The RAM Crisis: How AI's Hunger for Memory Made Every Gaming Device Cost More

For most of 2024 and 2025, a 32GB kit of fast DDR5 memory for a gaming PC cost somewhere between $80 and $100. In late 2026 the same Crucial kit is listed at about $553, more than five times as much. Memory is not the most exciting part of a gaming machine, but in 2026 it became the most expensive story in hardware.

Since late 2025, the explosion of AI data centres has soaked up the world's supply of memory chips. The result has been a wave of price rises across almost everything gamers buy: PS5 consoles up $100 in the US from April, Xbox Series X|S up $100 to $150 from August, the Switch 2 up $50 from September, the Steam Deck OLED up $240 to $300 in May, and Valve's new Steam Machine launched at $1,049, far above what many fans had hoped. Here is what happened, why, and what comes next.

Why AI ate the memory market

Modern AI systems need enormous amounts of memory, especially a stacked, very fast type called HBM (high-bandwidth memory) that sits next to AI processors. HBM, server memory and the DRAM inside your PC or console are all made on the same production lines by the same handful of companies: Samsung, SK hynix and Micron.

When AI customers began signing huge, long-term orders, memory makers shifted capacity towards the most profitable products. Samsung and SK hynix reportedly charged up to 30% more for DRAM and NAND flash in the fourth quarter of 2025, and contract prices kept climbing through 2026. Samsung has said that about 80% of its data-centre memory for 2027 is already sold. Micron's chief executive warned that conditions would be "much tighter" in its fiscal 2027 and 2028 than in 2026.

Storage was hit too. The NAND chips inside SSDs come from the same companies, and some of the cheapest SSDs now cost about double their price a year earlier.

The console price rises

Consoles are usually sold close to, or below, what they cost to make, so a big jump in component costs has nowhere to hide. In 2026, all three platform holders raised prices.

• Sony announced on March 27 that PS5 prices would rise from April 2. In the US the PS5 went to $649.99, the Digital Edition to $599.99 and the PS5 Pro to $899.99. Sony cited "continued pressures in the global economic landscape." It was the second US price rise in under a year, after a $50 increase in August 2025.
• Microsoft said in June that Xbox Series X|S prices would rise by $100 to $150 from August 1, taking the Series X to $799.99. It was unusually direct about the reason, saying console storage and memory prices had increased by more than 2.5 times.
• Nintendo raised the Switch 2 from $449.99 to $499.99 in the US from September 1, as we explain in our Switch 2 business story.

Valve's very expensive year

No company shows the crisis more clearly than Valve. In May 2026, after a period when the Steam Deck was hard to find, the handheld returned to stock at much higher prices: the 512GB OLED went from $549 to $789, and the 1TB OLED from $649 to $949. The cheaper LCD model was discontinued. Valve said the new prices reflected "the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges."

A month later, Valve priced its living-room Steam Machine at $1,049 for 512GB and $1,349 for 2TB. Valve said there were times it "couldn't source some of our components at all, at any price," and used a randomised reservation queue to share out the first units. Its Steam Frame VR headset followed in September at $1,059.

The rest of the handheld PC market moved too. Lenovo's Legion Go 2 rose by as much as $650 at US retailers in early 2026, with the top model reaching $1,999.99.

Graphics cards and gaming PCs

The PC side was hit twice: once through system memory and again through the memory soldered onto graphics cards. Nvidia and AMD reportedly raised what they charge card makers for memory, and UK retailer Overclockers said 8GB and 16GB cards rose in price as a result.

In February 2026, The Information reported that Nvidia planned no new gaming GPU launches in 2026 and had put its planned RTX 50 Super refresh on hold. Nvidia did not confirm the plan, but told Tom's Hardware that demand was strong and "memory supply is constrained."

Pre-built PCs are changing shape. US builder CyberpowerPC raised prices on all its systems from December 7, 2025, citing a 500% rise in memory costs and 100% for SSDs, and more budget machines now ship with a single 16GB stick.

By the numbers

• $553: price of a 32GB Crucial DDR5-6000 kit in late 2026, up from about $80-$100 for most of 2024-25
• 2.5x: Microsoft's estimate of how much console memory and storage costs have risen
• $100: increase for the standard US PS5 in April 2026, to $649.99
• $799.99: Xbox Series X price in the US from August 1, 2026
• $240-$300: Steam Deck OLED price increases in May 2026
• 80%: share of Samsung's 2027 data-centre memory already sold, according to the company

Who wins, who loses

Memory makers are the obvious winners: the shortage has made DRAM one of the most profitable businesses in technology. AI companies, which can pay almost any price for capacity, get first call on supply.

Players are the main losers. Consoles normally get cheaper over their life; in 2026 they got more expensive in their sixth year. Hardware makers are caught in the middle. Valve has said it will not subsidise hardware to sell software, so its prices follow costs. Console makers can absorb some losses, but not indefinitely.

There is a quieter cost too. When hardware gets expensive, people keep old machines longer. That affects which games developers can target. A studio planning a 2027 release cannot assume players will have upgraded.

What to watch

Relief is not close. Samsung's former semiconductor chief has predicted a supply surge in the second half of 2027 or early 2028, as new Chinese capacity comes online. Acer's chief executive has said he expects prices to start falling around mid-2027. SK hynix has warned of shortages lasting much longer. New memory factories take years to build, and most analysts do not expect them to change DRAM prices before 2028.

The next big test is the console generation itself. AMD has said the chip for Microsoft's next Xbox is progressing well "to support a launch in 2027." Whether that machine arrives on time, and at what price, will depend on a memory market that nobody controls.

WGC's take: this is the first hardware cycle in decades where waiting does not reliably make things cheaper. If you need a new device, buy what fits your budget now and ignore the fear of missing out on a future discount that may not come. And if your current PC still runs your favourite games, 2026 is a fine year to keep it.