The two maintypes of RAMfor forward-looking figurer are DDR4 , and DDR5 .

Together they span a number of processor and motherboard generations across desktop PCs and laptops , and though DDR4 RAM might be the more democratic retentiveness type for now , that is slowly change . late AMD Ryzen processors and Intel ’s 12th , 13th , and fourteenth generations of CPU have madeDDR5 memoryfar more predominant .

With AMD you do n’t have a choice , but for now , with Intel you do . That can make it hard to adjudicate whether DDR4 or DDR5 are the better choice for your next system . And is deserving upgrading to something new to get access code to this newer , faster memory ?

Here ’s a comparison between DDR5 and DDR4 to help oneself you make an informed choice regarding the most suitable memory type for your approaching upgrade .

Pricing and availability

DDR5 RAM pricing has view a monolithic reduction since its introduction in 2021 . Then , you were look at over $ 1,000 for 16 GB . Today , most sell for around $ 3 per G , which think you may grab 16 GB of DDR5 RAM for less than $ 50 . That ’s a monumental price cut and mean that not only can you get the desolate lower limit of retention for very slight investing , but you could consider upgrading to large and faster kits too . It ’s not even that expensive to get 32 GB or even 64 GB in 2024 .

If you want great speed and honorable timing when pile against the best DDR4 RAM , you ’ll have to pay more , though . For illustration , a decorous 16 GB kit in the 5600MHz range will run you around $ 40 - 50 . But if you go up to 32 GB of treble - channel DDR5 RAM at 5600MHz , you ’re looking at pass nearly $ 100 - 120 . Still , that ’s unbelievable value consider where price were just a few geezerhood ago , and with the latest generation of CPU profit from faster and libertine memory , upgrading to a bigger and faster outfit could be the elbow room to go to boost your personal computer ’s carrying into action .

DDR5 is already stock with Intel ’s Alder Lake twelfth generation and the more recentRaptor Lake 13th generationand its 14th generation refresh , while on the other side thebest AMD processorsexclusively use DDR5 RAM .

( Future coevals ofZen 5 CPUs from AMD , andArrow Lake processors from Intel , are probable to be DDR5 exclusives . )

acquire DDR5 RAM is as loose as exploring retailer like Best Buy , Amazon , Newegg , or your preferred electronics storehouse , where you ’re potential to witness a wide array of option available . OurRAM buying guidewill help you make the right choice .

Our hands-on tests

We tested both DDR4 and DDR5 in ourreview of Intel ’s twelfth - gen i9 - 12900Kin 2021 , and our tests found DDR5 was an norm of 11 % quicker across unlike testing benchmark .

The results reckon for the most part on the benchmarking software used . As you’re able to see , DDR5 performed only 7 % faster than DDR4 in a 3D Mark Time Spy test but bluster DDR4 out of the water in both Geekbench 5 test .

It ’s crucial to remark that DDR5 gives Alder Lake an advantage , which means Intel ’s 12th - gen chips work best when coupled with DDR5 RAM . You ’ll see similar performance advantages of gamy - speed DDR5 computer storage with newer Intel 13th and fourteenth generation processors , too , since they are both newer architecture that can better take advantage of higher memory speeds , and come up with skillful native musical accompaniment for fast RAM . There are diminishing returns , with the very fastest kits mostly utile for benchmarking rather than real mankind execution reward , but the option is there if you need it .

Performance

Memory performance is dependent on a routine of factors , but the biggest differentiator between different kits is upper .

This is measure in Megatransfers per second , or MT / s , although it ’s often generate as an megahertz rating . In either type , the effectual performance figure is the same , so it can be used interchangeably .

The DDR4 standard is uncommitted in a range from 1,600MHz to a crown of 3,200MHz . However , manufacturers have introduced DDR4 memory kit that surpass these limit significantly . By harnessing automatise overclocking through uttermost memory profile ( XMP ) , these kit have enabled even higher speed . While kit open of 4,000MHz are not rare , there have been instances of special kit exceeding 5,000MHz . The touchable performance benefit of such mellow - speed computer memory might not be obvious , leading to these kinds of kit being both rare and costly , yet they do indeed live .

DDR5 , on the other hand , has its own range of standards , starting at 4,800MHz and running up to 6,400MHz . As with DDR4 , though , there will be faster memory uncommitted in the future tense , and manufacturers have already lead off announcing kit far in excess of the DDR5 standards . Various manufacturers have shown off kit that can mesh in excess of 8,000 megacycle per second , and some proof of construct even go northwards of 12,000 MHz .

DDR5 ’s bare-ass speed far surpasses that of even the fastest DDR4 at the top final stage , while the midrange hovers around the 5,000MHz mark , which is like the top end of DDR4 RAM .

Timings are the other side of the functioning coin . They control the latency of sure memory functions and can have quite a dramatic effect on the real - human race performance of memory board . Although they are almost always loose on higher - frequency memory and will be on DDR5 , it is unlikely that they will get DDR5 to execute worse than DDR4 .

DDR5 also meliorate the channel architecture of the memory , using two smaller channels , rather than a single larger one , to handle memory access code . The breadth of the epithelial duct stay on the same , but two smaller channel may meliorate efficiency , which could assist give DDR5 another performance boundary over its last - contemporaries rivals .

Capacity

One of the major changes with DDR5 at the architectural level is that the Dy are twice as dense compare to DDR4 . When combined with new fleck designs , that signify that where DDR4 storage chips could be manufactured at up to 16 GB , DDR5 chip can be made with capacities up to 64 gigabit . That should lead to larger - capacity memory sticks . While 128 GB of memory in a individual stick seems a likely option , Samsung has a whopping512 GB DDR5 stick .

There are very few mainstream applications for such memory capacities , but if the option is there for outstanding stick capacities , it take longer - terminus upgrades a little easier to plan out and open up the possibility of cracking retentiveness capacity on minor systems like Mini - ITX builds .

Want to knowhow much RAM you postulate ? Check out our guide .

Power and thermals

As has been the case with every generation of DDR memory that came before , DDR5 demand less ability for its improved performance . Where DDR4 has a standard electric potential need of 1.2v , DDR5 sip just 1.1v . This play a part in reducing great power economic consumption in nomadic devices like laptops and tablets .

Typically , a lower potential would suggest the electronics would campaign cooler , but that is not the case with DDR5 . DDR5 kit have the potential governor for the retentivity on the modules themselves , rather than on the motherboard .

That , combined with the improved performance and much greater tightness of the memory chips , means DDR5 runs hotter than DDR4 . This mean you ’ll require to verify you have compatible heat sink before instal DDR5 RAM .

DDR5 is better, but at what cost?

DDR5 ’s performance reaches more than double the profligate DDR4 module . match with Intel 12th - gen , 13th - gen , and 14th - gen central processor or the AMD Ryzen 7000 - series and previous mainframe , personal computer are degenerate and more herculean than ever before . The miserable prices today are a veridical incentive to anyone looking to upgrade tothe best RAM kitsavailable .

DDR5 has some emergence with warmth performance , but it ’s not anything a well - cooled machine ca n’t do by . DDR4 is a familiar standard find in most computers built since 2015 , and the top end will serve you well . However , if you want to future tense - proof your computer , you should advance to DDR5 . This is the new criterion , and DDR4 is quickly becoming disused . Of course , the same will take place to DDR5 , but the dismission ofDDR6 next genesis RAMis still a few years away .