New laptop SO-DIMM starts at $12.47/GB for DDR5 and $5.28/GB for DDR4, across 146 in-stock modules and kits, as of 2026-09-22. Whether your laptop takes an upgrade is its maker's call. Buy the capacity you need now, do not buy speculatively, and a working kit you are happy with is not a reason to buy.
Live prices updated · refreshed through the day
Buy the capacity you need now, do not buy speculatively, and a working kit you are happy with is not a reason to buy. Part of this market's demand is fear of higher prices, and buying on fear is how a buyer ends up owning capacity they did not need at the top of a price cycle. If your machine works and the memory in it is enough for what you run, the right amount to buy today is none.
SO-DIMM is the small-outline module used in laptops, mini PCs and some all-in-one machines: physically shorter than the DIMM in a desktop and not interchangeable with it. This page tracks 146 in-stock new SO-DIMM modules and kits from Amazon US, DDR5 and DDR4, priced per gigabyte of total capacity. A laptop module is usually sold singly or as a pair, so a 32GB listing may be one 32GB module or two 16GB modules; the table shows the module count beside the total so you can tell, and the per-gigabyte figure treats both the same way.
Unbuffered ECC SO-DIMM exists and is recorded as a separate class, and the registered server modules on our server RAM pages are a different product again. Neither is in any figure here. As on every RAM page, speed and latency are shown as the listing's stated specification and are not ranked or characterised: what a stated rating means in a given laptop depends on that laptop's platform, and a price table cannot know it.
DDR5 and DDR4 laptop modules are keyed differently and will not seat in each other's sockets, exactly as their desktop cousins do. The laptop's platform takes one; there is no choosing between them on price. If the machine in front of you was built for DDR4, no DDR5 SO-DIMM price is relevant to it, and the reverse. The maker's specification page states which, and the label on an existing module in the machine will usually say too.
The comparison of the generations at matched capacity, done live, is on the cost page linked below and it makes the point that matters here: the difference in price between the generations is a fact about the market, and it does not make a DDR4 laptop able to use DDR5 memory or the other way round.
Before any price matters, the question for a laptop is whether its memory can be changed at all, and on that question we deliberately say nothing about any particular model. Some laptops carry all their memory soldered to the board, some carry one soldered module and one socket, some have two sockets, and the same product name has been sold in more than one arrangement across its life. Inferring which from a model name, a review or a forum post is how people order a module that cannot be fitted.
The authority is the laptop maker's own specification page or service manual for your exact model and variant, which states the memory type, the number of sockets, whether any memory is soldered, and the maximum capacity the machine is documented to support. If that page says the memory is soldered, no module on this page is an upgrade for that laptop, however cheap it is. If it lists sockets and a maximum, buy to that, and no more: capacity above the documented maximum is capacity the machine is not specified to use.
We are not being cautious for its own sake. A wrong guess here has a concrete cost, a module you cannot return once it has been fitted and found not to work, at a moment when memory is expensive. That is why this page carries no list of laptops that can be upgraded. A list would be a set of inferences dressed as specifications, and the whole value of a page like this is that it does not contain any.
In stock only, cheapest per gigabyte first. $/GB divides the price by the TOTAL kit capacity. Speed and latency are the listing's stated specification.
| Kit | Type | Total | Modules | Rated speed (spec) | Condition | $/GB | Verdict | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PNY Performance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 2 x 16GB | DDR4-3200, CL22 | Used / renewed | $3.28 | TRACKING | $105.00 | Buy |
| SK hynix 16GB DDR4-2400 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2400 | Used / renewed | $4.06 | TRACKING | $65.00 | Buy |
| Kingston ValueRAM 16GB DDR4-2400 CL17 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2400, CL17 | Used / renewed | $4.37 | TRACKING | $69.99 | Buy |
| SK hynix 16GB DDR4-2666 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2666 | Used / renewed | $4.38 | TRACKING | $70.00 | Buy |
| SK hynix 32GB DDR4-2400 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 1 x 32GB | DDR4-2400 | Used / renewed | $4.53 | TRACKING | $145.00 | Buy |
| Crucial 32GB DDR4-2666 CL19 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 1 x 32GB | DDR4-2666, CL19 | Used / renewed | $5.00 | TRACKING | $159.95 | Buy |
| Crucial 16GB DDR4-2400 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2400 | New | $5.28 | TRACKING | $84.49 | Buy |
| SK hynix 16GB DDR4-2666 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2666 | Used / renewed | $5.56 | TRACKING | $89.00 | Buy |
