I've just built a PC with a Ryzen 9 9900x and went for a kit of 32GB Kingston Fury DDR5 RAM running at 5200 MT/s CL40 since it was the most affordable option I could find in my country. The next best choice was a 5600 MT/s CL40 model but it was about 150 euros more expensive. I know that this RAM speed isn't ideal for the AM5 platform, but since I want to use this setup as a part-time workstation for 3D modeling, rendering, and CAD, I opted for the larger memory capacity rather than compromise on that. My concern is whether this RAM will cause bottlenecks when gaming at 1080p or 1440p, especially with medium settings, and if it makes sense to stick with this RAM for now and upgrade later when prices go down. Any thoughts?
3 Answers
Honestly, I think anything below 6000 MT/s with CL32 is pretty much a waste of money. Your 5200 CL40 setup might be on par with some cheaper DDR4 kits, so it could hold you back later on. Sometimes it's worth spending a bit more upfront rather than struggling to sell it later when upgrades are due.
You should check out this article I found; it dives into how DDR5 memory performance impacts AMD's Zen processors. It could help clarify if your RAM choice will affect your performance significantly.
Prices for good RAM won't be going back down anytime soon, so you should just accept what you've got. Keep in mind, you could be losing out on a noticeable performance boost compared to 6000 MT/s RAM, especially in gaming. If you are okay with that for now, there's no harm in sticking with your choice.
I haven't even built the whole PC yet, so I haven't tested performance. When you say noticeable, do you mean I might see a drop in FPS or something worse like lag? Will it limit my ability to game at 1440p instead of 1080?
If the price difference was more reasonable, like 50 euros, I'd agree with you completely. But since the jump to 6000 MT/s is so high right now, I'm hesitant.