Ridiculous RAM price hikes scuppered your planned PC build? An AMD exec has some advice

There's been no hotter topic in the PC sphere of late than the rocketing cost of RAM - although other components have been hit with price hikes, notably storage, and also GPUs to an extent - but an AMD exec is trying to put a brave face on things in the face of these pricing pressures.

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You could always buy a cheaper CPU, and it's a compromise some folks may have to make if they're buying this year

Still, some consumers may not appreciate the advice from Rahul Tikoo, AMD's SVP & GM of its Client Business Unit, who was interviewed by Tom's Hardware at CES 2026.

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The tech site asked Tikoo how AMD is reacting to the steep increase in the cost of DRAM and storage, and how it could affect Team Red this year, given predictions of falling PC sales as a result of these hikes.

Tikoo responded:

"We don't see an issue there other than, you know, tightness leads to higher prices, eventually. So, from that perspective, I'm not seeing any impact to our business this year."

The SVP further explained:

"I think that people who need the technology need the technology, and they're going to buy the technology - though consumers might decide that they have a choice to make on how much memory, what CPU. Which is okay because we have a wide assortment of products available."

The quote is somewhat different to what Tom's Hardware has in the strapline for the article, which is that:

"Consumers have a wide assortment of choice available for all kinds of price points that they can buy for this coming year. So yeah, I'm not too concerned about that."

Perhaps that came from elsewhere in the interview. At any rate, the upshot is that if trying to build a PC - or configure a prebuilt - there are always options, and buyers can keep a lid on RAM quantity to keep the cost down, and/or compromise elsewhere to accommodate price hikes on system memory, such as running with a cheaper option for a CPU (or indeed GPU).

That is true enough, of course, but people don't really want to hear: 'Hey, RAM prices aren't such a problem if you cut corners elsewhere, it'll all shake out.'

Although the important part of Tikoo's thinking here is the bit about "people who need the technology need the technology, and they're going to buy the technology", meaning those who must have a PC - because their current one has gone to silicon heaven, or is on the verge of departing - have no choice but to buy one. And they'll have to compromise to get under the price point they're looking to spend at - or find more money.

Alternatively, people may get creative - sourcing second-hand RAM, maybe, or making do with memory scavenged from an old rig - but even if AMD isn't worried about the near-term future of the PC market, a lot of consumers really are.