I'm in Chile, so shipping and VAT make memory more expensive here, but I'm asking for a rough US-market comparison. Is $160 for a 2x16GB DDR4-2400 kit reasonable? I already bought a Ryzen 7 7800X3D system with DDR5, but I'm wondering whether choosing DDR5 was a bad decision compared with using a Ryzen 7 5800X3D and cheaper DDR4. I'm also planning to play Rust, which can be demanding on memory and prone to stuttering, so I'm curious whether 32GB would help. Would this kit be suitable for a 5800X3D?
3 Answers
You didn’t make a bad choice with DDR5. The 7800X3D is a newer, faster gaming platform with a better upgrade path, and DDR5 is required for it. For Rust, 32GB is a sensible amount of RAM, but faster memory and a capable CPU/GPU matter more than choosing an older platform just to use cheap DDR4.
$160 is a poor price for 32GB of DDR4-2400, even accounting for the fact that you’re shopping in Chile. A 3200MHz or 3600MHz 2x16GB kit is generally a better target for a 5800X3D and can often be found around that price or less in the US.
That memory won’t work with the 7800X3D. The 7800X3D uses DDR5 only, so you need a compatible DDR5 motherboard and kit. Going back to a 5800X3D would mean buying an AM4 motherboard, and DDR4-2400 is unusually slow for that platform.
I was mixing up the CPUs at first, but that clears it up. I’ll stick with the 7800X3D and look for a reasonably priced DDR5 kit instead.