ATL thanks to the three camels.
But if you want RGB and don't mind slower ram, you can consider the CORSAIR Vengeance RGB.
CamelCamelCamel.
You have DDR4, This is DDR5 for new boards.
While in most cases the answer is the same, it's safer to look at motherboard compatibility as that will never be wrong.
To elaborate on the others' answers, look at the motherboard's Tech Specs; this will give you the basic Memory Type and frequency that are compatible with the motherboard. If you are not tech-savvy, I suggest you stick to the memory list in the Qualified Vendors Lists to ensure compatibility. I have pasted the memory specs for your board below.
If you are not having memory issues and running out of RAM while running multiple applications or 50 Chrome tabs, then there is no need to upgrade. If you are, you might want to add more RAM sticks with the same speed and model as your existing RAM (if you have spare slots). This would be the cheapest upgrade route; you know they would be compatible as you already run the RAM in your system.
TUF GAMING B460M-PLUS (WI-FI): Memory
4 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 2933/2800/2666/2400/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory *
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
OptiMem
* 10th Gen Intel® Core™i9/i7 CPUs support 2933/2800/2666/2400/2133 natively, Refer to www.asus.com for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).
This is great advice when building a new PC, but unfortunately the QVL isn't kept up-to-date for very long after it's made, and if you look I think you'll have a hard time finding any RAM on the QVL that you can readily buy today 4 years later.
I would confidently buy RAM that doesn't appear on the list but matches the frequency, size, and timings of RAM that is on the list
You are right; the QVL lists are not always updated after a board has been out for a few years and newer memory/brands come into the market.
My order of preference (not taking the workload into account) when I do upgrades:
If spare slots exist:
1. Grab a NEW RAM kit of the same brand and model.
2. Grab a USED RAM kit of the same brand and model. (Especially on much older boards, people will upgrade and offload kits on Ebay or Gumtree); Generally, if memory is bad, it fails when it is brand NEW or misused (extreme overclock) and not handled or stored correctly.
3. If I cannot find the same kit, I would look at RAM that matches the frequency, size, and timings on the list and the existing RAM. (A Frankenstein option that I wouldn't recommend to newbies though)
No spare slots exist, or you cannot find a second RAM kit that is the same as existing
1. Grab a larger RAM kit or 2 on the QVL list.
2. Grab a larger RAM kit or 2 that match the frequency, size, and RAM timings on the MB compatible list.
Nuclear Option
Upgrade to the latest technology or one generation old that will still last several years (requires a little knowledge of what is going on in tech world like Zen5, USB4, RTX5000, WIFI-7, etc), and turn the old one into the first computer for one of your kids, or turn it into a NAS or Media Server if you're the only big kid. :D
@Gamb1t: Have you ever had personal experience where the Frankenstein option didn't work?
I understand if you are squeezing extreme timings and such, but is it really necessary to buy used RAM in preference to simply getting something new (that won't have been fried by static electricity before it gets to you).
@greatlamp: I haven't personally experienced any issues, but as I mentioned, this is not a solution I would recommend for newbies. Even if the specs of the different RAM kits are equal, there are still things that could go wrong.
Voltage tolerance differences, for example, can be an issue if you are also trying to overclock, not just increase a system's capacity. Some systems may also not run in Dual-Channel mode. If you mix and match, there are a lot of variables to consider.
Used RAM can be cost-effective, especially when specific models are sold out or discontinued. By purchasing from reputable sources, such as trusted stores or knowledgeable local technicians, verifying the memory has been tested, or picking it up locally and verifying, you can mitigate potential risks like static electricity damage or getting bad modules.
@Gamb1t: I agree, but that why I ask the question.
Voltage tolerances, subtimings, none of this really matters if someone just wants to add another 8gb to their system and push power on. It's making the whole process seem far more complicated than it really is - buy ram that meets the spec of your existing ram, install it, done.
