It's currently a favorable moment to upgrade your gaming PC's graphics card. After consistent fluctuations in pricing due to pandemic and AI-related shortages, graphics cards like AMD’s Radeon RX 9060 XT and 9070 series, as well as Nvidia’s RTX 5060, 5070, and 5080 series, are now available at or slightly below their suggested retail prices. This has become possible after a challenging period throughout the spring and summer.
However, embarking on a new PC build or replacing an older motherboard that requires DDR5 RAM might not be the best idea right now. The tech industry is experiencing a RAM and flash memory chip shortage that has led to substantial spikes in SSD and RAM prices. This situation is primarily driven by the thriving AI sector and is worsened by consumer and manufacturer panic buying.
For a clearer view of the price surge, we can compare the costs of RAM and storage components from our system guide three months ago to the current prices. Bear in mind that these comparisons include components that are currently sold out and exclude microSD or microSD Express cards, which may also see price impacts.
| Component | Aug. 2025 price | Nov. 2025 price |
|---|---|---|
| Patriot Viper Venom 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR-6000 | $49 | $110 |
| Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 500GB | $45 | $69 |
| Silicon Power 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 | $34 | $89 |
| Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 1TB | $64 | $111 |
| Team T-Force Vulcan 32GB DDR5-6000 | $82 | $310 |
| Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 2TB | $115 | $154 |
| Western Digital WD Black SN7100 2TB | $130 | $175 |
| Team Delta RGB 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5-6400 | $190 | $700 |
In summary, these increases hit SSDs and DDR4 and DDR5 RAM kits across all capacities, with higher-capacity kits facing more significant price hikes. While SSD prices haven't reached exorbitant levels yet, those considering a RAM upgrade may want to keep their current setups intact and consider upgrades only if absolutely necessary or when prices stabilize.