MSI brings DDR4 back to gaming laptops amidst DRAM crisis — Katana 15 HX C14 available with up to Core i9-14900HX and RTX 5070

The ongoing DRAM crisis has led to a sharp increase in laptop prices, with manufacturers facing exponentially high component costs, particularly memory and SSDs. The situation has created a growing gap in the affordable gaming laptop segment, with most entry-level models becoming increasingly expensive. In its response, MSI has introduced the new Katana 15 HX C14 that features Intel’s 14th-gen Raptor Lake Refresh processors along with support for both DDR5 and DDR4-3200 memory.

Depending on the region, MSI will be offering the value-focused gaming laptop in two variants, featuring dual SO-DIMM slots with either DDR4 or DDR5 compatibility. For context, a 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM memory kit can be purchased for around $200, while a DDR5-6000 kit goes for over $400. MSI did not specify the DDR4 capacity as standard, only that the laptop supports up to 96GB, which seems unlikely given no 48GB DDR4 SO-DIMMs exist.