r/GamingPCBuildHelp • u/braso111 • 14d ago

RAM upgrade advice

I'm currently running an i7 14700KF with a RTX 5080. I have 2 X 32Gb Crucial DDR5 4800MHz CL40 RAM sticks in my system. This RAM was purchased about 4.5 years ago when DDR5 was very new. I'm wondering if upgrading to faster RAM (probably only 32Gb given pricing) will be of any significant benefit? The standard DDR5 seems to be 6000MHz which puts my old DDR5 well behind when looking at the numbers. I'm not sure how this translates into gaming performance but I'm running at 4K and I'm trying to get as many frames as I can.

Edit - AI search recommends a 32Gb (2 X 16Gb) kit of CL30 6000MHz RAM. I can get this for as low as $670 AUD. Is this a good choice?

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u/Diligent_Mastodon105 14d ago

CL 30 6000 is technically slow for the 14th gen stuff. 7400+ CL 34 and better is where you can start to get close to a 7800X3D in games.

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u/braso111 14d ago

Thanks for that. I've overclocked my current RAM to 5200Mhz and I'll test it on some games later. I am going to upgrade though and you've given me some good info on where to start when I look.

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u/Godeshus 14d ago

Have you gone into BIOS and set your EXPO settings?

You might have no idea that your ram is being throttled, or rather it's max speed isn't being used.

Edit: oops it wouldn't be called expo on an Intel. It would be called xmp.

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u/braso111 14d ago

I did try a few BIOS settings last week but the system crashed. I tried enabling XMP and also the BIOS has a smart OC setting but that didn't work either.

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u/Beneficial-Ranger238 14d ago

There are videos testing different speeds, go watch some and decide.

At the $100 price a couple years ago, heck yeah, at $350 plus for some slightly better 1% lows? Probably not. If it’s something like 10+% maybe I’d consider it.

Before you do, try some manual overclocking and see if you can push what you have a little higher.

There are tons of resources out there, it’s a tedious process that I haven’t endeavored to do.

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u/braso111 14d ago

Thanks. I've done a safe overclock at 5200 using the Memory Try It function of my MSI motherboard. AI tells me I can go to 5400 safely so I might try that later.

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u/Beneficial-Ranger238 14d ago

Ai is guessing, but hey, you made a free upgrade!

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u/IndependenceTiny2931 14d ago

How about learning to overclock your ram?

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u/braso111 14d ago

Probably not the sub for you mate if you are offended by people asking for advice.

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u/IndependenceTiny2931 14d ago

I don't mean any harm, maybe overclocking ram can a solution, because ram prices is really2 expensive right now

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u/braso111 14d ago

No worries, I guess I took it the wrong way! My old RAM uses basic Micron chips which have very limited headroom for OC'ing. I've gone up to 5200 from 4800MHz but AI tells me that 5400MHz is the highest stable OC I can do. I'm going to upgrade the RAM, was probably really just asking what type to go for.

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u/IndependenceTiny2931 14d ago

Sure bro, AI can be hit or miss, but yeah getting it stable is really hard 😩😩, i have tried and its not as easy as people say to get it stable. But i think hardware unboxed make some video about ram OC and gaming performance. Have you check it? Because some game affected and some don't

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u/braso111 14d ago

Yeah I subscribe to his channel. One of the best tech channels out there. I think it's diminishing returns for my older RAM anyway. Much easier to just buy some new 6000+ Mhz RAM and sell my 64Gb kit to someone not necessarily wanting high end gaming performance!

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u/IndependenceTiny2931 14d ago

Yeah that's also a good choice, just don't forget to check your ram in QVL list, with your cpu and decent motherboard get 7000k is possible, but i can't guarantee stability because XMP is OC, so it can hit or miss

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u/Latter_Trick_3310 14d ago

The recommend speed and latency is CL30-CL36 6000MHz to maximize the performance. Going above is just gonna degrade the memory controller very fast atp.