CPU & mobo upgrade advice needed please

darrenkarp · 6 Feb 2023 at 17:18

and do I need to change from DDR4 to DDR5 ?

Tetras · 6 Feb 2023 at 18:02

darrenkarp said:
and do I need to change from DDR4 to DDR5 ?

For me, it is simple:

Are you using/plan on using a 4090?
Do you have £150 - £200 to spare?

If the answer to both of those questions is yes, get DDR5. Otherwise, just keep what you have. If you only had 16GB (or it was very slow memory), then it would be different.

darrenkarp · 6 Feb 2023 at 18:13

What's a 4090?

Joxeon · 6 Feb 2023 at 18:21

A £1600+ GPU which you would need to use mainly at 1080p to see any real difference between any of these new CPUs.

Given you already have a decent set of DDR4 and don't upgrade CPU every year or two then a 13600k or 13700k would be an excellent upgrade that would make use of your current DDR4.

darrenkarp · 6 Feb 2023 at 18:28

Ah yes...No plans but certainly will be looking to go from an RTX2070 to a 3000 series at some point. Is that the only reason to go from DD4 to DD5?

Joxeon · 6 Feb 2023 at 18:33

darrenkarp said:
Ah yes...No plans but certainly will be looking to go from an RTX2070 to a 3000 series at some point. Is that the only reason to go from DD4 to DD5?

I think if you're starting a build from scratch then it makes sense to go for DDR5 but if you already have a decent set of DDR4 then just being able to swap out the MB and CPU is an attractive option.

pastymuncher · 6 Feb 2023 at 18:46

I would still go with DDR5 on AM5. DDR4 3200 is pretty slow for a new build.

Tetras · 6 Feb 2023 at 20:52

darrenkarp said:
Is that the only reason to go from DD4 to DD5?

You might be able to re-use it in the future (just like the DDR4 you have now), but we don't know: 1. how fast DDR5 is going to get (or how quickly) and 2. what new CPUs are going to require for optimal performance.

If you had got first-gen DDR4, for example (say 2133 or 2400), that is way too slow for modern CPUs and you'd lose a lot performance.

If you're worried about re-use then it would make more sense to go for AM5 anyway, so I think this is a moot point if you're buying a 13th gen CPU.

With 13th gen, if you don't have a 4090 and aren't playing at silly low settings (e.g. competitive CS:GO gamer, or something like that), then you'll be far better off putting the £150-£200 into your next graphics card than buying DDR5 (I'm not saying a 2070 is bad, but @ 1440p or 4K, a 4070 Ti or 7900 XT will eat it for breakfast).