Decade-old RAM is making a comeback

CPU makers have noticed that the seemingly unending RAM price hikes are making it tough for a lot of us to upgrade our PCs. Their solution? A return to last-gen DDR4 RAM. Intel and AMD are making new CPUs that’ll support the older, more affordable type of memory.

On Friday, Gigabyte announced that two of its motherboard lines will support “upcoming” processors built on Intel’s LGA 1700 socket. That socket debuted in 2021 with the 12th gen Alder Lake CPUs and supported both DDR4 RAM and the then-new DDR5 RAM. Intel dropped it for a DDR5-only approach in 2024. But according to Gigabyte, the dual format support is now being revived, with new LGA 1700 chips “expected to launch in early 2027.”

Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This backtrack stems from LGA 1700’s cross-compatibility with both kinds of RAM — an advantage over its successor that’s recently become much more important. Intel’s strategy may be to offer users the choice of a new CPU that doesn’t require them to switch to new, and very expensive, DDR5 memory, too. AMD is doing something similar: in August, Gigabyte also announced a new series of motherboards for AMD’s last-gen, DDR4-compatible AM4 platform to go along with the 10th-anniversary relaunch of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU.

DDR4 started hitting the market in 2014 and has since been succeeded by the much faster DDR5. Under normal circumstances, buying new hardware to use technology that’s over a decade old would probably be a bad investment. But the RAM shortage is changing the math, with DDR4 RAM seemingly feeling the sting of price hikes much less than DDR5.

I recently saw the price disparity first-hand while shopping around for new RAM after a DDR4 kit abruptly died on me. Right now, a DDR5 32GB Corsair Vengeance RAM kit costs $620, while the corresponding DDR4 kit costs $260. Even though it’s more than 32GB of DDR4 RAM typically cost back in mid-2025, that’s more than double the price for DDR5! Of course, DDR5 has significant advantages, like higher speeds and better power efficiency. But those perks might not be worth the current price of admission.

It could be years before prices drop again, a reality that’s starting to really sink in with the official return of older sockets and chipsets. But at least it’s a good time to hang onto your DDR4 RAM.

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