I'm trying to decide between two sticks of RAM that have the same capacity and frequency, but one has higher latency. How much does this latency difference actually affect performance? What's considered an average latency for RAM, and is it worth the extra cash to go for the stick with lower latency?
4 Answers
The impact of latency can be minimal, typically around 1-3% performance difference depending on your specific CPU and the games or apps you use. If you're considering the price difference, it's usually not significant enough to justify choosing the higher latency RAM.
When comparing RAM like 6000 CL36 to CL30, the performance gain is pretty marginal—maybe just 1-2% in CPU-intensive games. Also, the primary timings aren't the only factor; tuning secondary timings can widen that gap. I'd lean towards low-latency options if you're using Hynix DDR5 chips since they handle tighter timings better.
Yeah, the speed and latency also depend on your RAM type. For DDR4, if you mix kits, they will typically run at the slowest timings, which isn't a huge deal unless you're pushing high-frequency RAM. But for DDR5, running four sticks at high speeds can be tricky and often results in needing to drop the speeds significantly. Just be cautious about mixing RAM sticks!
You should check out Buildzoid for advanced RAM tuning advice—his videos explain a lot about how to get the most out of your RAM setup! He's a real expert on the subject.
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