Do I need more RAM or faster RAM? - DIY in 5 Ep 150

You need more RAM! But if you’re going to upgrade, should you also get faster RAM to really give your system a boost? We’ll be discussing the difference between RAM capacity and RAM speeds and learn what you need for your build to get the maximum performance.

What is RAM? What does it do?
Think of RAM as short-term memory for your CPU. Anything that it needs to access quickly and frequently can be stored here to speed up a multitude of processes. When you don’t have enough RAM, your computer will begin to pull things on and off your hard drive which can make these tasks take a lot longer and make the computer feel sluggish. As applications and games evolve, they may require more memory to run smoothly so over time, a RAM upgrade might be exactly what you need.

RAM Capacity
When looking at buying new RAM, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, the capacity of the RAM, typically measured nowadays between 8-64GB (gigabytes), shows you how much data the RAM is can hold at any given time. Most people think upgrading RAM simply means getting more capacity, and while this is certainly helpful if you do not have enough, at a certain point a speed upgrade might be the better play. You can check out how much of your RAM you are currently using by opening up your Task Manager and selecting the Performance tab. If your Memory utilization is high, you may think about upgrading RAM capacity.

RAM Speed
RAM speed gets a bit more complicated. Modern PCs use RAM based on Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM technology with a number after the acronym that shows its generation. For example, DDR4 for the fourth and current generation. After that, there is a number that designates the speed it can perform at, measured in Megahertz, millions of cycles or Mega Transfers, per second. This is our RAM speed and it affects the maximum bandwidth; aka how much data can travel to and from the memory module at a time or per clock cycle. Then there’s also RAM Latency, which indicates how long it takes the for the RAM to respond to a request, measured in a series of 4 numbers. Here, the lower number, the faster the speed. Taking both speed and latency into account is important when trying to determine overall RAM performance.
This makes a difference when it comes to industry standard memory and overclocking. Overlocking is using memory modules capable of operating at faster speeds, using lower timings, and sometimes at higher voltages than industry standard. But we’ll dive more into overclocking in a future DIY episode.

More or Faster?
So, what does this mean for your computer and your specific situation? When it comes to capacity, if you plan on playing more hardware intensive games or multitasking, you’ll want RAM capacity greater than 16GB. If you also want to play those games at higher resolution and framerates, you should also overclock the RAM to get the smoothing gaming experience, especially if you are planning to stream the game off the same PC that you’re are playing it on or create other content around your gameplay.

Should you upgrade or replace what you already have?
If you have more RAM slots on your motherboard than you are currently using, you may be wondering if you can simply add more RAM to what you already have. The short answer is, yes, but not if you want to go faster. Mixing memory of different speeds and timings will always default them to the slower of the two. Sometimes these inconsistencies can even cause stability issues. So, you can but it may be more of a hassle than it’s worth if the newly added RAM is a drastically different speed than the older RAM you already had. So again, you can do it, but most people just buy new to avoid the potential hassle. Now, if you are buying new, be sure to check which type of RAM your motherboard can supports.

Is there a RAM upgrade in your future? A specific type that you’re eyeing? And all importantly, to RGB or not to RGB? I kid, but seriously if you have any questions not answered in this video, please leave ‘em in the comments and the team at Kingston will do our best to help out. Take care everyone and see you next time with more DIY in 5!

[vermilliontoaster]

Whoa!!!!
I’m so happy for Trisha!!!❤️

[tszvj]

Literally only clicked on the ad cuz I recognized Trisha, it’s been a minute since I used to watch you all the time on sourcefed!

