We're seeing 32GB DDR5 RAM prices regularly push above $400 now. That's just where the market is, and as unfair as it might seem, the world is still turning, and people still need memory for their PC upgrades. Luckily, this TeamGroup T-Force Delta RAM deal drops the price to $389.99 at Newegg, as long as you use the coupon code LUYRF228 at checkout.

● Check out this deal on Newegg

Deals like this continue to be the best way to pick up new RAM as the ongoing global DRAM shortage, caused by the AI boom, rolls on. We're not going to see lower prices for RAM or SSDs any time soon. Deals like this aren't ground-breaking, and we're nowhere near record lows, but they're the best prices in a difficult market. Sans a time machine, or going second-hand, you won't find better pricing today than this.

As for this particular RAM kit, it's a good option for a mid-tier build. It's DDR5-5200, meaning speeds of 5,200 MT/s. That isn't the fastest RAM on the market, by any means, but it's certainly an upgrade over older DDR4 modules, which would usually see speeds of around 3,600 MT/s at best.

You're getting two 16GB DDR5 modules here, with CAS and memory timings of 40-40-40-76. This is perfectly fine memory for workstation and gaming use, with built-in RGB lighting to spice up your build. Yes, it won't be the fastest you've used. If you need to max out a build with the best speeds and lowest latency, you'll need to look for higher-end DDR5 memory instead.

Luckily, you have options there. The next best option with faster speeds is this alternative kit, also from Team Group, for $415.99. The Team Group T-Force Vulcan has CAS and memory timings of 38-46-46-84, with speeds of 6,400 MT/s. Much faster, so ideal for a higher-end rig, but it lacks the RGB lighting. That might be a trade-off you're willing to accept if you've got the extra $27.

Honestly? The best option here, if you do have the extra cash, is the T-Force Vulcan for $415.99. It's faster, only slightly more expensive, and it's still a bargain compared to rival kits that can go as high as $600 or $700 at the moment. That said, a new PC build or upgrade on a budget requires a few compromises, and unless you're pushing your PC to its limits, the Team Group T-Force Delta RAM kit for $389.99 is a solid option.

Either choice is a deal worth considering in this awfully expensive market that PC builders face at the moment. AI isn't going anywhere, and we're probably going to see prices this high, if not higher, for some time. Deals like these, even if they aren't world-beating, are still the best way to get RAM at the moment.

A computing enthusiast has shared images of a fat stack of DDR4 RAM sticks that they found at home. VastOption8705 told other tech fans on Reddit that they “found 10k worth of RAM sitting in my garage.” We count 30 sticks of DDR4-2666, and three sticks shown separately are all 64GB modules. If they are all 64GB modules, that number of sticks would add up to 1,920GB of RAM…

How did this huge amount of RAM end up in VastOption8705’s garage? The story goes that the Redditor was allowed to keep an old server from their workplace. Such 'generosity' isn’t unheard of, and it might have actually saved the company some recycling fees.

Is server DDR4 useful?

Numerous comments on the Reddit post jokingly pitch for RAM stick donations. But they might be barking up the wrong tree. Looking more closely at the sticks, where the labels are clearly readable, reveals that they are Samsung 64GB DDR4 ECC registered DIMMs (RDIMMs).

These kinds of RAM sticks are commonly used in servers built around Intel Xeon, AMD Epyc, or AMD Threadripper platforms. Sadly for their market value and the folks on Reddit hoping for some spare RAM, they aren’t consumer PC friendly. Even if you have a DDR4-supporting motherboard, these ECC RDIMMs will be both physically and electrically incompatible with your home creator/gaming PC.

Pricing and the Australia question

A quick poke around eBay U.S. listings shows that a single 64GB DDR4-2666 stick like those shown can be bought for between $350 and $425. So, we could roughly value the 30 sticks at $12,000 if a price of $400 per stick were achieved. The OP’s touted $10K valuation wasn’t far off. But if VastOption8705 lives in Australia, as they seem to, and guesstimated the value in Australian dollars, AU$10,000 currently equates to ~US$7,200 – quite low.

If you have spare RAM in your garage, don't share your address on public forums. The best I could find is a pair of 8GB DDR4 SO-DIMMs in my drawer. I also had some 30-pin SIMMs, SDRAM, PowerMac ROMs, and DDR3 modules probably worth just pennies, despite the RAMpocalypse.

Micron used to produce some of the best RAM available to mainstream users through its Crucial brand. Despite the company's exit from the consumer market through its now-defunct Crucial brand, Micron had pledged to continue honoring warranties on existing Crucial products. A recent case on Reddit, however, highlights ongoing challenges with Micron's warranty process, where it reportedly offered a customer a ludicrous payout for an RMA. Only after further communication did Micron provide an improved offer. Another user also chimed in with a similar story about an SSD return with Micron. We have reached out to Micron for comment.

Redditor Key_Tailor6948, who shared the email exchange with Tom's Hardware, recently shared their RMA experience with Micron's warranty process after encountering a failing memory module from a 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 memory kit. While the Redditor did not specify the exact model of the memory kit, Crucial used to sell two such kits in this capacity: the Crucial Pro DDR5-6000 C48 and the Crucial Pro DDR5-5600 C46. The last known pricing for the memory kits was $489.99 and $459.99, respectively, during the memory shortage.

According to the Redditor, Micron allegedly said in an email that the company is no longer offering replacement products for warranty claims. Instead, Micron purportedly stated it would provide a refund based on the original purchase price, including taxes where applicable. However, the proposed refund amount was $241.86.

