Sales numbers on Amazon’s U.S. site show desktop CPUs aren’t moving like they used to, especially the usual socketed chips. But it’s not all bad news. Some older AMD processors are actually picking up steam again. With DDR5 prices climbing due to AI demand, a lot of people seem to be sticking with older platforms rather than paying more to upgrade.
Numbers tracked by TechEpiphany show that Amazon moved around 26,100 CPUs in the U.S. last month. AMD’s X3D chips are still dominating, grabbing about 88% of the market. AI data centers are gobbling up DRAM, and regular PC buyers are the ones dealing with the fallout.
Year-over-year comparisons from 3DCenter quantify the contraction. AMD and Intel collectively recorded a 59 percent decline in CPU unit sales on Amazon versus January 2025’s 63,840 units. December 2025 reflected a similar trend, down 46 percent from the prior year. Market share dynamics have remained largely intact, but aggregate demand has eroded considerably.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D continued to lead the gaming segment in January, accounting for nearly 20 percent of all CPUs sold. The company secured 17 of the top 20 best-selling positions overall. Intel, meanwhile, extended a downward trend that persisted throughout 2024, with its share of both revenue and unit sales slipping to 11 percent last month.
AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology, which stacks additional L3 cache vertically to boost gaming performance, remains a strong draw for buyers. The feature has played a key role in helping AMD secure roughly 42 percent of the overall desktop CPU market. Intel’s current Core Ultra lineup doesn’t yet offer a direct equivalent, though the company is widely expected to roll out a large Last-Level Cache design, referred to as bLLC, alongside its forthcoming Nova Lake processors.
As AI data centers absorb a significant share of global DRAM and NAND production, DDR5 memory prices have surged. Because Ryzen 9000 processors require DDR5, many PC builders are opting instead for older Ryzen 5000 and even 3000-series chips, which remain compatible with more affordable DDR4 memory.
The change is evident in the sales figures. Amazon sold nearly twice as many Ryzen 7 5800X processors in January 2026 as it did in the same month a year earlier. The Ryzen 5 3600, absent from the charts in January 2025, recorded roughly 200 unit sales last month.
Among the unexpected performers is the Ryzen 7 5800XT. The newer Zen 3-based chip trailed only the 9800X3D in sales on Amazon US and Mindfactory in Germany. It also secured third place on Amazon UK and led the overall rankings in Germany.
The memory shortage is affecting more than just CPUs. Graphics cards are also experiencing pressure. Trend data from PC Part Picker shows Nvidia RTX 50-series GPU prices increasing in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the RTX 5070 Ti has become difficult to find in stock, and Zotac has shared concerns about the sustainability of GPU manufacturers in the current environment.
Maybe you would like other interesting articles?