16GB DDR4 vs 32 GB DDR4 performance in Gaming..

1. No, some games are starting to use more than 16GB RAM
2. No, not supported on the chipset as you say
3. I believe so, but better to get a matched kit so there will be no compatibility issues. You could also get another match kit in future to go with the first (although there could be compatibility issues) e.g. I have 2x 16gb kit running 3800 CL14. If I got another 2 x 16gb kit of the same RAM i highly doubt it would all run at 3800 CL14
 
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Guest2 said:
1. No, some games are starting to use more than 16GB RAM
2. No, not supported on the chipset as you say
3. I believe so, but better to get a matched kit so there will be no compatibility issues. You could also get another match kit in future to go with the first (although there could be compatibility issues) e.g. I have 2x 16gb kit running 3800 CL14. If I got another 2 x 16gb kit of the same RAM i highly doubt it would all run at 3800 CL14
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Ah, OK, I did not think it would work like that ,thanks.
 
The resolution and fps target you have, plus the CPU and graphics card are pretty important to what difference you'll get from the RAM.

2666 is fast enough to get decent performance from a 8700K if you have a 1070 at 1440p, for example.

If you're a competitive gamer at 1080p with a 3070, then it makes more difference.

If you're upgrading from 16GB to 32GB I'd get at least 3200, buying 2666 doesn't make sense (relative to price).
 
dave28 said:
I thought games were only hitting about 13GB RAM max these days.
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I rarely see above 11gb usage is any of the games I play so 16gb will do me till the decent DDR5 arrives in a couple of years time, that said I would get 32gb if I wasn't going to upgrade for the next 5+ years.
 
Tetras said:
The resolution and fps target you have, plus the CPU and graphics card are pretty important to what difference you'll get from the RAM.

2666 is fast enough to get decent performance from a 8700K if you have a 1070 at 1440p, for example.

If you're a competitive gamer at 1080p with a 3070, then it makes more difference.

If you're upgrading from 16GB to 32GB I'd get at least 3200, buying 2666 doesn't make sense (relative to price).
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Thanks, in my case, I think 16GB DDR 4 2666 is good and it's not worth upgrading to 32GB DDR4 3600.


Joxeon said:
I rarely see above 11gb usage is any of the games I play so 16gb will do me till the decent DDR5 arrives in a couple of years time, that said I would get 32gb if I wasn't going to upgrade for the next 5+ years.
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I agree I use Hardware Info to see RAM usage during games and its not above 16GB.

Its just frustrating that the board won't boot with the RAM set at 4400MHz but the board has preset RAM options for more than 5600Mhz
 
Your presuming the board is the problem. When I was developing 8Pack 4800mhz sticks (which never made full production runs) the IMC on the CPU is equally as important as the board. From memory it was 20% of IMC that could run 4800mhz on a two dimm board and 10% on a 4 dimm board with many samples tested. This was the reason we did not retail this SKU not the boards.

The Viper stuff works fine on Z590 all 2 Dimm boards and many 4 DIMM as the 11th gen CPU has a divider on the IMC.
 
Unless you're getting close or surpassing 16GB, upgrading to 32GB won't make any difference.

Faster memory might see you an extra fps or two at the most, hardly worth it in terms of purely upgrading for gaming. Be far better off with a new GPU.
 
8 Pack said:
Your presuming the board is the problem. When I was developing 8Pack 4800mhz sticks (which never made full production runs) the IMC on the CPU is equally as important as the board. From memory it was 20% of IMC that could run 4800mhz on a two dimm board and 10% on a 4 dimm board with many samples tested. This was the reason we did not retail this SKU not the boards.

The Viper stuff works fine on Z590 all 2 Dimm boards and many 4 DIMM as the 11th gen CPU has a divider on the IMC.
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You are quite right there, the CPU could be to blame, but I went to a Z390 motherboard forum, and they were all saying the maximum RAM frequency they could achieve out the Z390 was 4133MHz@ 1.45v stable and 4260MHz unstable. But I saw in the bios that the motherboard even has settings for DDR4 5600 OC. So maybe it's there for future proofing somehow.


tyler_jrb said:
Unless you're getting close or surpassing 16GB, upgrading to 32GB won't make any difference.

Faster memory might see you an extra fps or two at the most, hardly worth it in terms of purely upgrading for gaming. Be far better off with a new GPU.
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Ok, so going from 2666Mhz to 4133Mhz would only see me 1-2 fps?
 
Sarge2255 said:
Ok, so going from 2666Mhz to 4133Mhz would only see me 1-2 fps?
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If your CPU can even run that. But no it doesn't really make much difference.

The main thing is faster memory comes with higher CAS and timings so the higher speed can be negated somewhat, you'd be better off tuning the memory you have if you want better performance.

I mean your money/call at the end of the day. 3600Mhz is the sweetspot in terms of price-performance. I wouldn't expect to see much of a benefit though in terms of purely games. It can help the system feel more responsive/snappy though which is another benefit.
 
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tyler_jrb said:
If your CPU can even run that. But no it doesn't really make much difference.

The main thing is faster memory comes with higher CAS and timings so the higher speed can be negated somewhat, you'd be better off tuning the memory you have if you want better performance.

I mean your money/call at the end of the day. 3600Mhz is the sweetspot in terms of price-performance. I wouldn't expect to see much of a benefit though in terms of purely games. It can help the system feel more responsive/snappy though which is another benefit.
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Great! After looking at this. I may just wait for DDR5 and just hold off with the 2666MHz Ram (as its effectively just 1-2 fps off its fastest upgrades) and I can just spend the £100 extra else where.
 
DDR3 but I got massive jump going from 16GB to 32GB then more again going to 2400mhz in many games, not all.

Does not mean you had to be saturating the 16GB to start with so cannot agree with the above.

I posted part of my results for Sarge2255 in a thread a while back but after MS April KB I tanked in most games and still no fix as Win 10 Dev then Win 11.
 
From what I understand, setting tighter timings would increase RAM performance rather than just trying to run faster RAM. CPU also needs to be fast enough to run DDR 4400 RAM at full speed/ OC past 4400, plus other compatible issues need to be met.
 
Joxeon said:
I rarely see above 11gb usage is any of the games I play so 16gb will do me till the decent DDR5 arrives in a couple of years time, that said I would get 32gb if I wasn't going to upgrade for the next 5+ years.
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It's not just about how much RAM the game is using, you also need additional RAM for the OS and background apps/services to utilise otherwise you're going to be hitting the pagefile. So always consider the full utilisation of total system RAM when looking at memory upgrades, not just the application/game you are using.
 
This argument always comes down to do you have enough? If yes then adding more makes no difference. If no then adding more makes a difference.

Do you play any games which put your ram usage over 16gb? If the answer is yes, buy 32gb.
 
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