The major issue at hand is that the reimbursement Micron offered was based on the cost of the 48GB memory kit purchased before the recent memory shortage and the resulting price hikes. Nowadays, the most affordable 48GB DDR5 memory kit available on the market, such as a DDR5-6400 C32 one, which is faster than Micron’s discontinued offerings, starts at a staggering $649.99. The refund Micron proposed amounts to just 37% of the current market value for a somewhat comparable product. The Redditor's math about being 17% of market value and estimating similar-capacity memory kits going for “roughly $1,400" is a bit off based on verifiable pricing, but the proposed payment was still well short of current market value.

Beyond the disappointment over the low reimbursement, the Redditor expressed frustration that they had to send back the entire 48GB memory kit, even though only one of the two modules was faulty. This meant parting with a memory module that was still fully functional. Unfortunately, this is a common industry practice. Most manufacturers require the return of the full memory kit for warranty claims. It is exceedingly rare for companies to allow returns or replacements of only a single memory module from a multi-module kit, regardless of whether the other module is working perfectly. (EDIT 8/11/2026 : Micron's warranty states that it will either replace a product under warranty or refund the current market value of the product or the amount of the original purchase cost, whichever is lower. Therefore, Micron's offer is within the bounds of its warranty.)

The Redditor was also not happy about covering the shipping costs to return the defective memory module. This is another policy that varies widely among brands: some manufacturers cover all shipping fees, others split the cost, so you cannot really single out Micron in that aspect.

It would seem that Micron subsequently offered a more favorable resolution. The company agreed to send the user three Crucial Pro DDR5-6400 C32 16GB (CP16G64C32U5B) memory modules as a replacement. This solution matches the original capacity of 48GB and also delivers better performance than the user's original memory kit. The user accepted the offer.

Meanwhile, Crucial SSD owners are seemingly experiencing similar RMA practices from Micron. A Reddit user named LeanaIsTheBest highlighted in the same thread that Micron is allegedly refusing to provide direct replacements for a failing 4TB SSD. Instead, the company ostensibly offered a gift card equivalent to the original purchase price of the 4TB SSD as compensation. However, the company provided an alternate option to receive the same amount in cash through PayPal or Venmo, with the condition that the user pays the 6% transaction fee.

Micron wound down its consumer business back in December 2025. It is reasonable to think the chipmaker has reshaped its manufacturing factories to cater to more profitable markets, such as data centers and the AI sector. Micron probably is not maintaining inventory or production lines for consumer products, so direct replacements are unlikely. For a company that reported revenue of $41.46 billion in its last earnings call, it isn't a great look for Micron to not reimburse the replacement cost for loyal customers who have purchased its Crucial products.

The best RAM on the market generally utilizes integrated circuits (ICs) from industry giants such as SK hynix, Samsung, or Micron. Recently, however, Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has emerged as a strong competitor amid the ongoing global memory shortage. In Colorful's latest overclocking exhibition, CXMT's ICs achieved speeds up to DDR5-8800 on AMD's X870E platform, keeping pace with the best overclocking ICs, such as SK hynix's A-die and M-die.

Many often regard CXMT as an underdog in the memory industry, particularly when compared to the "Big Three." Founded only a decade ago, the ambitious Chinese chipmaker eventually became China's largest domestic memory manufacturer and is now the fourth-largest memory maker globally.

The recent memory shortage has accelerated CXMT’s rise to fame. The chipmaker has been silently gaining ground in the memory market. Its momentum has been especially evident in the DDR5 segment despite the company having only unveiled its first DDR5 ICs in November 2025. Many top Chinese memory brands, including Asgard, Colorful, Gloway, and KingBank, are widely using CXMT ICs, and even Corsair has done so to a certain extent.

Colorful showed off an incredible overclock with its iGame Shadow II DDR5-6000 C34 memory kits, pushing both the 32GB (2x16GB) and 48GB (2x24GB) configurations far beyond their rated speeds. These kits reached DDR5-8812 and DDR5-8817, respectively, on Colorful's iGame X870E Vulcan W OC motherboard. Unfortunately, the screenshots provided by Colorful were too blurry to discern detailed specifications such as memory timings or DRAM voltage. For context, some high-end DDR5-8800 memory kits typically operate at timings around 42-55-55-140 with a voltage of 1.45V.

The noteworthy aspect is that Colorful achieved the overclocking feat on 16GB memory modules. Most, if not all, DDR5-8600 and faster memory kits currently on the market come with 24GB memory modules. The reason is that many use SK hynix’s 24Gb (3GB) M-die ICs, produced on the chipmaker's advanced 1a-nm (~14nm) process node with Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. These M-die ICs are the go-to choice for memory vendors thanks to their superior density, power efficiency, and ability to scale to higher frequencies.

In comparison, CXMT’s accomplishments are notable when considering the technological challenges. Due to U.S. export restrictions on China, CXMT does not have access to cutting-edge EUV equipment, so its 16nm node, which it uses for DDR5 ICs, leverages Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) machines instead. CXMT’s 16nm process is roughly in the same alley as the 1z nm (~14–15nm) nodes previously used by the Big Three, so CXMT is easily a few years behind the top-tier process nodes.

The reality is that CXMT will have to make do with what it has. The chipmaker is already developing a 1a-nm node but on DUV. It is far from prime time, though.

In addition to seeing CXMT ICs in mainstream memory kits, companies such as HP, Asus, and Acer have already started selling consumer devices, such as laptops or desktops with CXMT memory. Even Apple reportedly wants to buy memory chips from CXMT.

CXMT recently went public via IPO and saw its stock price skyrocket by 466%, raising over $8.6 billion. Without access to EUV machinery, CXMT will focus primarily on memory production and is rapidly building factories across China. The ambitious Chinese chipmaker hopes to steal 30% of the market share from the Big Three by 2030. It is just a matter of time before we start seeing CXMT ICs in all the prominent consumer memory brands.