Memory manufacturers are hard at work supplying new modules to retailers while motherboard manufacturers steadily unveil their plans for the next-generation Intel 600 series chipsets. 

Both products should be available on November 4th, which is the official launch date and end of the sales embargo for Intel Alder Lake CPUs and Z690 motherboards, respectively.

Some firms have been selling DDR5 memory kits for almost three months already, indicating that there is no longer a prohibition on the technology. Its JEDEC standard speed of 4800 MT/s makes it the slowest reference speed supported by Intel Z690 motherboards, which will be released in the near future. It is said that Alder Lake CPUs would benefit from faster memory, such as 6200 MT/s and higher, which will increase the cost of the kit. But how much would DDR5 memory set you back financially?

DDR5 vs. DDR4 Memory Costs

Historically, newer memory technology has always commanded close to a 30-40% premium over the previous generation. However, this time, DDR5 includes additional components that have driven the costs up further. As a result, we expect a 50-60% price premium compared to DDR4 at launch.

It typically takes around 2 years to reach price parity with previous generations, and we expect trends to remain similar with DDR5 modules as well.

— Sara Lin, MSI

MSI expects that DDR5 memory will be 50-60 percent more expensive than DDR4 memory when it first becomes available. The company estimates that it will take two years to achieve price parity with the previous standard.

DDR5 memory, according to MSI, will cost 50 to 60 percent more than DDR4 memory.