Although skyrocketing HDD prices might make consumers think twice about upgrading, there are also some positive developments to report on the retail front.

Memory prices are hitting new lows in Europe and North America, and one particular product caught our eye. TeamGroup is now selling an 8GB DDR3-1333 kit for just €23.99 in Germany and $27.99 in the States. Of course, you can’t expect stellar performance from the cheapest memory kit on the market, but at €3 or $3.5 per gigabyte, the kit offers unbeatable value.

Mushkin is also selling a similarly spec’d 8GB kit for €26.53, while G.Skill offers a value kit for €27.55. In the US, Newegg is selling similar 8GB kits from Crucial and Pareema for $34.99.

With more and more consumers shifting to notebooks, we are happy to report that SO-DIMM prices are also down. In Europe, 4GB DDR3-1066 modules from Kingston, Corsair or Transcend will set you back €14+, which averages out to about €4.5 per gigabyte. On Newegg, there is a bunch of modules from Patriot, Kingston and Crucial to choose from for $19.99, while the cheapest module comes from Pareema and goes for €17.99.

Here’s some food for thought. A year ago a single Kingston ValueRAM 4GB SO-DIMM module cost €54 and two years ago it retailed for a saucy €243. Now it sells for just €14 and change.