| Kingston 16GB DDR4-2666 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2666 | Used / renewed | $5.59 | TRACKING | $89.50 | Buy |
| G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB DDR4-2400 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2400 | New | $5.63 | TRACKING | $90.05 | Buy |
| SK hynix 32GB DDR4-2666 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 1 x 32GB | DDR4-2666 | Used / renewed | $5.78 | TRACKING | $185.00 | Buy |
| Crucial 16GB DDR4-2666 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2666 | New | $5.79 | TRACKING | $92.61 | Buy |
| SK hynix 16GB DDR4-3200 CL22 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-3200, CL22 | New | $5.91 | TRACKING | $94.50 | Buy |
| Crucial 16GB DDR4-2663 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2663 | Used / renewed | $5.94 | TRACKING | $94.99 | Buy |
| SK hynix 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 2 x 16GB | DDR4, speed not stated | New | $5.94 | TRACKING | $189.98 | Buy |
| TeamGroup Elite 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 2 x 16GB | DDR4-2666, CL19 | New | $5.97 | TRACKING | $190.99 | Buy |
| TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 2 x 8GB | DDR4-2666, CL19 | New | $6.00 | TRACKING | $95.99 | Buy |
| Kingston ValueRAM 32GB DDR4-2666 CL19 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 1 x 32GB | DDR4-2666, CL19 | New | $6.02 | TRACKING | $192.58 | Buy |
| Crucial 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-2400 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 2 x 16GB | DDR4-2400 | New | $6.09 | TRACKING | $195.00 | Buy |
| TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 2 x 8GB | DDR4-3200, CL22 | New | $6.12 | TRACKING | $97.99 | Buy |
| Crucial 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2400 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 2 x 8GB | DDR4-2400 | New | $6.12 | TRACKING | $97.99 | Buy |
| Samsung 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-2666 CL19 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 32GB | 2 x 16GB | DDR4-2666, CL19 | New | $6.13 | TRACKING | $196.00 | Buy |
| Samsung 16GB DDR4-2666 CL19 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-2666, CL19 | New | $6.16 | TRACKING | $98.50 | Buy |
| Crucial 16GB DDR4-3200 CL22 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 1 x 16GB | DDR4-3200, CL22 | Used / renewed | $6.19 | TRACKING | $99.00 | Buy |
| Crucial 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2400 | SO-DIMM DDR4 | 16GB | 2 x 8GB | DDR4-2400 | Used / renewed | $6.19 | TRACKING | $99.00 | Buy |
Today the cheapest gigabyte on this generation is at 32GB ($12.47) and the dearest is at 64GB ($14.06). Moving up the ladder the larger kit is cheaper per gigabyte at 1 of 2 steps. Step by step: 16GB to 32GB: $13.50 to $12.47 per gigabyte (-7.6%), so the 32GB kit is cheaper per gigabyte; 32GB to 64GB: $12.47 to $14.06 per gigabyte (+12.8%), so the 64GB kit is dearer per gigabyte.
Read that as the state of the shelf on the date above and not as a rule. The comparison is between each capacity's single cheapest in-stock kit, so it moves whenever one cheap kit sells out or appears, and a ladder that bends one way this week can bend the other next week with no seller changing a price.
16GB: $13.50/GB from $216 (next size -7.6%) · 32GB: $12.47/GB from $399 (next size +12.8%) · 64GB: $14.06/GB from $900
Today the cheapest gigabyte on this generation is at 16GB ($5.28) and the dearest is at 64GB ($6.31). Moving up the ladder the larger kit is cheaper per gigabyte at 0 of 2 steps. Step by step: 16GB to 32GB: $5.28 to $5.94 per gigabyte (+12.4%), so the 32GB kit is dearer per gigabyte; 32GB to 64GB: $5.94 to $6.31 per gigabyte (+6.3%), so the 64GB kit is dearer per gigabyte.
Read that as the state of the shelf on the date above and not as a rule. The comparison is between each capacity's single cheapest in-stock kit, so it moves whenever one cheap kit sells out or appears, and a ladder that bends one way this week can bend the other next week with no seller changing a price.
16GB: $5.28/GB from $84 (next size +12.4%) · 32GB: $5.94/GB from $190 (next size +6.3%) · 64GB: $6.31/GB from $404
The counterfeit reporting of 2026 has a laptop-specific feature that is worth knowing. Laptop SO-DIMMs have no heatspreader, so the memory chips and their part numbers are in plain view, and the alleged fakes reported from Japan were spotted on exactly that basis: a module wearing one brand's sticker while carrying another maker's chips, with package edges oddly rounded and one chip visibly out of place. The reporting says that is not true of desktop kits, whose heatspreaders cover the chips, where the only check is to test the module or take it apart.
Two cautions belong beside that. The reports are allegations from secondary-market listings in Asia rather than findings about US retail, and the sourced box below carries each caveat. And being able to see the chips helps a buyer who knows what they are looking at and is holding the module. It does nothing before purchase, which is where price and seller are the only tools. Our catalogue rejects listings far below a computed plausibility floor and any whose brand, title, feature bullets and module count disagree; the live floors are on the hub page.
