Summary
Buying a new PC build, or even upgrading, in times like these is difficult — rising memory costs due to the AI bubble have increased prices across the board, especially for RAM. Prices for new DDR5 kits have surged sharply since late 2025, in some cases by several times.
Universal adoption of DDR5 RAM remains elusive, but you don’t really need to upgrade to the latest memory standard. For someone on a budget, that takes a chunk out of the entire PC budget. Instead, I’d recommend going with the DDR4 option, which is what I did, and trust me, you won’t be missing out on much.DDR5 is now the default for many new platforms, but it is still expensive for upgraders.
DDR4 was supposed to die last year, but it didn’t
The DRAM shortage accidentally gave it a second life
I know that DDR4 RAM is more than a decade old at this point, but it’s still being manufactured. The memory standard was supposed to be phased out in 2025, but amid the DRAM shortage, many manufacturers, including Samsung and SK Hynix, are delaying the end of DDR4 production.
Not only that, but some vendors are still supporting DDR4 motherboard options for budget and upgrade builds.
This makes sense: sales of newer processors and DDR5 builds have reached a new low, and gamers want an alternative, so going back to DDR4 has become the obvious choice now.
Talking about prices, DDR4 RAM has also climbed, but nowhere near as much as DDR5 kits cost. DDR4 is still cheaper than DDR5, often by a wide margin, though both have gotten more expensive.
I was worried that DDR4 would be tanking my performance — it didn’t
Even in AAA games, the gap is surprisingly small
DDR5 carries a genuine performance edge. But as modern video games are becoming increasingly demanding, will DDR4 RAM take a hit in AAA titles? This is the question that comes to mind for anyone sitting on DDR4 and considering a DDR5 upgrade. On high-end builds, the performance difference between DDR4 and DDR5 is notable, but if you’re on a budget, DDR4 is the ideal choice since you’ll save a significant amount.
Even so, the performance difference isn’t as vast as one would expect. Linus Tech Tips tested DDR4 vs DDR5 RAM across 10 games and rasterization, noting only a 4.69% increase in performance for DDR5 over DDR4 on average, and a 10.34% increase in the 1% lows. Furthermore, their testing showed that some titles were more GPU-bound, and the memory difference was negligible in those cases.
The real cost of going DDR5 isn’t just the RAM
By the time you’re done, you’ve basically bought a brand-new PC
Upgrading the DDR5 platform might seem as simple as getting new RAM, but in reality, you will probably need to swap out nearly half of your PC components. DDR5 RAM needs a different slot, so you can’t physically fit that on a DDR4 motherboard; that’s one more component you’ll need to buy.
Furthermore, only a select number of CPUs, including Intel’s 12th, 13th, and 14th generations, support both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, while other platforms lock you to a single platform. If you’re rocking a CPU other than these, upgrading to DDR5 also means you will have to buy a new CPU; factor in the total costs, and it becomes more expensive than you’d have imagined.
DDR4 is still capable VRAM, upgrading to DDR5 will be pointless. Mid-range gaming won’t benefit from an upgrade at all, though that largely depends on the type of game you will play, since most modern games are GPU-dependent. At higher resolutions, your GPU is likely to become the bottleneck first. In this case, upgrading your PC would mean assembling a new one altogether, or you can start by upgrading your GPU first, and the rest following later.
I probably won’t be getting a DDR5 build anytime soon
Upgrading to the DDR5 platform right now doesn’t make sense, especially if you’re on a budget and the performance gains are minimal, as mentioned above. The same price trend is expected to continue for at least a few more years, and I am not worried about upgradability, not for a little while, as DDR4 works just as well for me. However, for those looking to assemble an entirely new build, I highly recommend opting for a DDR5 setup, even if it comes in weak; you have room for future upgrades, unlike DDR4, which offers no upgrade path.
TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z DDR4
The TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z DDR4 is a popular DDR4 choice for mid-range computers, offering optimal performance for smooth gaming.