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

Опубликовано 9 июля 2021, 17:00

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!