The Cost of Memory in Gaming
PC gaming has always been an expensive hobby, and recent fluctuations in DRAM prices have made building or upgrading systems more challenging than ever. Just a few years ago, a decent 32 GB kit of DDR5-6000 could be had for under $90 during sales. Today, that same memory kit costs around $480 at Amazon, forcing gamers to reconsider their choices and budgets.
Even budget options come at a steep price. A 32 GB DDR5-4800 kit from PUSkill currently retails for about $370. While this may seem like a more affordable solution, its performance might not meet gamers' expectations, especially when considering its slower speed and higher CAS latency.
Setting Up the Test
To investigate the effects of slower DDR5 RAM on gaming performance, I created a test rig featuring an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090. This setup allowed for extensive testing across various gaming scenarios at resolutions of 1080p, 1440p, and 4K.
In my tests, I compared the performance of DDR5-4800 with DDR5-6000 using Lexar Thor OC DDR5 memory. I disabled EXPO in the BIOS to force the slower speed. This configuration provided a clear view of how much impact DRAM speed has on performance in modern titles.
Performance Results
In the gaming tests, I selected seven titles, including Cyberpunk 2077, Stalker 2, and Black Myth: Wukong. Surprisingly, I found no significant performance differences in these games, which rely heavily on GPU performance rather than RAM speed. Frame rate discrepancies remained within the margin of error, confirming that cheaper RAM doesn't severely hinder these titles.