Will RAM, SSD and GPU Prices Drop on Black Friday 2026?

RAM and GPU prices are unlikely to fall meaningfully on Black Friday 2026, and SSDs are the only one of the three with real downward pressure behind them. Black Friday falls on November 27, 2026 (PC Gamer). If you need RAM or a GPU for a working machine, waiting three weeks is unlikely to save much and may cost you availability. If you need an SSD and can wait, watching prices through Cyber Monday is reasonable.

Will RAM prices drop on Black Friday 2026?

A real drop is unlikely, because the cost of the chips is still rising. The average contract price of 8Gb DDR4 rose 5.77% to $27.50 in October, a record and its 19th straight monthly gain, according to The Elec citing DRAMeXchange. The same report says TrendForce forecasts PC DRAM contract prices up 13% to 18% in Q4. Tom's Hardware's index, last updated November 3, shows how far retail has moved (Tom's Hardware):

• DDR5-6000 32GB: best U.S. price $459, lowest ever $72.
• DDR5-6000 64GB: best U.S. price $989, lowest ever $159.
• DDR4-3200 32GB: best U.S. price $209, lowest ever $193.

Those are reported retail figures from one date, and Tom's notes that stock is limited and that good deals can sell out quickly. A modest markdown is possible, but it would come from a very high starting point. For more detail, see our November DRAM price update.

Will SSD prices drop on Black Friday 2026?

SSDs have the best chance, because the upstream market has started to weaken. The 128Gb MLC NAND contract price was flat at $30.61 in October, ending a rally that began in January 2025, and TrendForce said prices could decline in Q4 (The Elec). Spot prices for 512Gb TLC wafers fell 4.33% in the week to November 2, to $16.152, down from $19.883 in late September (TrendForce, TrendForce). TrendForce also says client SSD suppliers have adopted a more flexible pricing stance (TrendForce). The signal is mixed, though: that benchmark is a memory card and USB drive chip, and TrendForce's September 30 forecast still had overall NAND contract prices up 15% to 20% in Q4.

Keep your expectations in proportion. One tracker found a Samsung 990 EVO Plus 2TB at $365.99 on Amazon on October 27, or $183 per terabyte, against $129 in October 2025, and described NVMe prices as roughly leveled off rather than falling (ComputingForGeeks). A good deal this year may still cost well over last year's normal price.

Will GPU prices drop on Black Friday 2026?

GPU prices are moving the wrong way for buyers. On October 30, Tom's Hardware reported the cheapest in-stock RTX 5080 at $2,199.99 against a $999 MSRP (its price tracker showed $1,999 on November 3), said NVIDIA's marketplace had dropped its listings, and said the card is unlikely to be available by Black Friday (Tom's Hardware). Wccftech, citing Chinese sources, reported on November 3 that board partner costs would rise again in November, though that is a report and not an NVIDIA announcement (Wccftech). TrendForce also says limited GDDR7 output should keep graphics DRAM prices rising (TrendForce). If a card is in stock at a price you can accept, a later bargain is not a safe assumption.

Should you buy now or wait for Black Friday?

• RAM: buy now if you need it for a working system. Waiting is a bet against rising contract prices.
• GPU: buy now if the price is acceptable and the seller is reputable. Availability is the bigger risk.
• Consumer SSD: wait if you can, and set a target price per terabyte in advance.
• Prebuilt PC: compare the total against the separate parts, because a system price may hide a low-spec configuration.
• Business hardware: do not plan around Black Friday. Buy to your project schedule instead.

How do you spot a fake Black Friday discount?

Ignore the was price and look at the history. UK consumer group Which? studied 227 products from the 2023 sale period and found 92% of the deals were the same price or cheaper at other times of the year, and that for six in 10 deals the higher price had applied less than half the time in the prior year (Which?). That study predates the shortage and covers UK retailers, but the method carries over. In the US, FTC guidance says a former price should be a genuine price offered to the public regularly for a reasonably substantial period (Cornell LII).

Two current listings show why this matters. PC Gamer's deals page showed a Samsung 9100 PRO 1TB at $249.99 with a was price of $339.99, which reads as 26% off, yet the drive launched in the US at $199 (PC Gamer, SamMobile). The same page showed a Crucial P310 1TB as a deal at $1 off. Prices on these pages change often, so check them on the day.

• Check at least 90 days of price history for the exact model and capacity.
• Confirm the seller. A marketplace reseller may not offer the same returns or warranty as the retailer.
• Watch for substitutions: a lower-speed kit, a DRAM-less SSD or a smaller capacity in the same product line.
• Be wary of bundles. Tom's Hardware notes that retailers sometimes tie memory kits to processor or motherboard purchases.
• Treat a price far below the market as a warning sign, and read our guide to fake DDR5 RAM.

How do you compare SSD deals by price per terabyte?

Divide the price by the capacity in terabytes, then compare only drives of the same class. The 990 EVO Plus 2TB example above works out to $183 per terabyte. A 2.5-inch PNY CS900 2TB SATA drive at $234.99 was $117.50 per terabyte on the same tracker (ComputingForGeeks), but it is a much slower drive. That tracker also says 1TB drives cost noticeably more per terabyte than 2TB models, so a bigger drive can be the cheaper buy. Apply the same method to memory using price per GB: $459 for 32GB is about $14 per GB.

What should business buyers do differently from consumers?

Black Friday pricing is mostly a consumer retail event, and the enterprise market is moving in the opposite direction. TrendForce expects server DRAM to stay undersupplied in Q4 2026, and it expects enterprise SSDs to be the only memory category with accelerating price growth, because most new supply is already committed (TrendForce). A consumer discount does not tell you what RDIMMs or U.2 drives will cost.

Retail deals can still suit a few desktop PCs or a single workstation, if the parts match the job. They rarely suit servers. Consumer SSDs lack features that servers rely on, as our guide to consumer SSD risks in servers explains, and a server usually needs validated memory rather than desktop kits. For the wider picture, see enterprise SSD prices and the 64GB RDIMM price guide.

For a one-off consumer SSD, a genuine Black Friday deal may be your better option. For business hardware, we supply new memory, drives and GPUs through authorized distribution channels with the full manufacturer warranty, check compatibility against your platform before dispatch, and quote within 48 business hours. Request a quote to compare against any deal you find.