I'm building my first PC and I'm faced with a decision. I can either get 16GB of DDR5 for €250 or 32GB of DDR4 for €280. Here are some questions I have: What should I choose? Is it better to get one stick of 16GB DDR5 now and potentially add another later? Also, what's the actual difference between DDR4 and DDR5? Here are the parts I'm planning on, by the way: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU, ASRock B850M-X WiFi motherboard, 1TB SSD, and a video card (might consider a 16GB graphics card later).
3 Answers
Since you’re using the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, you actually can only go with DDR5. That CPU and your motherboard support DDR5 RAM, so DDR4 isn’t an option for you here. You’re kinda locked into going with the 16GB DDR5 for your build. It’ll be better for performance too!
Most AMD chips, including the Ryzen 5 9600X, are designed for either DDR4 or DDR5 – you can't mix. Since you're looking at AM5, you're going to need to stick with DDR5. If you're deciding between how much to get, two 8GB sticks of DDR5 is the way to go, especially if you think you might upgrade later.
Yep, running in dual-channel can really help boost performance compared to a single stick. Definitely the right call!
Just to clarify, AM5 motherboards only support DDR5, so DDR4 is out of the question here. As for your choice, I'd suggest going for the dual 8GB modules for better bandwidth in games. The performance difference between DDR4 and DDR5 isn't huge for gaming, but having the right RAM configuration makes a difference.
Exactly! Plus, getting two 8GB sticks of DDR5 instead of one 16GB stick could help with performance, thanks to better dual-channel memory capability.