1992 ram situation was bad, but not that bad. There was no single most expensive component, it was always a contest between CPU, RAM, HDD and monitor :). 1992 30pin Simm prices:

1MB $30-50.

4MB $150 January 1992, lowest in went would be $100 in December 1992, and back to $130 in December 1994.

Sane combinations were 4x1, 8x1, 4x4, and quite insane 8x4. 1992 was also when non IBM vendors started using 72pin SIMMs, for example Dell Precision 386DX/33 4x72pin while 25MHz model shipped with 8x30pin simm sockets. Edit: Looks like DELL started switching to 72pin simms in early 1990 with 325P/333P/433P models, and in 1992 committed unconscionable abomination by releasing 333s/L 386SX with 72pin simms :o