I'm trying to decide whether to invest in CL30 DDR5 RAM, but I'm seeing that both CL36 and CL38 models are around 30-35% cheaper. Since I primarily use my PC for gaming, I'm wondering how much performance impact these latency differences actually have. Should I wait for RAM prices to drop, which could take months or even years, or just go ahead with the CL36 or CL38 options?
2 Answers
It does depend somewhat on your CPU, but generally, the difference isn't going to be a dealbreaker, especially for typical gaming setups. I’ve got some CL36 RAM with my 9800x3D, and honestly, at 1440p, I’m getting great FPS without stressing over the latency differences. If you don’t choose something really extreme like CL40, you should be fine!
The performance difference you’ll see is really minor—just a couple percentages at most. If you're looking for gaming performance, you won’t notice much, especially with current RAM prices. Don't hold your breath waiting for prices to drop anytime soon!
Yeah, exactly! Even the gap between CL30 and CL38 is likely to be just a fraction of a percent in real-world gaming.
Cool, I see your point. I’m running a 7800x3D with a solid graphics card, so maybe I’ll just grab the cheaper RAM.