As DRAM Costs Soar, Prices For NVMe SSDs Start To Rise Too

(Kyle Cobian)

Along with DDR5 RAM, the prices for NVMe SSDs have started to increase as AI demand continues to eat into memory supply production.

Data from PCPartPicker.com shows the prices trending upward since November, especially for 256GB and 512GB M.2 NVMe storage.

But in some good news, the products won’t break the bank, unlike DRAM, which has been experiencing skyrocketing costs. The increases for NVMe memory have only risen slightly, meaning you can expect to pay a $25 to $30 price hike, based on the graphs from PCPartPicker.com.

Also, in some cases, the SSDs remain cheaper than their original launch price, despite the increased pricing, according to data from Amazon price tracker CamelCamelCamel.

So if you’re looking to upgrade your PC’s storage, consider buying now. In contrast, the pricing for DDR5 RAM has become insane, rising by over 200% in recent months. A pack of 64GB of DDR5 can now easily top $600, costing more than a PlayStation 5, and the prices continue to shoot upwards.

Back in November, the CEO of Phison, a major provider of controllers for SSD drives, warned that all the major NAND flash suppliers had begun increasing prices. In addition, Phison’s CEO expects the supplies to remain tight in the coming years, attributing it to surging demand for AI data centers and consumer devices in general.

Earlier this month, Micron also sent shockwaves after it announced it was shutting down its Crucial brand, which focuses on selling both DDR RAM and SSD storage. On top of all this, news has emerged that Samsung is considering shutting down its SSD business, but for SATA hard drives, to make up for the NAND flash shortage.

For now, PCPartPicker.com indicates the pricing for SATA SSDs has also gone up, but only slightly.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
Xbox 360 FTW
The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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