“RAMageddon” started as a joke among PC builders in late 2025. By 2026 it was a real budget problem for anyone who needs a powerful computer, and few people need memory more than video editors. A 4K multicam timeline, a colour grade with noise reduction or an 8K RAW project can use tens of gigabytes at once.
This guide is written for videographers and studio owners who have to decide whether to upgrade, wait or work around the shortage. Every price below comes from a named tracker or report, listed at the end.
What happened to RAM prices?
Three memory makers, Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, produce almost all of the world’s DRAM. AI accelerators need huge amounts of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and server memory, and those orders pay better. So manufacturers moved production capacity towards AI customers, leaving less for the desktop memory that goes into editing PCs.
IDC expects data centres to absorb about 70% of global memory output in 2026. Supply isn’t growing fast enough to make up the gap: IDC projects DRAM supply growth of 16% this year, below the usual 20–30%. TrendForce reported that conventional DRAM contract prices rose 90–95% in a single quarter, Q1 2026.
The squeeze now reaches beyond desktop RAM. In its 30 September 2026 report, TrendForce said suppliers are scaling back GDDR6 graphics memory and gradually leaving that market, while GDDR7 output stays limited and is driven mainly by AI chips. That is one reason graphics cards have climbed alongside RAM, which we cover in our guide to why GPU prices are rising.
RAM prices in 2026: how much more editors are paying
Source: Tom’s Hardware RAM price index, lowest current US prices, updated 19 and 22 October 2026.
Two things stand out. First, the gap between the lowest tracked price and today’s price is five to twelve times. Second, prices move fast: the cheapest 96GB kit went from $1,499 to $2,049 in the three days between Tom’s Hardware’s 19 and 22 October updates, and the cheapest 128GB kit sold out. Tom’s Hardware also warns that good deals often sell out within seconds, with scalpers and bots competing for stock.
Older DDR4 memory has risen less. The same index lists a 32GB DDR4-3200 kit at $199 and 64GB at $469. Tom’s Hardware says a new DDR4 build makes little sense because of limited processor and motherboard availability, but DDR4 is still a viable upgrade for an existing DDR4 workstation.
The same pressure has spread to other parts. Tom’s Hardware found SSD prices up about 220% in a year by July 2026, with a popular 2TB drive going from $113 to about $363. Apple raised prices on most Macs on 25 June 2026, moving the base Mac Studio from $1,999 to $2,499, and HP said memory now makes up about 35% of a laptop’s material cost.
RAM prices in the UK and Australia
We work with studios in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and the shortage is global. Local prices differ, but the direction is the same.
United Kingdom
NerdZap reported in September 2026 that a 32GB DDR5-6000 CL36 kit that cost under £90 in autumn 2025 was around £279–£329 at UK retailers such as CCL, Overclockers UK and Amazon UK. It also found price gaps of £30–£50 between UK retailers for identical kits, so it pays to compare CCL, Overclockers, Scan and Amazon before buying.
Newly arrived stock can be far higher. Club386 found a G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 32GB DDR5-7200 kit listed at £1,199.99 at Overclockers UK in August 2026, against £116.66 in January 2025, and a 64GB G.Skill kit at £2,099.99. Its author suggested cheaper listings were older stock bought before costs rose.
Australia
Australian retailers have raised memory prices too, and local stock and pricing change quickly. Compare several retailers on the day you buy, and price the whole build rather than one part at a time.
Why video editors feel it more than most
A typical office PC runs happily on 16GB. Video editing is different. Adobe recommends 32GB or more for 4K and higher in Premiere Pro, and many studios cutting multicam weddings or commercials run 64GB. Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve 21 readme lists 32GB on Windows when using Fusion, 32GB plus 12GB of graphics memory for background rendering, and 16GB of graphics memory for its advanced AI tools.
Workstation builders go further. Puget Systems, which builds editing PCs, now gives a general guideline of 64GB minimum for 1080p work in Premiere Pro, 96GB for 4K, 128GB for 6K and 192GB for 8K, noting that project length, codec and running other programs all change the figure.
That means editors buy in exactly the capacity range where prices rose most. Moving a seat from 32GB to 64GB now costs close to $1,000 on its own, and higher-capacity kits have risen even more in percentage terms. Our guide to how much RAM Premiere Pro and Resolve need breaks this down by resolution.
Codec matters too. Long-GOP footage such as H.264 and H.265, common on mirrorless cameras and drones, is harder to play back than intraframe codecs such as ProRes. Stack several streams in a multicam edit, add noise reduction and a few effects, and memory use climbs quickly.
What the shortage costs a working studio
Percentages are easy to ignore. Here is what RAM prices in 2026 mean in real budgets. These are illustrations built from the Tom’s Hardware figures, not quotes.