@greatlamp: Correct. But if the new RAM module you add isn't the same model/speed/timings, the RAM may not run at the optimal speed or in dual-channel mode, so you could reduce the overall speed of your system RAM. Having said that, if you only want to open an extra basic application or two or 50+ Chrome tabs, you should be fine.
Thanks everyone for comments, I think I know what to do now haha.
At the start of DDR5 adoption with everything being CL38+, this was mainly true.
But CL32 6200 will blow almost all DDR4 out of the water, particularly in certain games/applications
Edit: not to mention Zen architecture CPU's benefit even more heavily from higher clocked RAM
Agreed, for the price of upgrading the MB and the CPU, it is not worth it atm, at least for my case DDR4 3600 CL16, Ryzen 5900x.
1000% not worth it for you, you'll be rocking that combo for a while quite nicely
In real usage tests, DDR4-3600 CL16 is technically a bit slower than DDR5-4800 CL40 from tests I saw. It is not all just latency. Bandwidth matters too. I have DDR4-3600 RAMs still (I still have a B550 system). Also, at the moment, unless you are willing to settle for DDR4-3600 CL18, you need to pay more to get CL16 (basically no good deal on DDR4-3600 CL16 for a long time now). Resell value isn't great either.
While the latency is slower, the bandwidth is 70% more (6200 vs 3600). It's true most of the programs can't take full advantage of that, but the ones which can, you can see the performance difference.
I think there is some truth to what @kml22 said. It's not outrageously faster, not at 6200MHz anyway.
In the last week I've been down quite the DDR5 rabbit hole. To spare you the mind numbing details, something of note is when it comes to DDR5, CL means almost nothing.
I've tested it as well as read it. I'm trying to OC my RAM because the last time I built a system (DDR3) CL meant alot.
People are getting 8000MHZ+ stable on 14th gen i9's and i7's now and that's crapping on DDR4 real world speed. I can't get my XMP 7000 profile to even boot, and my pc is very well spec-ed, I'm stuck at 6666MHz and even that took countless hours of tweaking.
My 14900K isn't the greatest copy is where I'm at currently and I'm trying to decide what to do about that.
Also to note, DDR5 RAM itself is quite cheap compared to DDR4. Of course, Motherboard cost would factor in an upgrade and I don't think the difference in RAM performance is worth upgrading mb and ram alone). For a new build I wouldn't hestitate to goto DDR5. Bios versions on existing boards are steadily getting better at running DD5 at faster clock speeds.
I’ve been looking at ram for a platform upgrade. It seems from benchmarks on YouTube there isn’t much different between 6000 and 6400 and various ram timings for about 90% of games. Would you agree based on your research?
@nicolascage: Games generally care more about graphics cards, then cpu, then ram I'd say, provided you're buying decent components. If you buy a solid video card, Ram is even less burdened (VGA cards can pass some work over to RAM if it is maxed out. Ram is terrible at that job though even if it's as fast as it gets)
I think this could be a decent resource: https://www.reddit.com/r/buildmeapc/
My approach has been to build a whole pc but put the rtx2080 from my relic into the new one. Everything else is very high spec and should be very accepting and still fast enough for a 5080 or 6080 when the 2080 doesn't meet my needs. I preference general high quality components rather than targeting just gaming. I don't really play fps.
Ram needs to suit your platform too. AMD struggles more in the bandwidth department, it's no use buying 8000MHz ram on an AMD setup from what I gather. There is also a huge question mark whether you could get it running on an i9-14900k too, there is a luck factor with the quality of cpus. Intel will reach higher ram speeds generally though.
As you said, Ram isn't transformational to gaming, I'm not trying to steer you in either way there. If you care about value, there seems to be Ram that offers way better bang for buck than others, but it'll require research.
One last ramble… Dont buy 4xDDR5 sticks, stick to two only for better results. After 7000MHz, the ram demands better quality internals. Lower than that and it's hard to work out which die it has. People seem to think 2x24GB is easier to get running at rated speeds than 2x16gb. Learn from my mistakes haha, I bought 4x16gb before I knew what I know now!
not true at all.
