Possibly inflation adjusted?
replyThat would be around $7,900 USD.
replyI had a desktop PC that I bought (as a pile of bits!) with 512MB of RAM in 1999 and I sure as hell didn't pay more than a couple of hundred for memory. That might have been EDO rather than SDRAM though but I can't see the price difference being that much!
replyMy computer had 16Mb in 1997, and it was lower-range but not the absolute bottom.
replyIt looks like Anandtech listed 128Mb for $300 (not inflation adjusted) in 1997. It fell to $150 in 1998 and by 1999 you could buy it for $100.
So 512Mb RAM by the end of 1999 for ~$200 was plausible.