Europe’s DDR5 prices are finally falling — the glimmer of hope we’ve been waiting for

An image of two RAM modules. — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The ongoing RAM crisis—or RAMageddon—has been a nightmare for the past few months. If you’ve been trying to build a gaming rig or just wanted to upgrade your memory, then you know how bad DDR5 prices are at the moment. However, a glimmer of hope is coming from Europe.

As our friends over at Tom’s Hardware report, a recent post from the PC enthusiast Reddit page r/pcmasterrace shows that DDR5 prices are starting to decline in Germany and across the EU. The graph tracks an “average” 32GB DDR5 kit that sat around €95–100 through early autumn 2025, spiked to roughly €430–470 in early February 2026, and has now begun trending downward.

While these aren’t fire-sale prices, we’re talking a modest 10–15% correction after a roughly 4X spike, saving that amount on popular kits (Corsair Vengeance down from ~€480 to ~€425, Kingston Fury Beast from ~€550 to ~€463 on Amazon Germany, per CamelCamelCamel tracking) is a welcome relief in this climate. This gives me hope that we’ll see similar decreases here in the States soon.

Why the US lags behind

How to build a PC — (Image credit: Future)

Typically, whenever prices start to dip in Europe, the US market follows suit, though not right away. At the moment, US retailers are still selling memory at record or near-record highs while Europe eases, which makes sense: when inventory is flying off the shelves, there’s zero incentive to cut prices. Retailers usually wait until movement slows before they blink, so we often see US prices start to stabilize or drop a few weeks after Europe shows the first cracks.

So if you can wait until late spring or early summer, you could stand to save a big chunk of cash on DDR5 RAM.

Laptop prices

An image of a person using a laptop — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

This price drop also has implications for the best laptops coming this year. Companies like Dell, HP, and Lenovo are already feeling the squeeze. They’ve told us directly, and it shows in their current configs. To keep prices from exploding, many entry-level 2026 models are still shipping with just 8GB or 12GB of RAM, which feels wild in 2026.

But if RAM costs keep stabilizing and dropping, we could finally see 16GB (or even 32GB on some mid-rangers) become the standard again.

As with standalone kits, my advice is similar: wait for the back-to-school refresh cycle. That’s usually when vendors refresh lineups and pass along any component savings. That’s the best time to snag one of the best MacBooks or best Windows laptops with decent starting memory.

The end of the "AI tax"

two people on mezzanine in data center — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The reason RAM got so expensive in the first place is no secret: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron pivoted huge chunks of production to high-margin AI chips for data centers. Reports (including one from Tom’s Hardware in January) project that data centers will consume up to 70% of the world’s high-end memory supply in 2026, leaving the rest of us fighting over the remaining 30%.

The early price easing in Europe could be the first sign that consumers are finally pushing back hard enough to make manufacturers remember us, the gamers, video editors, and everyday users who actually buy this stuff at retail. High-priced components won’t bring a profit if no one buys them, after all.

Bottom line

RAMageddon isn’t over yet, but these developments in Europe are the first real sign of hope we’ve had in months. My advice to my US friends hasn’t changed: if you possibly can, wait until spring or even summer before pulling the trigger on new RAM or a new laptop.

As always, stay tuned to Tom’s Guide, as we’ll let you know the instant we see US prices stabilize or, better yet, finally start coming down.

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Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.

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