I recently snagged a DDR5 RAM at an unbelievable price of $142, but then I noticed it has a CL rating of 48. I've heard that this kind of RAM isn't great, especially for users with AMD processors who don't have the X3D versions and are playing at lower resolutions. I own a 7800X3D and a 9070XT and I'm planning to upgrade to a 4K monitor soon. Given this setup, how much of a performance hit might I expect in highly demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2? I noticed that while I got this RAM for $142, others are selling 6000 MHz CL30 sticks for over $280. Would love to hear your thoughts!
5 Answers
You’ll be alright! I heard that even using CL40 with an X3D chip is better than using a lower-tier chip with lower latency RAM. So you might not even notice the drop in performance.
Just try it out! The X3D CPUs aren't hugely affected by memory speeds because they've got that extra L3 cache. You might find that the performance isn’t as bad as you think, especially if you're gaming at 4K.
Haha, right? It's wild spending so much on a PC and then using something like CL48 RAM. But let's see how it performs!
Honestly, CL48 RAM is way better than having no RAM at all. You got it at a good price, and while there might be a slight frame rate dip (maybe just a couple of frames), it’s probably not going to affect your gaming experience significantly. Check out this X3D benchmark for proof! [link] The differences aren’t as severe as some make it out to be, especially with an X3D processor.
True! As long as your PC runs fine, that's what matters. A lot of the fear surrounding RAM timings is overhyped.
Exactly! People tend to panic over RAM timings too much. If it works, it works!
Yep, CL48 isn’t ideal, but considering the current RAM pricing, it’s quite a steal. You could even look into overclocking it to try and tighten those timings if you want more performance out of it.
Thanks for the tip! Might just give that a shot.
You’ll probably just see a 1-2% decrease in FPS with demanding games. It’s really not as drastic as some claim, especially if you're not competing in FPS games.
Phew, that's a relief. I was worried I'd made a huge mistake with the CL48!
Thanks for the reassurance! I’ll definitely give it a test run.