Source: Tom’s Hardware RAM price index (22 October 2026). Calculations by Cut Pro Media. Swapping kits usually means replacing, not adding to, the existing memory.
Example 1: a three-editor wedding studio. Moving all three seats from 32GB to 64GB costs about $2,967 today, roughly $2,490 more than at the lowest tracked prices. That is a lot of money for smoother multicam playback.
Example 2: the same money spent on editing. At Cut Pro Media’s flat rates, $2,967 covers about five weddings with both a highlight film and a feature film ($520 each), or eight highlight films at $350. For a studio that only struggles on its biggest jobs, sending those out can be the cheaper fix. See our pricing for add-ons.
Example 3: an older DDR4 workstation. If a seat is on DDR4 and the processor is still fast enough, a 64GB DDR4-3200 kit at $469 costs less than half the cheapest 64GB DDR5 kit. Keeping that machine for proxy editing may beat a new build.
When will RAM prices go down?
Not soon, if the industry’s own forecasts are right. TrendForce’s 30 September 2026 report expects conventional DRAM contract prices to rise another 10–15% in Q4 2026, and NAND flash, used in SSDs, to rise 15–20%. It says PC makers are still buying aggressively because they expect supply to stay tight in 2027, and that PC memory supply could fall in 2027 as more capacity moves to servers.
SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung told Bloomberg in July 2026 that the shortage could last beyond 2030, and Intel’s CEO has said there is no relief until 2028.
New memory factories are being built, and prices can fall quickly once supply catches up. European retail prices dipped briefly in February 2026, Tom’s Hardware reported at the time, before rising again. For planning purposes, most studios should assume memory stays expensive through at least 2027 and treat any short dip as a buying window, not a trend.
Common RAM buying mistakes in 2026
- Upgrading without measuring: if your machine never runs short of memory during a heavy edit, more RAM won’t make it faster. Stutter is often the graphics card, storage or codec.
- Paying for speed instead of capacity: Tom’s Hardware’s index shows 32GB of DDR5-6600 at $673 against $447 for DDR5-6000. For editing, enough capacity matters more than a faster rating.
- Mixing kits: adding a new pair of sticks to an old pair can cause instability or lower speeds. Buy a matched kit and check your motherboard’s supported memory list.
- Buying from unknown sellers: with stock scarce, scalper listings and grey-market kits are common. Buy from established retailers with clear return policies.
- Building a new DDR4 machine: DDR4 is fine for topping up an existing system, but Tom’s Hardware advises against new DDR4 builds.
- Buying 128GB “for the future”: at today’s prices, memory you won’t use for two years is money taken from projects you could deliver now.
What video editors can do now
Check before you buy
Open your heaviest real project and watch Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor’s memory pressure (Mac) while you play, scrub and export. If you’re not running out of memory, more RAM won’t help.
Use proxies
Editing with lightweight proxy files lets a 32GB machine cut 4K and 6K smoothly. Switch back to full-resolution media only for grading and export.
Buy only the memory you need
If you edit HD and light 4K, 32GB is enough. Don’t buy 128GB “for the future” at today’s prices.
Compare retailers and act on fair prices
Prices swing by hundreds of dollars in days. Set a target price, compare several shops, and buy when a matched kit hits it.
Keep older machines working
A 2–3 year old workstation with proxies is often still fine for editing, even if it struggles with full-resolution playback. DDR4 top-ups cost far less than DDR5.
Budget for the whole system
Memory, SSDs and graphics cards have all risen, so price a full upgrade before committing. A memory upgrade that also needs a new graphics card or drives may cost more than you expect.
Outsource the projects that need the most memory
8K, RAW and long multicam jobs are where memory costs bite hardest. Choosing to outsource video editing for those jobs can be cheaper than upgrading, as our upgrade vs outsource comparison shows.
Common questions
Sources: Tom’s Hardware, RAM price index 2026 (19 and 22 October 2026), SSD pricing report (29 July 2026) and European DDR5 price report via Mezha (22 February 2026); TrendForce, Q4 2026 DRAM and NAND forecast (30 September 2026), as reported by Guru3D and Communications Today; IDC, TrendForce, Bloomberg and HP figures as reported by Tech Insider (July 2026); Wccftech and MacRumors, Apple price increases (25 June 2026); NerdZap, RAM crisis: what to buy now in the UK (4 September 2026); Club386, G.Skill DDR5 UK pricing (18 August 2026); Adobe, Premiere Pro technical requirements; Blackmagic Design, DaVinci Resolve 21.1.1 readme (updated 1 October 2026); Puget Systems, hardware recommendations for Adobe Premiere Pro (updated 12 August 2026). Worked examples are Cut Pro Media calculations.