Per stick of DDR5 have 2 separate 32bit channel, as opposed to DDR4 with a single 64bit channel.
If your CPU have a lot of command requesting for small amount of data each command, there's a lot of waste in the single 64bit channel. Where DDR5 can process 2 set of data at the same time.
There's double amount of bank group in DDR5 as well, which helps in interleaving data.
when waiting for tRFC timings (basically a delay to refresh all data on memory chips), DDR5 refresh half of the whole rank where the other half is still accessible, DDR4 or before refreshes the entire rank.
essentially if you looking at a single access, DDR4 have less delays, but if you have a huge sequence of accesses, then DDR5 is faster. There's only a few scenario where the DDR4 low latency works out faster. (where the command sequence isn't huge, and absolute latency really matters)
game or real world workload is very unlikely single access.
Will I see any improvement from 5200? Or it all depends to my RGB setup?
I wouldn't bother, unless your 5200 has high timings and you have a higher end Zen3 architecture CPU
Can I PM you? Just want to ask something. Not very familiar with terminologies.
Sure thing
Since when does Zen3 CPUs (Ryzen 5xxx series) support DDR5?
You're so right, meant 4 but did not read over my comment before posting
@sbcbakedbeans: Also, you don't need high end consumer grade CPUs to spot / test the memory performance difference. The memory controller in 7600X vs 7950X is the same. Bandwidth and latency tests don't require 16 cores minimum to test.
@sbcbakedbeans: One of the tasks where high memory bandwidth helps is 7Zip compression test (same CPU, DDR4 vs DDR5). Gaming is not the only type of applications where memory matters.
Furthermore, if we are talking about 6 cores Zen 2 CPUs may bottleneck some games (at 1080p), then Zen 4 currently doesn't have the same issue. Even Zen 2 / Zen 3 CPUs can support GPUs running GDDR6 easily, so don't over estimate DDR4 and DDR5 system RAM modules. Lastly, don't forget CPU internal L1, L2 and L3 cache. Those are way faster than RAM.
price looks to have expired
also on the rgb 6000mhz
Still works for me.
There is no RGB 6k. Are we talking about the same thing?
the 6200mhz is coming up as $227.87 for me
the RGB ram im talking about is the link in the description, comes up as 197.64
"But if you want RGB and don't mind slower ram, you can consider the CORSAIR Vengeance RGB."
Interesting.
Still $157.54 for me. Maybe you need to be logged in?
Same with the RGB one from the description, still $159 for me.
@Lord Ra: weird, i am signed in to Amazon on Chrome
but if i copy and paste in to MS Edge ( i dont use it)
i get the prices that you mentioned
This is a better deal at $165 in my view, it's a chunk faster clock speed. https://www.amazon.com.au/Patriot-7000MHz-Desktop-Gaming-Mem…
CL is the same but that doesn't mean much on DDR5 (I'm still coming to terms with this revelation myself) but it is true.
Is it compatible with Ryzen cpus? Like 7800x3d? Or I can only use memory clearly stated AMD EXPO
I use this memory on my Asus B650 motherboard with Ryzen 5 7600x. Asus MB can read the SPD info from XMP profile and set it up at the same speed via BIOS.
Yep, this will work with Ryzen.
Worth jumping from Kingston 32GB 5200 CL40? On b760 + 12600K.
Generally, if you are asking this type of question, the answer is no. However, if you really feel like upgrading, you can (get faster memory kit and sell your old kit) so you stop thinking about RAM upgrade all the time.
If you gaming is your main usage and every FPS matters to you a lot, then I guess it might be worth considering.
I have 2 white ones and want 2 more .. always 50-60 more than the black!
I'm a bit of a PC dumb and dumber. For some reason I still have 16GB RAM from like 8 years ago FFS.
Would this be compatible with my Intel i7-10700K CPU, Mobo Asus TUF GAMING B460 PRO (wifi)? Or when I google this do I look at CPU or Mobo compatibility? Confused…