When a laptop module arrives, compare the part number and brand markings on the chips with the label and the listing, look for inconsistent package edges, mismatched or misaligned components and a label that does not match the chips, and then check that the machine reports the full capacity you paid for. If anything is off, stop, keep the packaging and dispute it with the seller.
Everything in this box is REPORTED by the named source and read by us at that source on 21 September 2026. None of it is our measurement, and it is never averaged with ours. Where a source's evidence chain is weaker than we would like, the note says so.
Tom's Hardware's report on the same alleged fake DDR5: laptop SO-DIMMs carry no heatspreaders, so the part numbers are visible and 'you can actually see' signs they are not authentic, while for desktop memory that comes with heatsinks 'you're basically out of luck until you actually test it'. Its example, from a Japanese user's photos, was a module with a Samsung sticker whose chips were plainly SK hynix parts, with abnormally rounded package edges exposing a white material and one chip knocked out of place. Digital Trends, the day before, made the same point about desktop kits: large heatspreaders cover the chips completely.
Source: Hassam Nasir, Tom's Hardware, citing a Japanese user's photos; Digital Trends corroborating. read the source Note: Alleged fraud reported from secondary-market listings in Japan, not from US retail. Both articles were read in full; Digital Trends (2026-05-10) is at https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/fake-ddr5-ram-sticks-are-now-using-plastic-chips-to-fool-buyers/.
Posters from Japan reported fake DDR5 SO-DIMM (laptop) modules with plastic memory chips glued onto the circuit board, either wholly or partially replacing the memory. PCWorld's wording is 'allegedly'; it says most buyers cannot tell real memory from fake and learn only from a failed boot or far less RAM than they paid for.
Source: Michael Crider, PCWorld, citing posters from Japan and Digital Trends. read the source Note: Alleged, and reported from secondary-market listings in Asia rather than from US retail. PCWorld lists no visual tells and says it is difficult to spot them.
A laptop with two sockets can be fitted with two modules, and the sale of a matched pair as a kit is common. Whether your machine gains anything from a pair, and in which sockets the modules should sit, is in the maker's documentation for that model and is not something we can generalise. On price the question is simple: compare per gigabyte at the capacity you need. A pair of 16GB modules and a single 32GB module are on the same footing in our tables, and the module count column tells you which you would be buying.
Laptops with one free socket and one soldered module raise a different constraint, because the documented maximum may be lower than two large modules would suggest. Again the maker's page decides. If it states a maximum, that is the number to buy to.
A laptop is the easiest place to talk yourself into an unneeded purchase, because the upgrade is small in cost and feels like insurance. Buy the capacity you need now, do not buy speculatively, and a working kit you are happy with is not a reason to buy. If the laptop does what you need with the memory it has, the right amount to buy today is none. If it runs short in real use, buy the capacity the maker documents as supported and the amount your work needs, compare per gigabyte, and stop there. A module bought to be ready for a later need is paid for at today's elevated price and may turn out to fit the next laptop no better than this one.
Building or repairing a server or workstation rather than a laptop? That is the server RAM section, which covers registered ECC modules.
Only your laptop maker can tell you. Some laptops solder all their memory, some solder part of it and socket the rest, and some have two sockets, sometimes with different arrangements under the same name. The maker's specification page or service manual for your exact model states the memory type, the number of sockets and the supported maximum, and we do not guess any model's upgradeability.
The live floors for both are at the top of this page, computed when you load it. Which your laptop can use is not a price question: the two are keyed differently and the platform takes one. The cost comparison tests the price gap at matched capacity.
It has been reported as one: alleged DDR5 SO-DIMMs with plastic dummy chips, from secondary-market listings in Japan, described by PCWorld, Tom's Hardware and Digital Trends in May 2026. The reports are allegations rather than findings about US retail. Because SO-DIMMs have no heatspreader, the chips and part numbers are visible on arrival, which is a check desktop kits do not allow.
If the laptop has the memory it needs, do not buy. Buy the capacity you need now, do not buy speculatively, and a working kit you are happy with is not a reason to buy. We do not predict prices; the dated supplier statements and the things that would change the outlook are on the RAM price forecast.
In a shortage a price far below the market is a warning before it is a bargain. We reject listings far below a computed plausibility floor before they reach a page, and we publish the live floors on the RAM hub. Buy from the maker's own storefront or an authorised seller, and check the module when it arrives.
Whether your laptop gains anything from two modules, and which sockets they belong in, is in the maker's documentation for that model. On price, our tables compare per gigabyte, so a pair and a single module of the same total are on the same footing.
Not directly. SO-DIMM and desktop DIMM are different physical modules with different sockets. Adapters exist, but whether one suits your machine is a question for that machine's maker, and we do not track them.