Is 32GB DDR5 Needed on Intel 12th Gen?

[Author_25]

I was wondering, given that all the DDR5 kits I have seen are 32GB, does Intel 12th Gen work better with or need 32GB of DDR5?

I have googled and searched forums but can not find any answer either way.

Anyone have any information on this or used 16GB DDR5 kits?

 

[Author_25]

My take is that no, it is not necessary and 8GB DDR5 modules are available at most stores. But, if someone is penny pinching (so to speak), then they're just going to buy DDR4, which is half the price.

Thought there was no technical reason, other than possible pushing th higher priced kits.

Saw, on a Well-Know Global Online Store, they had Kingston Fury Beast 16GB DDR5 kits 6000Mhz, for £149.99, and it got me thinking, as more people would consider DDR5 if there were more 16GB kits.

 

[Author_25]

16GB RAM is not really enough these days.

I would say it is for the moment, gaming wise, but further down the line 32GB will be the new norm. At the moment I would say the amount of VRAM on your GPU maters more for gaming.

 

[Author_25]

I'm pretty sure there's not a technical reason, I haven't seen any videos or articles either, but 8GB modules are on the QVL of all the DDR5 motherboards I've looked at, so there's clearly no fundamental incompatibility there.

They are single sided, but so are the 16GB modules. The only caveat I can think of is that 8GB DDR5 modules have fewer memory chips than older DDR4 (only 4) and with high density DDR4 there is a performance loss with these modules. I'd like to see it tested.

Linus tested it with DDR4 and buildzoid talked about it too, but I can't remember which video, might have been this one:

Thank you for the information so some technical reason but same as when choosing DDR4.

 

[Author_25]

Yeah, but without tests we can't say if it matters the same way for DDR5, since it operates rather differently to DDR4.

True, hopefully someone does some testing it would be interesting to see the results.

 

[Author_25]

Sounds like better to stick with DDR4 for the moment and move to DDR5 in 2-3 years once the quality is improved and the issues, like XMP not enabling or causing No POSTs, are sorted out/

 

[Author_25]

Pretty much.

I really like the 12400F with a decent entry level motherboard and 32 gigs of that patriot ram for £99.

The only reason why I’m not going to buy it is because I have an X570 system already and the 5700X is a cheaper overall purchase.

Go price a high end kit of DDR5 ram. Stupidly expensive.

DDR5 is stupidly expensive, especially with all the problems its having, and its not encouraging people to adopt it.

 

[Author_25]

I am leaning towards some good quality DDR4, 3600Mhz, Dual rank, 16GB or 32GB like,
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit

Having trouble finding 16GB dual rank kits.

 

[Author_25]

You'll struggle to find dual rank 32gig kits and I'm almost certain that there are no dual rank 16gig kits.

Sometimes a 32gig kit will be dual rank but it's rare these days.

You can get 2 by 16gig kit and enjoy a performance uplift with AMD 5000 series CPUs.

I don't know how much overclocking you like to do but two of the kits below would be pretty great:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Crucial Ballistix 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C16 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MY-20Q-CR) = £74.99
• 1 x Team Group 8Pack Edition 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C16 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/ (SKU: MY-08Q-TG) = £109.99
• 1 x Patriot Viper Steel 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-35200C19 4400MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS416G440C9K) (SKU: MY-103-PA) = £99.95

​

Thanks for the alternatives above.
The Corsair kit I listed is confirmed as dual rank but I do like the specs on the Teamgroup memory.

 

[Author_25]

Confirm by who, in the past I’ve got 2 dual channel kids of the same brand on the same order and I’ve received both dual and single rank.

Unless Corsair say it’s sold as dual rank then it’s could be hit and mis.

Edit even then I think I remember a team group kit that was sold and specked at dual rank but people was receiving single

Was confirming with manufacturer site and MSI memory compatibility matrix but sounds like more a case of a lottery.

Thanks for the warning.

 

[Author_25]

Do you mean dual channel?

No RAM these days have the label of dual rank confirmed on them (unless it’s a high density set).

Meant dual rank.

It's been a while, 8 years, since I built my last PC, so not aware of the rank listing issue.

 

[Author_25]

If you're building a system in 2022 and you're not getting 32GB then something is wrong. People just look at RAM usage and say "wow I'm only using 8GB out of my 16GB I guess 32GB is useless".

You have to experience it. It's like people who have played 60 fps all their lives on console just thinking all this 144 fps stuff is meaningless. I always refer to this video. Timestamped to watch from 1:38 till maybe 3 minutes in but watch all of it if you want.

32GB of RAM: Is It Worth the Upgrade? Discover the Truth!

Welcome to Byte Size Tech - This Channel is devoted to highlights from Tech Deals live streams & Podcasts that Tech & Rogue do together, a husband and wife t...

youtu.be

Hopefully that explains it.

Thanks for the video, very helpful.

Seriously considering 32GB.

 

[Author_25]

Early adoption syndrome. Money is much better off spent on a better CPU and GPU until ddr5 matures in a few years, by which point you'll probably need a new motherboard anyways.

Yes, I tend to get that but become more sensible if I discuss the idea through.

Will go down the DDR4 route, already bought the motherboard, MSI Z690 Tomahawk DDR4, just need to choose the RAM, looking at the Patriot. Viper Steel, 16GB kit 3600Mhz, at present.

 

[Author_25]

This is how my memory usage looks when my PC is effectively idle (just browsing and listening to music on YT)

imgur.com

Discover the magic of the internet at Imgur, a community powered entertainment destination. Lift your spirits with funny jokes, trending memes, entertaining gifs, inspiring stories, viral videos, and so much more from users.

imgur.com

i think 16GB is fine for the average user though (I got by with 8GB for quite awhile), but if the PC has semi-workstation usage, or you like high-end gaming (particularly open-world type games, or modded ones) without having to turn off everything, then it is handy. With the price of ram right now relative to the system, 16GB gaming builds with an i5, Ryzen 5 or up definitely make me wince.

I will probably get 16GB DDR4 Ram to start with and see how that goes and if I need more add it later.

 

[Author_25]

I'm sure you can find a few folk who'll say 8GB is plenty, and it will be for their limited tasks.

Time to accept 32GB is the new norm for DDR5 - this is the capcity the vast majority of DRAM manufacturers are using as a default, for obvious reasons.

Just annoying as a lot of people will not need 32GB,, and being forced to spend money on RAM they will never fully utilise.

 

[Author_25]

10 years ago the minimum memory requirement was 4 GB today it is 16GB so the future is 32GB but it is the future.

Today 16GB is more that adequate but if you find the right price for memory, especially DDR4, then upgrading to 32GB would not be unreasonable, and perhaps sensible, given that prices are starting to get more volitile, and probably for the next year or two.