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The Memory Crisis
The PC industry changed in September 2025. RAM, SSDs and GPU prices were hit the hardest, with some knock on effects still playing out. Here's what you need to know.
In this article
What is the memory crisis, in short?
In September 2025 we saw a sharp decrease in the amount of PC RAM available, and due to simple supply and demand, the price of RAM shot up seemingly out of nowhere.
Right after, the price of SSDs went up, and later on we saw an increase in GPU prices.
Why is this happening?
AI is, in general, powered by a huge amount of memory and processing performance - usually in the form of RAM and VRAM.
The easiest example to give is datacentres being built to cope with increasing amounts of AI usage - more people are using language models like ChatGPT and Claude, and more datacentres need to be built in order to power these services.
Memory manufacturers such as SK Hynix and Micron have openly explained they make more money selling the components for these datacentres compared to regular PC components, like RAM for gaming PCs.
As you would expect, the companies are focusing on what makes them the most money, and whatever resources are left over can be allocated to regular PC parts. Due to the demand for memory chips since the AI boom really took off, the price of components has increased worldwide.
Here's how it happened
Stage 1 - RAM
In September 2025, 32GB DDR5 RAM was available for roughly $120 AUD, but in no time at all the price tag had risen to $600-700 at retail prices.
64GB RAM was hit even harder - you used to be able to buy 64GB DDR5 6000 MHz RAM for roughly $300 AUD, and currently it's around $1400-1800 for the same 64GB RAM kit.
Stage 2 - SSDs
Just after the RAM prices increased, SSDs shot up too.
A 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD was roughly $70-80 for a decent model, and that rose to $250+ for a decent model in no time.
Hard disk drives were also eventually hit, and now an 8TB HDD is around $500+, a huge increase over the $200 price tag they were previously available for.
Stage 3 - GPUs
The most recent price rise was on GPUs - especially the GPUs with 16GB VRAM or more.
In September 2026 it was possible to buy an RTX 5080 16GB for $1599 AUD (more like $1650 or so, but $1599 was possible).
Over a single weekend, the price of an RTX 5080 rose from around $1600 to more like $2400, and kept rising.
This page was written in late October 2026, but it's expected that the RTX 5080 will be around $3000 or more before Christmas, and nobody yet knows what will happen to the price of GPUs in the future, but everybody expects the price to go up further.
These high prices have hit all GPUs, not just the RTX 5080. The 5080 is just a good example of what's happening to prices at the minute.
At a glance (rough retail prices in AUD):
| Part | Before | Late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 32GB DDR5 RAM | ~$120 | $600-700 |
| 64GB DDR5 6000MHz RAM | ~$300 | $1,400-1,800 |
| 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD (decent model) | $70-80 | $250+ |
| 8TB hard disk drive | ~$200 | $500+ |
| RTX 5080 16GB | ~$1,600 | $2,400+ and rising |
When will it end?
There is no clear answer. Memory contracts are sold out for years to come, and there's no real end in sight. There is only speculation.
What does this mean for PC prices?
The bottom line here is that it's too difficult to talk about the price of a PC you plan to order in the future - nobody knows what kind of prices we will see next week, let alone next month or next year.
When working out a PC, we choose parts based on the price and performance they offer. If we don't know the price, we don't know if we can justify the performance.
It may seem simple to focus on just the performance, but people who were doing that and planning out a PC to order 6 months later have unfortunately found it to be completely impractical. What may have cost $2500 at the start of the year would possibly cost $3500 by the end of the year.
Those are just rough numbers - but it explains the idea.
The best bet is to work out a PC when you're ready to pull the trigger on one, and that way you'll get what you actually pay for - a PC built around the real prices on the day, not a guess from months ago.
If you've been quoted a price and it suits you, lock it in. We buy the parts for your build when the deposit lands, so from that point your price is fixed no matter what the market does the following week.
Waiting to "see if prices come back down" has, so far, only ever cost people more.
You also have the option to start a layby - you pay a deposit today, and pay the remainder within 2 months. That way the price won't increase for you as we hold the important parts.
If you'd like to do that, here's the layby page with more information:
FAQ
What is the memory crisis?
In September 2025 the amount of PC RAM available dropped sharply, and due to simple supply and demand the price of RAM shot up. SSD prices went up right after, and later GPU prices rose too.
Why are RAM prices so high?
AI is powered by a huge amount of memory. Memory manufacturers such as SK Hynix and Micron make more money selling components for AI datacentres than regular PC parts, so they focus on those and whatever is left over goes to regular PC parts like gaming RAM.
When will the memory crisis end?
There is no clear answer. Memory contracts are sold out for years to come and there's no real end in sight - there is only speculation.
Should I wait for PC prices to come down?
So far, waiting to see if prices come back down has only ever cost people more. If you've been quoted a price that suits you, lock it in - or start a layby so the price won't increase while we hold the important parts.
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