The best RAM for your system depends on numerous variables. What CPU do you have? What platform are you running? What are you doing with your PC? Despite such questions, there are constants that allow us to state what you should be aiming for. As the most popular manufacturer of gaming RAM in the world, we know a thing or two about what memory kits you should be looking at, and we’re here to share some advice on the subject to ensure you get the most from your system.
When looking at the best memory, it’s worth understanding what makes one memory kit better than another. The first factor is the underlying technology, or the generation of that memory, such as DDR5 or DDR4. These are both versions of Double Data Rate (DDR) memory, with DDR5 being the most recent technology, offering several benefits over DDR4. You can find out more about the differences in this article comparing DDR5 vs. DDR4.
Beyond the underlying technology, there are three important things to consider with any memory kit: capacity, operating frequency, and latency. Capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB), with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB kits being common for most PCs. Frequency is measured in mega-transfers per second (MT/s), and generally, the higher the better, although there is often a trade-off with latency. This brings us to the last point: latency. Latency is measured in clock cycles and indicates how long it takes the memory to respond to a request—the lower, the better.
How much memory do you need in 2024? For a long time, 16GB of RAM was generally considered optimal for gaming and most tasks on a modern PC. However, this is no longer the case. As games and applications have become more demanding, the amount of memory needed has increased.
These days, 32GB is the new sweet spot for both gaming and most applications.
There have always been cases where more memory is preferable, and that’s still true today. If you like to multitask and have several applications open at once, 64GB should be considered optimal. For workstation-level performance, such as tasks critical to your work, 128GB and 256GB kits are not unheard of.
Some applications benefit from higher frequency memory, while others prefer lower latencies. PC gaming, for the most part, benefits from low latencies, although higher frequencies are also desirable. Since frequency and latency are interlinked, it’s worth considering the two together. Recommendations often discuss both aspects simultaneously.
For gaming in 2024, we recommend looking for memory rated up to 6,000MT/s with a CAS latency of 30. This offers the best of both worlds without breaking the bank. If you have applications that benefit more from higher frequency, you may want to find something even faster. However, for most purposes, this configuration will put you in a good position to get the most from your system.
From what we’ve outlined above, it should come as a surprise that for the most systems we’d recommend 32GB DDR5-6000 C30 memory kits. The likes of this 32GB VENGEANCE RGB DDR5-6000 kit offers fast performance, great looks, and enough capacity to play any game without hitting your page file. If you’re not too bothered about flashing LEDs on your memory sticks, then a 32GB kit of VENGEANCE DDR5-6000 offers the same performance minus the RGBs.
If you’re looking for something a bit more premium, then 64GB DOMINATOR TITANIUM DDR5-6000 is hard to beat. With replaceable light bars and advanced cooling, this is a memory kit for anyone that wants to stand out from the crowd. The really do look incredible too. 32GB kits are also available, as are offerings all the way up to 96GB, with the option of grabbing high frequencies up to 7,600MT/s.
What if you’re still running a DDR4 platform, such as an AMD AM4 motherboard or older Intel CPU, and don’t want to upgrade just yet? The good news is that you can bolster the amount of memory in your system quite easily and as DDR4 is essentially last gen at this point, doing so is affordable.
We’d recommend 32GB of capacity once again, as this will give your games and applications room to breathe. In terms of frequency and latency then DDR4-3600 is a good speed to aim for, with a CAS latency of 18. The likes of our 32GB VENGEANCE LPX DDR4-3600 C18 kits will work in most systems, although if you hunger for higher capacities then a 64GB kit of VENGEANCE LPX DDR4-3200 C16 is worth considering.
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