[keeperofthegood]

Really 32gigs of ddr4 3200 to 3600 is pretty much all you need even for 4k video editing. If you were working with large database files 64 or 128 would be to your benefit but that is a very small fraction of a percent of industry users. You do need to know how to set your RAM speedt in BIOS too, as for a given CPU the BIOS defaults will be 2166 or 2666 typically independent of the speed stated on the kit. Given that none of the advancements from 22nm to 7nm for AMD allowed for stable repeatable faster speeds than the 3200 or 3600 kits, and going to pre-10nm 14+ 10nm circuitry for Intel only just this year got them to 3200 native speed realistically the technology is at a stall. Yes if you were doing advanced animations, AI or other data intensive work you may need more RAM but you'd really be better off using a render server at that point and then you are using a CPU type that is slower than desktop and uses slower memory so again no benefits there. Sure the up and coming DDR5 may save you a watt or two, then you get your hands on an RTX 30xx card and you wont notice that power savings and there are no CPU's out now, and not likely to be any CPU's out any time soon, that will be able to do more speed than what is already done. Not unless, of course, AMD's next gen Ryzen pulls a rabbit out of the hat, wouldn't put it past Lisa to do so :)

[tOptEaChA]

Ensuring your mobo is running ram in dual channel or better is a huge improvement.. I had 16g running in dual channel, added another single stick of matching 8g ram totalling 24g.. mobo switched to single channel mode and everything felt more sluggish than 16g in dual.. not sure if something like this is already in the comments but hope it helps..

[EJSmith-dkyg]

It would be nice if you would get into Rank and Configurations as this can be confusing.
Specifically, what are the differences, advantages or disadvantages of them?
Examples:
1Rx8 vs. 1Rx16 or
1Rx8 vs. 2Rx8 or
1Rx16 vs. 2Rx8 ?
This can also be hard to determine as the sellers often don't reveal this data.

[StuartBoyer]

With my setup, Rog Maximus Extreme MB and Corsair Dominator DD5 ram I can run 32GB (16GB x2) at 6200MHZ or 64GB (16Gb x4) at 5400MHZ and they perform the same in benchmarks and in games at 4K. It might be different at lower resolutions but not 4k atleast for me. I ended up keeping mine setup at 64GB as DCS has some servers and maps that have went over 32GB of ram usage. The ram was two sets of Corsair 32GB 6200mhz kits I tried together and not as stock 64GB matched kit set so it was not ideal but works fine with manual setup. So things may be different with DDR5 as for now but the advice is spot on when it came to my older DDR4 rigs.

[piratetube]

16 GB DDR5 or 32 GB DDR4 ?
For University and playing

[Tech-qeks]

If you mix rams with different speed would it affect the cpu's speed for example limiting the overclocking

[boburanus]

A wild Trisha Hershberger has appeared!

[jable]

The answer to the video cover is “prolific amounts of faster RAM.”

[timmytenders]

That was a great video short but packed with info love it.

[mathieularocque]

You forgot to mention to check the motherboard capacity, some older system may be capped at 16 or 32 so buying more is not necessarilly the right thing to do

[T_Burd_]

More! More! Faster! Faster!


I'm talking about RAM. RAM...

[WertyTT]

is it possible to get both? theres 2 slots for ram, 1 for faster, and more ram.

[Jacoberobison]

This actually answered almost every question I’ve been having. I built a new PC two years ago with an ASUS ROG Maximus Hero XII. The sticker says it’s rated for RAM up to 4800+ I currently have some 3200 sticks and am wondering if I screwed up not getting 3600 or higher. When I look at a lot of 3600 ram, it says it’s for AMD. Also, when multiply the clock rates by the latency numbers, 3200 appears identical to 3600 on some vendors. Super confusing. I’m tempted to just swap for 3600 and benchmark both.

[AnObserver]

I clicked for Trisha. It was great to see here again. I basically haven't seen her since she worked with Philip Defranco. Glad to see she is still making snazy stuff.

[stefanopilone]

thank you for this video; you talked about latency and four numbers that show it, is there any video or web pages with more details about them?

[physicsmarko]

kingston i love you!! :) more videos like this :)

[DavidKing-wkws]

This from the most difficult brand of ram to find. The only place I can fond kingston ram seems to be ebay other suppliers just seem to be out when i look.

[DragonKingGaav]

You need dual channel and dual ranked ram for the best results!