DDR3 RAM has hit its lowest price point in 26 months

By Krystle Vermes Published May 27, 2015

1110383 autosave v1 2 ram — Georgii Shipin/Shutterstock

If you’ve been holding out on purchasing DDR3 RAM, now may be the time to buy. DDR3 has reached its lowest price point in 26 months, according to PCGamer. This information stems from a report published by the DRAMeXchange. The prices of RAM have been decreasing as PCs and tablets have grown in popularity. Over the second quarter of this year, prices have fallen about 9 percent. The full price of a 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM is around $27.50.

The demand for computers and tablets may very well increase by the end of the summer. With kids returning to school, manufacturers will be churning out these products at a fast rate. And at the end of the year, growth is likely to skyrocket with the holiday season. So if there was ever an ideal time to invest in DDR3, it’s right now. A report from Digitimes says that DRAM prices will likely rise in the third quarter of 2015, just in time for the production of new iPhones. However, you might want to consider the differences between DDR3 and DDR4 before you splurge.

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DDR4 has a starting speed of 2133 MHz, compared to DDR3’s speed of 800 MT/s. This difference means that DDR4 offers a substantial increase in bandwidth. Faster transfer speeds also make the DDR4 slightly more appealing than the DDR3. Also, many systems don’t support the new memory standard just yet, so you’ll probably need to upgrade your entire system to use it. For most people that expense isn’t worthwhile.

It’s also worth noting that in terms of gaming, the speed difference between DDR3 and DDR4 is hardly noticeable. For your everyday computing needs, investing in one of these budget-friendly options isn’t a bad idea while you wait for DDR4 to penetrate more of the market.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Krystle Vermes is a professional writer, blogger and podcaster with a background in both online and print journalism. Her…

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