CPU-Z Data Shows 16 GB RAM Gaining Ground While 32 GB and 64 GB RAM Shares Shrink - TechPowerUp

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PCs with 32 GB and 64 GB of RAM are becoming less common, at least in the latest CPU-Z Validator statistics. According to Doc TB, one of the developers behind CPU-Z, this is the first time RAM capacity on PCs has declined year over year. 32 GB is still the mo…

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Sunday, November 8th 2026 CPU-Z Data Shows 16 GB RAM Gaining Ground While 32 GB and 64 GB RAM Shares Shrink by DrUsmanSaleem Yesterday, 09:03 Discuss (30 Comments) PCs with 32 GB and 64 GB of RAM are becoming less common, at least in the latest CPU-Z Validator statistics. According to Doc TB, one of the developers behind CPU-Z, this is the first time RAM capacity on PCs has declined year over year. 32 GB is still the most popular configuration at 37.2% of validations, though its share is down 2.5% compared to a year ago. 64 GB took a much bigger hit, falling 18% to 7.3%. Lower capacities are moving the other way, with 16 GB up 12.9% to 33.0% and 8 GB up 5.5% to 11.0%, while 96 GB and 128 GB setups dropped by more than 26% each. Memory type tells a similar story, with DDR4 now making up 54.5% of validations, up 6.0%, while DDR5 slipped 2.9% to 32.9%.

Of course, these figures only cover systems that users actually submit to the validator over the last three months, so they aren't a full picture of the PC market. Steam's September survey, for example, showed 32 GB overtaking 16 GB as the most common configuration among gamers, but that promptly flipped with the October survey. Still, the timing makes sense. Memory prices have climbed sharply this year, and Team Group expects the worst of the shortage to land between Q4 2026 and Q2 2027. DDR4 platforms may also get a second wind, with DDR4 motherboards getting released for unannounced LGA1700 processors expected in early 2027. It looks like plenty of people are sticking with older DDR4 systems or settling for 16 GB instead of paying current prices.

Sources: CPU-Z Validator, Doc TB on X, via Videocardz

30 Comments on CPU-Z Data Shows 16 GB RAM Gaining Ground While 32 GB and 64 GB RAM Shares Shrink

#1 Hmmmm, I wonder what caused this phenomena? 🙄 #2 Root cause is most likely DDR5 pricing. #3 Are some people selling one of their two DDR5 sticks now?

LauncestonianHmmmm, I wonder what caused this phenomena? 🙄

Altmania. #4

WirkoAre some people selling one of their two DDR5 sticks now?

I guess that’s the PC equivalent of selling a kidney. #5

LauncestonianHmmmm, I wonder what caused this phenomena? 🙄

Greatest snake oil salesman alive. #6 24 GB is becoming increasingly common; it’s unclear whether this runs in single-channel or three modules. As is the case in my setup, my 32 GB was split between two systems. #7 Love it! And, unlike if this sort of shortage happened say 25-30 years ago where you still had assembly-code wizard poindexters around who could put a man on the moon with 16KB, this time around there is just gazzilions of Comp Sci framework-upon-framework vibe coders who will just shrug their shoulders and go: "I guess things will just be.... slow and... crashy? Dunno..." 😁 :roll: 😁 :roll:

If anyone wants some pointers, pun intended, on some win32 32bit choice "softwares" to squeeze perf out of the ever dimishing RAM builds, just ask. No Electron wrapped anything, or NET. JIT bloatware... Nix' folks are welcome too, more so since Nix has become a bloated pig, more than WinOS ever was.... seemingly...

Maybe TPU could do an article/guide along the lines: "This app or this specific build of whatever app uses less RAM and CPU than xyz".... then again everyone is litigious these days, and I am sure Wizzard dosen't want to get sued by devs of Paint.NET or something for saying its a pig piece of software...

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. #8 It’s time to discover a computer that doesn’t need RAM :D #9 This phenomenon stems from a shift toward a more pragmatic perspective on memory capacity, driven by an abnormal surge in memory prices. In the past, when memory was inexpensive, some users—driven by mere desire—would upgrade to 128GB of RAM, even for tasks that did not require such a large amount. However, as memory prices have risen, it has become clear from a practical, realistic standpoint that 16GB is sufficient for most needs, and that capacities exceeding 64GB are, in reality, unnecessary. #10

xxxZAURxxxIt’s time to discover a computer that doesn’t need RAM :D

My first device (8-bit Z-80B CPU) had 64kB RAM + 32kB VRAM
My first PC (386SX) .... 4 MB

My actual CPU .... 96MB L3 cache. #11 Aren’t people still buying all the latest and greatest, as some on this forum are claiming, and that all the doom posting is just poor people that shouldn’t have a say complaining? That the higher prices have very little impact, a bit less items are sold for a bit higher price, revenue is still up, everything else is fake news? #12 I'm glad I bought my storage before the madness and got 32gb of RAM for less than £100. I wanted to get some more NVME drives but will make do with my 1 and 2 TB devices for now and remove games I don't play. #13 I'm so glad I bought 64GB of RAM before this madness began. And that I just kept my 2TB SSD despite being just SATA instead of selling it because I bought 4TB NVMe. It's Samsung 850 Pro so it's very high performance SSD despite that. This might be the longest running whole system in my entire PC owning history because of the stupid market situation. #14 640k is enough! #15

PaganstompRoot cause is most likely DDR5 pricing.

