It's not just RAM—SSDs could soon cost way more too, and it's all downhill from here

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Throw the GPUs in there too, why don't you?

Samsung 990 Pro 2TB on a grey background
(Image credit: Future)

Another day, another round of bad news regarding the ongoing RAM shortage and rising PC hardware prices. TrendForce reports that the NAND flash wafer supply is getting worse, which will directly impact SSD prices, and it already has.

How long will it take for those price changes to trickle down to the consumer market? And how long will it take for RAM prices to improve? Today's brought us a few interesting findings, so let's dig in.

Corsair DDR5 RAM up-close

(Image credit: Future)

RAM is suffering from the same problems as SSDs, but on a larger scale. Even some of the best Cyber Monday deals aren't helping these outrageous RAM prices that we're dealing with currently. Reports show it might only get worse from here as far as that's concerned.

Our first source is SEDaily, which talks about Samsung's Semiconductor Division (DS), which is said to have rejected a request for DRAM from its own Mobile Experience (MX) division. Samsung's mobile sector managed to secure memory on a quarterly basis, meaning it'll have to re-negotiate the terms of the contract every three months instead of longer commitments.

Odd, isn't it? It all comes down to the cost of RAM and profitability, and unfortunately for us PC gamers, the profit lies in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and AI.

To that end, Micron is investing a boatload of cash into producing AI memory chips in Japan. The memory giant is said to be investing $9.6 billion into building a production facility in Japan, focused on next-gen HBM chips.

Nvidia RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card on different backgrounds

(Image credit: Future)

With all these different companies going all-in on enterprise memory, it's hard not to wonder what'll happen to the consumer market. RAM is already up to 300% more expensive than it was a few months ago, and those NAND flash shortages are likely to affect SSD prices, too.

Meanwhile, Nvidia is said to no longer be bundling VRAM with GPU dies when selling to its board partners, leaving them to find their own deals on memory. Keep in mind that all of that memory comes from the same source—if there isn't enough DRAM for PCs, there likely won't be enough VRAM produced for GPUs, too.

The PC gaming market is just going from one shortage to the next, and it looks like this one will last for a while yet.

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5. Best 4 TB:
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6. Best 8 TB:
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7. Best M.2 2230:
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8. Best for PS5:
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👉Check out our full SSD for gaming guide👈

Monica J. White
Monica J. White
Hardware writer

Monica started her gaming journey playing Super Mario Bros on the SNES, but she quickly switched over to a PC and never looked back. These days, her gaming habits are all over the place, ranging from Pokémon and Spelunky 2 to World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. She built her first rig nearly two decades ago, and now, when she's not elbow-deep inside a PC case, she's probably getting paid to rant about the mess that is the GPU market. Outside of the endless battle between AMD and Nvidia, she writes about CPUs, gaming laptops, software, and peripherals. Her work has appeared in Digital Trends, TechRadar, Laptop Mag, SlashGear, Tom's Hardware, WePC, and more.

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