Framework DIY laptop cost jumps with 50% price hike on DDR5 RAM

Framework has added to the collective misery around RAM price increases as the firm just announced a major hike in the cost of DDR5 memory for its DIY notebook.

As VideoCardz noticed, the DDR5 memory supplied with the Framework Laptop DIY Edition is now 50% pricier, due to the "substantially higher costs we are facing from suppliers and distributors" the company notes, stressing that the new prices are still below the levels seen on the open market.

Those who've already pre-ordered won't have the cost of their machine changed, as you would hope, but any new orders going forward will be substantially more expensive if you want to pile on the system RAM.

However, this price hike doesn't apply to prebuilt laptops or the Framework Desktop, at least not for the time being - though I'd imagine this may not be the case for too much longer.

Framework notes: "The memory market is currently extremely volatile and we expect costs from our suppliers to continue to increase over the next weeks and months. It is highly likely that we will need to make further price updates on both DDR5 modules and on our systems that come with memory, whether DDR5, LPDDR5X, or GDDR."

I think it's broadly true that if you're thinking of buying a new PC - from anywhere, not just Framework - it's a good idea to move sooner rather than later at this point. PC builders should be even quicker to snap up RAM if they can find it at anything remotely approaching a palatable price, although it's already very difficult to do that.

This is a tad embarrassing for Framework, seeing as the firm recently had a pop at Dell for exorbitant RAM upgrade pricing in its laptops (and Apple indirectly), though to be fair, Framework did say at the time that it'd be increasing prices itself. I'm not sure anyone expected a 50% jump, mind.