The latest victim of AI-driven RAM price hikes — the cost of building your own laptop

The effects of the RAM price spike have now hit another market. Framework just announced that the cost of DDR5 memory has gone up by 50% for certain devices.

For the moment, the price increase only affects Framework DIY Edition orders, leaving pre-built laptops from the company and Framework Desktop orders unaffected. You can also purchase a DIY Edition laptop without memory or storage and add your own, buy RAM at a discount through another retailer, or transfer components from another device.

Pre-orders that have already been placed are not affected by the change in RAM pricing.

Below is how much it now costs to add RAM to the Framework Laptop 16 DIY Edition:

• DDR5-5600 - 8GB (1 x 8GB): +$60
• DDR5-5600 - 16GB (1 x 16GB): +$120
• DDR5-5600 - 16GB (2 x 8GB): +$120
• DDR5-5600 - 32GB (1 x 32GB): +$240
• DDR5-5600 - 32GB (2 x 16GB): +$240
• DDR5-5600 - 48GB (1 x 48GB): +$360
• DDR5-5600 - 64GB (2 x 32GB): +$480
• DDR5-5600 - 96GB (2 x 48GB): +$720

The cost of RAM has gone up significantly this year and that trend appears likely to continue. Our Cale Hunt has a complete breakdown of what's going on with RAM and why prices are surging.

The long-and-short is that AI requires a massive amount of RAM to run and the supply chain is being funneled toward datacenters. The three major RAM manufacturers, SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, have shifted RAM production toward meeting the ever-growing demands of AI.

Micron will leave the consumer RAM market entirely in February 2026. The company announced the end of the Crucial-branded memory and storage recently. Micron was transparent regarding the reason for the switch:

"The AI-driven growth in the data center has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage. Micron has made the difficult decision to exit the Crucial consumer business in order to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments."

Framework referenced the RAM demand of AI datacenters in its post announcing the price increase of memory in select Framework laptops:

"On the demand side, the boom in AI data center construction and server manufacturing is consuming immense amounts of memory. A single rack of NVIDIA’s GB300 solution uses 20TB of HBM3E and 17TB of LPDDR5X. That’s enough LPDDR5x for a thousand laptops, and an AI-focused datacenter is loaded with thousands of these racks!"

Framework also noted that it is "highly likely" that it will need to increase prices of DDR5 modules in other systems, including devices with DDR5, LPDDR5X, or GDDR memory.

The company emphasized transparency in system pricing and promised to lower prices when costs go down. Framework will also absorb costs where possible to keep pricing down.

Framework also announced an anti-scalping measure that requires RAM be included with returned laptops.

Framework is not the only company that will have to increase prices due to the cost of RAM. Dell reportedly plans to raise prices of PCs by at least 15% to 20% as early as this month, according to TrendForce. Lenovo has warned customers that sales quotes and price guidelines are only valid until the end of the year.

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