And greed and profit maximizing and DDR4 pricing, today 32 GB DDR4 costs the same as 64 GB DDR5 cost yesteryear. Insanity. #16 I almost feel ashamed for the amount of RAM I have ...almost. Fun fact: I've seen someone looking suspiciously like Sam Alt(ruistic)man lurking around my property. ;) #17 Likely because of DDR5 pricing, DDR4 is much cheaper, DDR5 is possibly worth selling if you can manage with 16GB.
Also interesting how 27" monitor use went up by 5.8%, OLED and mini LED monitors have gotten cheaper, people may be upgrading where they can.
Although I wonder where those who claimed this was all just doom and gloom are in threads like this, but in reality memory sizes are decreasing and the overall PC market is declining as well. #18 I'm so happy I got a second 16 GB stick of DDR5 for my laptop at only 110€, I felt like I was ripping the guy off :fear:
This was 2 weeks ago. Price was the same as now, ~300 € for a 16GB stick of laptop memory. #19

AddSubLove it! And, unlike if this sort of shortage happened say 25-30 years ago where you still had assembly-code wizard poindexters around who could put a man on the moon with 16KB, this time around there is just gazzilions of Comp Sci framework-upon-framework vibe coders who will just shrug their shoulders and go: "I guess things will just be.... slow and... crashy? Dunno..." 😁 :roll: 😁 :roll:

If anyone wants some pointers, pun intended, on some win32 32bit choice "softwares" to squeeze perf out of the ever dimishing RAM builds, just ask. No Electron wrapped anything, or NET. JIT bloatware... Nix' folks are welcome too, more so since Nix has become a bloated pig, more than WinOS ever was.... seemingly...

Maybe TPU could do an article/guide along the lines: "This app or this specific build of whatever app uses less RAM and CPU than xyz".... then again everyone is litigious these days, and I am sure Wizzard dosen't want to get sued by devs of Paint.NET or something for saying its a pig piece of software...

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LOL 100% pun intended killed me

My take was are people selling their extra RAM in their rigs for cash? Or are they upgrading their rigs and buy 16GB if they build one themselves, or if they buy a pre built they are buying these 16GB rigs to keep their price affordable and plan to upgrade at a later date...

Nah I be keeping my all my RAM. Sam can pound sand. Why don't he give up his RAM. If he was so kind he would donate all his AI rigs to everyone to have local AI so we can all be equal.

As for Monitors, I say Steam survey last month shows 1080p increased and 5070 dropped. Are gamers selling their 5070s now? Are they pulling out their 1080p monitors again or buying new ones and playing on 3060 level cards they had before they bought a 5070 or whatever card they sold? Would like to know which trend is going on. #20 No wonder. I sold my 48 GB kit and downgraded to 32 GB in my main rig not long ago. When prices are so dramatic, one has to question what one really needs. #21 My last two retro/sleeper homelab projects each run 16GB. DDR3. 1600MHz & 1333MHz. CL? I don't recall offhand and am too lazy to look. Cost £12 for 2x8 sticks.

My "main" rig is 48GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 (2x16 & 2x8)., My "daily driver" is 32GB DDR5 5200MT/s CL40.

I'm not sure I could get by with only 16GB on the two Win 11 Pro rigs. 16GB is kind of overkill on the two Proxmox boxes for what I use them to do.

But yeah, CPU-Z isn't reporting on Linux boxes, right? Not that I saw at a casual glance. I wonder how the numbers would skew taking that into account. #22

azraelI've seen someone looking suspiciously like Sam Alt(ruistic)man lurking around my property. ;)

Good afternoon sir, my name is [mumbling voice] Dram Nandman, I collect scrap computer parts, please help me any way you can because, as you can see by the way I look, I'm, uhm, poor, I don't have no money, I never had no money, and I'm in debt too. #23 Scam Altman a modern day Robin Hood, stealing ram from those greedy home users to give to the poor hyper scalers, sources say that he was inspired the great Scamcron who have been liberating ram from ungrateful customers who try to scam them with false warranty claims #24

LauncestonianHmmmm, I wonder what caused this phenomena? 🙄

I blame Obama.

Its only a joke. #25 Is the data based on users who used to have more RAM, or new users submitting data?

Cause with the prices currently, i would assume anything bought since autumn 2025 has less RAM then it used to.

And does it include something like the Steam Machine, jailbroken PSx´s and Xboxes ? Add your own comment

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CPU-Z Data Shows 16 GB RAM Gaining Ground While 32 GB and 64 GB RAM Shares Shrink - TechPowerUp

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30 Comments on CPU-Z Data Shows 16 GB RAM Gaining Ground While 32 GB and 64 GB RAM Shares Shrink