I'm looking to upgrade my RAM from 16GB to 32GB for gaming since I've hit some limitations with RAM usage. I recently bought two 8GB sticks that are running at 2000MHz, and I just found out that my motherboard and CPU don't support XMP with my Intel i5-12400. I want to know if the lower speed at 2000MHz will significantly impact my gaming performance, or if having the 32GB capacity will be enough to make up for that slower speed. I'm working with DDR5 RAM here.
3 Answers
You might want to consider going for DDR5 RAM at 6000MHz or higher if possible. Though if you can't use XMP, you're pretty much stuck with what you've got at 2000MHz. In gaming, having the extra capacity is often more beneficial than just the speed alone, especially if your current games are hitting RAM limits. But ideally, faster RAM would definitely give you a performance boost since 2000MHz is quite low for gaming nowadays.
Since you've already invested in the 8GB sticks, just plug them in and see how it performs. If your games are fine with 32GB, then that might be enough for now. You can always look to upgrade later if you feel the need for more speed.
But what about running 4x8GB? I heard mixing sticks could cause issues.
With DDR5, 4800MT/s is the standard spec you should see. Your hardware shouldn't have the same limitations as AMD setups when using Intel, so you never know—7200MT/s could be achievable with the right tweaks, especially on a B-series board. But let me know what motherboard you have, as that can impact your speed options pretty significantly.
It's a Lenovo pre-built; I've just been upgrading parts as I go.
I get what you're saying, but is it a huge deal if I can't get anything faster? I mean, I only have the option for 4400MHz with two sticks.