out of stock for these storage solutions.

Will low demand lead to declining memory prices?

Some gamers think this oversupply signals that memory prices will crash. Other Corsair Vengeance SKUs have become more reasonable at various retailers. Still, while consumers may not be willing to strain their budgets, costs could remain high for the foreseeable future.

If a recent report about Samsung is correct, demand from enterprise customers is still strong. In fact, a Korean tech site revealed that the company signed long-term contracts at 30% higher values than in the previous quarter. As long as AI companies invest in infrastructure, factories will focus on high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

Some analysts view any discounts on consumer-level DRAM as short-lived. It’s also possible that DDR5 prices could rise further. The kits buyers see overflowing on racks may have been produced many months ago. Regardless, with their priorities elsewhere, manufacturers aren’t panicking over slowing retail sales.