AMD AM4 CPU pricing spike as PC market forces alternative upgrades
High DDR5 pricing is causing AMD/AM4 CPU price rises
Consumer-grade DDR5 memory modules have seen price increases of 178-258%, forcing PC builders to consider alternative upgrade paths. Instead of moving to newer DDR5 platforms, some PC builders are upgrading to AMD’s DDR4-based AM4 platform. Why? The answer is simple: they can keep using the DDR4 memory they already own. Memory pricing has led to a resurgence for AMD’s AM4 CPU platform.
Recently, we have spotted that AMD’s AM4 Ryzen CPUs have been increasing in price. Additionally, we have noted that AMD’s Ryzen 5000 X3D gaming CPUs are largely unavailable across most retailers. This makes sense, as these processors havereportedly reached their “end-of-life” this summer. Growing demand and limited supply are driving higher prices.
For many PC builders, AMD’s AM4 platform promises substantial value. DDR4 users can upgrade their CPUs without investing in expensive DDR5 memory. AM4 motherboards are also inexpensive and plentiful, further reducing costs. While AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPUs are old by today’s standards, they are still strong enough for modern gaming workloads. After all, today’s consoles use Zen 2 CPUs, and AMD’s Zen 3 desktop processors have newer cores, higher clock speeds, and more cache.
| AMD AM4 CPU | November 17th | December 16th (Today) |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT | £164 | £190 (+16%) |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5700X | £138 | £156 (+13%) |
(AM4 CPU price rises on Amazon UK)
PC builders are reorienting their hardware priorities in response to today’s insane memory prices. PC gamers are choosing not to upgrade their systems or to upgrade to more affordable platforms. Until DDR5 memory prices stabilise and drop, we can expect DDR5 motherboard sales to lower. With today’s high memory prices, new PCs will become unaffordable for many.
You can join the discussion on AMD’s rising AM4 CPU prices on the OC3D Forums.
