PS5 and Xbox RAM: Specs and Can You Upgrade It?

PS5 memory: what Sony's console has inside

A standard PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition both use 16GB of GDDR6. Reported bandwidth is 448 GB/s over a 256-bit interface, and the processor and graphics chip draw from the same pool rather than having separate memory each.

Those numbers do not appear on Sony's own PS5 pages. They trace back to Digital Foundry's reporting from March 2020, which Wikipedia summarises, and they have been repeated so often that they are treated as the standard figures. The console is also reported to carry a small DDR4 cache that works for the SSD controller. It is not something you can see or use.

For the PS5 Pro, leaks before launch and a later teardown report point to the same 16GB of GDDR6 for games plus 2GB of DDR5 for the system software. Sony has not confirmed that. Its PS5 Pro page mentions the 2TB SSD and leaves memory out, so read the extra 2GB as reported.

New to the subject? Our explainer on what RAM is covers the difference between memory and storage first.

Xbox Series X and Series S RAM

Microsoft is more open about its hardware. Its tech spec page gives the Xbox Series X 16GB of GDDR6 across a 320-bit bus. That memory comes in two parts with different speeds: a 10GB block at 560 GB/s and a 6GB block at 336 GB/s.

The cheaper Xbox Series S gets 10GB of GDDR6 across a 128-bit bus, made up of an 8GB block at 224 GB/s and a 2GB block at 56 GB/s. That is 6GB less than the Series X, and even the faster part of the Series S memory has well under half the bandwidth of the faster part in the Series X.

Console memory compared

This table lists the memory of each current PlayStation and Xbox model. Microsoft publishes the Xbox figures; the PlayStation figures are reported, not official.

The PS5 and the Series X land on the same 16GB. Where they differ is the bus width and the way the memory is split, so the amount alone tells you little about which one is faster.

Can you upgrade the RAM in a PS5 or Xbox?

You cannot. There is no memory slot for owners on any PS5 or Xbox Series model, and Microsoft's spec pages give no RAM upgrade path. The amount of memory a console ships with is the amount it keeps.

Storage is a different story. Inside the PS5 there is an M.2 slot that accepts NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 drives, and since the system update of 13 September 2023 it accepts drives up to 8TB. On the Xbox Series X and Series S you add space with a Storage Expansion Card built for those consoles; Microsoft lists a 1TB card. Either upgrade lets you keep more games installed. Neither one adds memory or makes a game run faster.

How console memory differs from PC RAM

In a PS5, one shared block of GDDR6 serves both the processor and the graphics. A desktop PC works the other way: system memory comes as DDR4 or DDR5 modules that click into slots on the motherboard. Kingston points out that DDR4 and DDR5 are not interchangeable: a DDR5 stick needs a DDR5 motherboard.

The bandwidth gap shows how far apart the two designs are. Kingston quotes a peak of 102.4 GB/s for DDR5-6400 in dual channel. The PS5's shared GDDR6 is reported at 448 GB/s. So "16GB" on a console box and "16GB" on a PC spec sheet describe different kinds of memory, and comparing them says nothing useful about performance.

If you also play on a PC, that is where a RAM upgrade does make sense. Our guide to how much RAM you need sets out sensible amounts, the best RAM for gaming compares kits, and the step by step on how to upgrade RAM covers fitting it. Apple silicon Macs share the console limit: Apple builds the memory into the chip package and it cannot be upgraded later, as our Mac RAM guide explains.

What the memory shortage means for UK console owners

The shortage has reached consoles in the UK. According to the Guardian, Sony put the UK price of the PS5 up by GBP 90 on 2 April 2026, alongside higher starting prices for Microsoft Surface and the MacBook Air. The same article suggests looking at refurbished devices and buying sooner rather than later.

Both console families run on GDDR6. In its outlook of 30 September 2026, TrendForce wrote that memory suppliers are cutting back on GDDR6 and slowly leaving that market, and that the major makers are sticking to lower consumer DRAM output. Its expectation is that consumer DRAM prices continue upwards, only more slowly. For conventional DRAM contract prices, TrendForce forecasts a 10% to 15% increase from the third to the fourth quarter of 2026. For the wider outlook, our page on whether RAM prices will go down sets the forecasts side by side.

PC builders feel it at the checkout. In UK shops this week, a 16GB DDR5 desktop kit starts at £184.99 and a 32GB DDR5 desktop kit at £420.97, prices including VAT. Four week change in the median price per GB for 32GB DDR5 desktop kits: not measured yet.

Every desktop kit we track is on our DDR5 RAM prices page.

What we do not know yet

• Sony's own memory figures. Sony does not list memory for the PS5 or the PS5 Pro on its pages. The PS5 numbers here are widely reported, and the 2GB of DDR5 in the PS5 Pro rests on leaks and a teardown.
• Current UK prices for Xbox consoles. We have no verified UK source for Series X or Series S price changes tied to memory, so we do not quote any.
• Whether GDDR6 cutbacks reach consoles. TrendForce reports that suppliers are scaling back GDDR6. Neither Sony nor Microsoft has said whether that affects console supply or pricing.
• Memory in the next generation. No successor console has published memory specs, so any figure you see today is rumour.

We check RAM kit prices in UK shops every week, most recently on 2 November 2026. Console memory is not in that data, because nobody sells it separately.