DRAM

DRAM is the short-term working memory of a computer, the place where whatever you are doing right now actually lives. It is not storage: switch the machine off and DRAM forgets everything. When you buy RAM for a PC you are buying DRAM, in the form of DDR4 or the newer and faster DDR5 modules.

DRAM used to get cheaper every year, quietly and predictably. That stopped in 2025 and 2026, because memory makers began redirecting production toward HBM for AI accelerators, which pays far better. Consumer prices roughly quintupled inside a year as a result, which is how a data centre boom ended up on the bill for someone building a gaming PC.