Buy DDR4 only to upgrade an existing AM4 / LGA1200 / DDR4-era board.
DDR4 is no longer reliably cheaper per GB; treat it as a legacy purchase, not a value play.
On this page (8 sections)
For years DDR4 was the obvious budget choice. In 2026 that has flipped. With memory makers winding down DDR4 production it has become scarce and frequently costs more per GB than DDR5, while DDR5 itself is elevated by the AI-driven DRAM shortage. In practice the answer is almost always decided by your motherboard, not the price tag. Here is how the two compare today.
How DDR4 lost its price advantage
DDR4's budget reputation was built on a mature, high-volume supply chain. That chain is being dismantled: the major DRAM makers announced end-of-life plans for consumer DDR4 and reallocated fab lines to DDR5 and HBM, where the margins are. Once supply shrinks faster than demand from the enormous installed base of DDR4 systems, you get a scarcity premium, and that is exactly what the market has delivered.
The result upends the old rule of thumb. DDR4 is no longer reliably cheaper per gigabyte than DDR5; depending on the week and the kit, it can cost the same or more. The live $/GB figures in the table below show where that comparison stands today, which is the honest way to answer a question whose answer now changes weekly.
Your motherboard already made the decision
For most buyers the price debate is academic, because DDR4 and DDR5 are physically and electrically incompatible. The modules are keyed differently and will not seat in the wrong slot. AM4 and Intel's DDR4-era platforms (LGA1200 and older) take DDR4 only; AM5 and LGA1851 take DDR5 only. The single genuine crossroads is Intel's LGA1700 (12th–14th gen), where motherboards were built in DDR4 and DDR5 variants. Even there, the board you own decides, not the CPU.
So the real decision tree is short. New build: DDR5, no exceptions; every current platform requires it. Upgrading a DDR4 board you plan to keep: buy DDR4 soon, while the kit you want still exists. Replacing the CPU and motherboard anyway: move to DDR5 and stop putting money into a standard with no future.
Per-GB math, and why DDR5's latency numbers look worse than they are
Compare kits on price per gigabyte, not sticker price: $/GB normalizes across 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB kits, and it is the number we compute live in the table. But do not let DDR4's lower CAS-latency figures convince you it is faster. True latency in nanoseconds is 2000 × CL ÷ transfer rate: DDR4-3600 CL16 works out to about 8.9ns against roughly 10ns for DDR5-6000 CL30. DDR5 gives that sliver of first-word latency back with far higher bandwidth, doubled bank groups, and a platform roadmap DDR4 will never see. At similar $/GB, DDR5 is simply more memory per dollar of remaining platform life.
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Current top picks
Live prices from RamRadar so this page behaves like a decision page, not a static article.
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Updated from live product data on Nov 15, 2026
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Capacity, platform fit, and real-world value matter more than headline specs that rarely change your outcome.
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Every recommendation is pulled from current RamRadar pricing, so this page reacts to the market instead of freezing in time.
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We prioritize known brands and cleaner live pricing signals so obvious junk and misleading offers do not dominate the shortlist.
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FAQ
Is DDR4 cheaper than DDR5 in 2026?+–
Often no. DDR4 is end-of-life and increasingly scarce, so its per-GB price has risen and now frequently matches or exceeds DDR5. The old "DDR4 equals budget" rule no longer holds.
Can I put DDR5 in a DDR4 motherboard?+–
No. The slots are physically keyed differently and the platforms are incompatible. Your motherboard and CPU socket decide which one you can use.
Should I upgrade my DDR4 system or move to DDR5?+–
If your current board takes DDR4 and you just need more memory, buying DDR4 now (while it is still available) is fine. If you are replacing the CPU and motherboard anyway, move to a DDR5 platform.
Will DDR4 get cheap again once demand fades?+–
Unlikely. Supply is falling faster than demand: fab lines have been reallocated to DDR5 and HBM, and remaining DDR4 output increasingly serves industrial and last-time-buy contracts. The realistic trajectory is scarcer and pricier, then gone.
How this comparison stays current
This page ranks kits across both generations by live price per gigabyte: cheapest fresh offer per GB first. Prices come from our eBay and Newegg price feeds, refreshed several times daily; an offer not re-verified within 7 days drops out of best-price selection, and nothing older than 14 days is shown as current at all. The ordering is computed purely from that price data; affiliate commissions never reorder a list, as our affiliate disclosure spells out. If DDR4 undercuts DDR5 this week, the table will show it; if it does not, it will not.
Who should skip this comparison
Anyone with a DDR5-only board has no decision to make: go straight to our platform guides for AM5 or Arrow Lake picks. Laptop owners should check whether their memory is soldered before shopping at all; many thin-and-light machines cannot be upgraded. And if you are holding a working 32GB DDR4 system hoping to "upgrade into" DDR5 cheaply, wait for your next full platform; buying DDR5 with no board to put it in is how you end up owning expensive paperweights during a shortage.
