Is it worth buying DDR5 ram for a pc upgrade, or is it better to use DDR4 until prices drop?

Denisthehero · 10 Dec 2021 at 17:51

So, I want to upgrade my whole pc basically. I've had it unchanged for about 6 years and it's showing its age on newer games. (I'm not gonna upgrade the GPU for now, as there is basically no stock). I want to get an i5 12600K and I was think of also getting DDR5 ram.

Is it worth the extra money, or should I use DDR4 until DDR5 prices drop? If I do that though, are there any Motherboards that support both DDR4 and DDR5 or is that not something that will never happen?

Forget me if it's a dumb question, but I genuinely do not know. Any suggestions?

Joxeon · 10 Dec 2021 at 18:51

You'd be better off going with DDR4 and then spending the extra cash to bump the CPU up to the 12700K especially if your planning to keep the CPU for another 5 years.

Dave2150 · 10 Dec 2021 at 21:23

There have been many retailers with dozens/hundreds of DDR5 kits dropping this week. Expect supply to ramp up, especially in January.

Buying into a dead DDR4 platform at this point in time is a waste of money IMO. There'll be no faster DDR4 than what's currently avaiable. DDR5 however, this time next year we'll be seeing 7000Mhz kits and it will keep improving for quite a few years, just like DDR4 did.

Joxeon · 10 Dec 2021 at 21:31

Dave2150 said:
There have been many retailers with dozens/hundreds of DDR5 kits dropping this week. Expect supply to ramp up, especially in January.

Buying into a dead DDR4 platform at this point in time is a waste of money IMO. There'll be no faster DDR4 than what's currently avaiable. DDR5 however, this time next year we'll be seeing 7000Mhz kits and it will keep improving for quite a few years, just like DDR4 did.

Probably be cheaper to buy a new board + DDR5 in a few years time though than buy a slower inflated DDR5 kit now then have to replace it anyway down the line.

JollyJamma · 18 Dec 2021 at 12:35

DDR5 makes no sense right now.

you’re paying early adopters tax for it and the compatible motherboards that come with it.

In *one* game, DDR5 is 20% faster than DDR4 but the average is closer to 3 or 5%.

Given the pricing, it makes no sense right now. In a year or two when supply and demand have settled, you could look at it again.

Purgatory · 18 Dec 2021 at 14:42

varkanoid · 18 Dec 2021 at 15:46

JollyJamma said:
DDR5 makes no sense right now.

you’re paying early adopters tax for it and the compatible motherboards that come with it.

In *one* game, DDR5 is 20% faster than DDR4 but the average is closer to 3 or 5%.

Given the pricing, it makes no sense right now. In a year or two when supply and demand have settled, you could look at it again.

Yeah even the youtube vid above shows it. Unless you want the latest tech and money is no object its not worth it.

Dave2150 · 19 Dec 2021 at 09:42

varkanoid said:
Yeah even the youtube vid above shows it. Unless you want the latest tech and money is no object its not worth it.

You can shop around now and get DDR5 @ MSRP. That or wait for new year for mass stock availability @ msrp.

Will also be quite costly buying both ddr4 and ddr5 motherboard, as you won't sell an obsolete ddr4 motherboard for more than peanuts in a few months.

Quartz · 19 Dec 2021 at 10:15

Purgatory said:

That video is pretty useless as he uses premium - CL14 - DDR4 RAM rather than standard - CL16 or 18 - RAM.

varkanoid · 19 Dec 2021 at 13:54

Dave2150 said:
You can shop around now and get DDR5 @ MSRP. That or wait for new year for mass stock availability @ msrp.

Will also be quite costly buying both ddr4 and ddr5 motherboard, as you won't sell an obsolete ddr4 motherboard for more than peanuts in a few months.

True but fact is you dont need DDR5 for 99% of PC applications, software or games. So if you have 32gb DDR4 and want to upgrade CPU and motherboard RAM is one less cost you don't need.

RSR · 22 Dec 2021 at 18:38

Quartz said:
That video is pretty useless as he uses premium - CL14 - DDR4 RAM rather than standard - CL16 or 18 - RAM.

It's to give you a good estimation, CL16 or 18 on DDR4 would perform considerably worse. Current DDR5 can also be pushed far beyond 6000C36, which also will have a impact and improve performance.

However, DDR5 is a new standard which improves on DDR4 and all the comments where the same at that point in then.

Dave2150 · 27 Dec 2021 at 00:10

varkanoid said:
True but fact is you dont need DDR5 for 99% of PC applications, software or games. So if you have 32gb DDR4 and want to upgrade CPU and motherboard RAM is one less cost you don't need.

Oh 100%. You dont need DDR5, Alder Lake, Zen3 or 10th gen to do 99% of things. Blind tests would challenge most people to tell the difference.

Though there's no denying that DDR5, tuned, is faster than the best DDR4, and is the way foward. It's just very expensive for the small performance increase - though this has been the same throughout the decades and is nothing new.

The big, obvious differences come with display technology. Even a 60 year old can instantly tell that a 4k 120hz/120fps gsync experience on a LG OLED C9/CX/C1 48/55" TV, with a 3080+ GPU is infinently better than crappy 27" LCD 1440P monitors.

varkanoid · 27 Dec 2021 at 10:32

Dave2150 said:
Even a 60 year old can instantly tell that a 4k 120hz/120fps gsync experience on a LG OLED C9/CX/C1 48/55" TV, with a 3080+ GPU is infinently better than crappy 27" LCD 1440P monitors.

Not too sure about that the older generation tend not to tell the difference between SD and HD in our family let alone know what "OLED" is.

Dave2150 · 29 Dec 2021 at 08:50

varkanoid said:
Not too sure about that the older generation tend not to tell the difference between SD and HD in our family let alone know what "OLED" is.

Haha, I'm sure they'd pick a 48" OLED over a 27" IPS/TN/VA panel though

Darujhistan · 30 Dec 2021 at 12:17

No, unlike you like wasting money, extreme RAM and extreme MOBO's to go with them are supremely stupid.

GPU, CPU, MONITOR, PSU - that's your gaming experience, spend your money on the things that matter, the rest is just fluff and BS.

Jumper118 · 30 Dec 2021 at 19:40

DDR4 all the way. the price to performance is terrible, unless you already are going for a 3090ti sli and 12900K i wouldnt bother with ddr5.

Silent_Scone · 30 Dec 2021 at 20:06

Darujhistan said:
No, unlike you like wasting money, extreme RAM and extreme MOBO's to go with them are supremely stupid.

GPU, CPU, MONITOR, PSU - that's your gaming experience, spend your money on the things that matter, the rest is just fluff and BS.

Remind me never to come round yours for Christmas. Those hay mattresses are awfully itchy

Darujhistan · 30 Dec 2021 at 20:17

Silent_Scone said:
Remind me never to come round yours for Christmas. Those hay mattresses are awfully itchy

I wouldn't have put you in the stables, maybe just somewhere "below stairs"...but if you insist, neigh bother!

Silent_Scone · 30 Dec 2021 at 20:32

Darujhistan said:
I wouldn't have put you in the stables, maybe just somewhere "below stairs"...but if you insist, neigh bother!

Stables sound expensive, horses mostly sleep standing up so keep it in the living room. Convert the stable into a man-cave but only fill it with moderately basic necessities like low binned DDR4 and 3 layer PCB motherboards

JediFragger · 30 Dec 2021 at 20:54

MOAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!!