Key findings
- DDR4 RAM can easily compete with high-speed DDR5 RAM in both gaming and professional workloads, proving that it is anything but obsolete.
- Due to the overall platform cost, system stability concerns, and limited performance benefits, upgrading to DDR5 may not be worthwhile yet.
- Overclocking your DDR4 RAM allows you to increase performance for free, making it a viable option for existing DDR4 users.
There was a time when DDR5 RAM was only recommended for enthusiasts who only wanted the latest standard in high-performance memory. For everyone else, 3,600 MT/s DDR4 RAM was the optimal solution when building a new PC with good value for money. However, that is no longer the case, as DDR5 RAM has almost completely replaced DDR4 as the de facto standard, except for budget builds.
That's the situation for those building a new PC, but what about those users who already have decent DDR4 RAM in their builds? Is upgrading to DDR5 RAM – with accompanying motherboard and CPU upgrades – the only good option for them? It might actually be too early to part with your DDR4 RAM, considering you can overclock it to squeeze a little more performance out of it.
With any luck, you'll come to the conclusion that the extra performance of DDR5 RAM isn't worth the investment. We hope you'll feel more confident in the near future and be able to stick with your DDR4 RAM.
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DDR4 vs. DDR5 memory performance
Storage scaling is anything but linear
DDR5 RAM brought a significant change in transfer speeds and capacities compared to DDR4 RAM. 16GB of RAM is now the minimum capacity you can find for a single DDR5 DIMM. And from 3600-4000 MT/s for DDR4, there are now DDR5 kits rated up to 8400 MT/s. This new memory standard offers higher bandwidth and power efficiency than DDR4, but is the performance significantly better?
It turns out that DDR5 is, on average, only about 5% faster than DDR4 at 1080p.
Let's look at gaming first. Based on various benchmarks, it is clear that DDR5 RAM does indeed perform better than DDR4 RAM in gaming, but the big question is – by how much? If we look at the “sweet spot” memory frequencies of both standards, i.e. 3,600 MT/s for DDR4 and 6,000 MT/s for DDR5it turns out that DDR5 only has about 5% faster than DDR4 on average at 1080p.
As you increase the resolution to 1440p and 4K, these differences decrease further, making DDR5 even less attractive for gaming workloads.
For DDR4-4000 versus DDR5-7200This difference can be up to 7-10% speed increase. In some CPU-intensive titles, you can get bigger gains with DDR5 RAM, but on average, high-speed DDR4 RAM can still keep up with high-speed DDR5 RAM. As you increase the resolution to 1440p and 4K, these differences narrow further, making DDR5 even less attractive for gaming workloads.
Some workloads, such as Adobe Lightroom and compression-dependent jobs, can see significant double-digit increases.
For non-gaming workloads, the performance gains with DDR5 memory could be significant enough to justify the upgrade, but again, it depends on your individual workload. Some workloads like Adobe Lightroom and compression-dependent jobs may see significant double-digit gains, while others like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere may not see much difference between them at all. Memory capacity plays a more critical role here than memory speed and bandwidth.
If every second saved is important to your work, the extra cost of a DDR5 system may be worth it.
In summary, DDR4 is nowhere near underwhelming, at least not for most people. If you're a gamer and already have a DDR4-based system, you can easily keep using it for a few more years. If you're a professional, you can base your decision on the type of workload you do on a regular basis. If every second saved is important to your job, the extra cost of a DDR5 system could be worth it.
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DDR5 is not (yet) worth the money
DDR4 still outperforms DDR5 in performance per dollar
While it's clear that DDR4 RAM is pretty competitive with DDR5 RAM for almost all workloads, is it really that much cheaper? If you compare the prices of 32GB kits of DDR4-4000 and DDR5-7200 memory, you can see that the newer memory costs about 50% more. In absolute terms, this only represents a $40 premium, but you also have to consider the higher cost of a DDR5 motherboard and CPU (if you don't have a 12th/13th/14th Gen Intel Core processor).
Another potential issue with high-speed DDR5 kits is system stability. DDR4 is a more mature standard and performs better in this regard.
Keeping your DDR4 RAM, and by extension your entire build, for a few more years seems like the better choice, not just for budget reasons, but also for performance reasons. Another potential issue with high-speed DDR5 kits is system stability. Boot failures on DDR5 systems, even at XMP/EXPO settings, are fairly common, especially when using 4 DIMMs. DDR4 is a more mature standard and performs better in this regard.
Your DDR4 memory is extremely powerful and still has a long lifespan, especially when you consider the ace up your sleeve, i.e. overclocking.
DDR5 RAM will eventually iron out stability issues and offer faster timings and higher frequencies (that's just the life cycle of a new memory standard), but until then, it's not as obvious as some people think. Your DDR4 memory is very powerful and has a long life ahead of it, especially when you consider the ace up its sleeve, overclocking.
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A little fine-tuning never hurt
So you're reassured that your DDR4 RAM can still go for miles before it goes to sleep, but how about giving it a little extra boost? Overclocking your RAM by running it at a higher frequency and lower latency can help you squeeze more performance out of it at no cost. Enabling XMP or EXPO settings is the first step to optimizing your RAM, but manual overclocking can provide additional benefits when done successfully.
You may need to go through several failed boot processes before you find stable settings.
Manual overclocking is a bit more challenging than simply switching to XMP or EXPO settings in BIOS/UEFI. However, you can first experiment with overclocking your RAM without BIOS using AMD Ryzen Master if you have a Ryzen processor. Once you achieve a stable overclock, you can simply select these settings in BIOS for a permanent memory overclock.
Always increase the frequency and voltage in small steps until the system becomes unstable. Then reduce the settings a little and check if the system is stable.
Those using Intel CPUs can go straight into the BIOS and tweak the frequency and timing settings to achieve a stable overclock. You may need to go through several failed boot processes before you find stable settings. Always increase the frequency and voltage in small increments until you encounter an unstable system. At that point, reduce the settings a little and see if the system is stable.
Overclocking your RAM may not provide great benefits for every application, but you can still get extra performance for free.
It's always better to run some real-world tests like gaming in addition to synthetic tests like Cinebench or AIDA64. Overclocking your RAM may not bring great benefits in every application, but you can still get extra performance without spending a dime.
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DDR5 is still in its infancy
DDR4 came out back in 2014 and took a few years to evolve into the highly stable standard we know today. DDR5 came out in late 2021, and while we've come a long way since then in terms of higher frequencies and lower latency, we haven't reached the pinnacle of the technology yet. In a few years, DDR5 RAM will also take the stability crown, and we'll see even faster kits that run smoothly at lower clock speeds.
By then, your DDR4 RAM will be powerful enough to keep up with both gaming and professional workloads, and overclocking will allow you to squeeze even more performance out of it. If you're building a new system, it makes more sense to opt for DDR5 as the future-oriented standard, but for those already using DDR4, an upgrade is far from urgent at this point.