RAM Configurations and Surging Prices
The latest hardware survey data shows 32GB and 64GB memory configurations down 2.5% and 18% year on year, respectively. The driving factor is no mystery: High-capacity memory has become a luxury in modern PC builds. The AI rush is still gobbling up the global DRAM supply, so prices for the best RAM options across DDR4 and DDR5 have gone through the roof.
The tracking utility is a free program that gives a detailed breakdown of the hardware inside a system. It only tracks systems where it is actually installed and running, so it does not report monthly retail sales figures. The data represents the tool's active user base rather than broader retail sales figures.
32GB and 16GB are common configurations that have grown over the years. According to the gathered data, 32GB configurations lead the user base with a 37.2% share, with 16GB configurations close behind at 33%. 16GB has been the baseline for a long time, and 32GB is now the sweet spot for many users, including gamers.
Shifting Memory Capacities
On the flip side, 8GB configurations have been steadily declining and make up only 11% of the surveyed systems. 8GB systems are rare nowadays, found mainly in legacy systems, basic office machines, or budget-limited builds. Meanwhile, higher-end configurations, including 64GB and 24GB, sit at 7.3% and 2.3%, respectively.
Fresh stats from CPU-Z! 🔎 For the first time ever, RAM capacity on PCs has declined year-over-year : -2.5% for 32 GB and -18% for 64 GB! https://t.co/ya0soA55bRNovember 6, 2026
For the first time, developers recorded a noticeable decline in higher-capacity configurations. Specifically, 32GB configurations fell 2.5% year over year, while 64GB options dropped a significant 18%. This is likely due to the steep rise in memory prices, which has forced consumers to reconsider the cost-benefit of larger capacities.
As the price per gigabyte goes up, buyers are opting for more affordable capacities. Lower-capacity memory kits have seen a partial revival. The 16GB configuration, often considered the minimum, has rebounded by 12.9%. Similarly, 8GB configurations, which were previously in sharp decline, grew 5.5%.
Interestingly, 24GB configurations also increased by 19.7%, becoming a compromise for consumers who need more than 16GB of memory but want to avoid the high cost of premium 32GB kits.
DDR4 and DDR5 Market Share
The current distribution between DDR4 and DDR5 memory types reveals that DDR4 remains the dominant memory standard at 54.5%. In contrast, DDR5 is still in its early adoption phase at 32.9%. DDR4 has been the de facto standard for almost a decade, meaning it will take time for DDR5 to overtake it.
The noticeable 6% growth in DDR4 and 2.9% decline in DDR5 suggests budget-conscious consumers are sticking with platforms that still embrace DDR4, such as older AMD and Intel processors. Processor charts show significant usage figures for older chips as users prioritize platform affordability.
Although both DDR4 and DDR5 have increased in price, the former remains slightly more affordable. Industry efforts, such as vendors restarting DDR4 and motherboard production or manufacturers prepping alternative processor lines, point to sustained demand for cost-effective computing platforms.
