Custom PC - UK (2020-02)

MEMORY

RAMisoftenoneofthemostconfusingcomponents
whenbuildinga PC.WithDDR4speedsrangingfrom
2133MHzallthewayuptoover4000MHz,it’snot
obvioushowfastyouneedtogo.Likewise,there’sa lot
ofmisinformationabouthowmuchRAMyouneed.
So,to(mostly)settlethesituationforgamingneeds,we
putsixdifferentconfigurationstothetest.First,wechecked
outthedifferencebetweenusing8GB(2x 4GB)and16GB
(2x 8GB)toseewhatdifferencetheextracapacitymakes.
Wedidn’ttestwith32GBofmemory,asourtesting
conclusivelyshowedtherewasnopointindoingso.
Thedifferencebetween8GBand16GBofRAMwas
essentiallynon-existentinallbutoneofourtests.Only
inPUBGat1080pdidweseea differencesignificant
enoughtobenotable.Assuch,movingupto32GBis
clearlynotgoingtoofferanyfurtherbenefitforgaming.
Thereare,ofcourse,manyotherbenefitstohaving
morememory,suchasrunningmultiplevirtual
machinesandhavingmultipleapplicationsopenatonce

• it basicallylimitstheamountofpagingbetweenWindowsand
  yourSSD.However,intermsofrawframerates,thebenefitsof
  havingmorememoryarelimited.
  Wethenranallourothertestswith3000MHzRAM,andthen
  downclockedthiskitto2133MHzand2666MHz,beforefinally
  installingsome3600MHzRAMtoseewhatdifferencetheyall
  made.Here,wesawa muchmorelinearimprovement,with
  2133MHzclearlyholdingbackperformanceacrosstheboard.
  However,movingupto2666MHzsawusequallingourmaximum
  frameratesinseveralgames.Therearea fewexamples,suchasin
  PUBG,where3666MHzmadea difference,butbyandlarge,
  2666MHzor3000MHz
  isamplewhereframe
  ratesareconcerned.
  Thebigcaveathere
  isthatDDR4prices
  arenowsolowthat
  youcanpickupa 16GB
  3600MHzkitforaround
  £90,soyou’reonly
  saving£20orsoover
  3000MHzkits,and
  thehigherfrequency
  cannetyouother
  performancegains
  outsideofgamingtoo.

ESSENTIAL

If you’rereallystrapped

forcash,youcanstill

comfortablygetaway

withrunningjust8GB

ofRAMwhenit comes

togaming.Therewill

bea fewexceptionsofgamesthatarememory-hungry,butif

you’rereallylookingtocost-cutthenit’sa goodwaytosave£30-

£40overa £16GBkit.Intermsofspeed,3000MHzisplentyand

youcanpickupa dual-channel8GBkitatthatspeedforaround

£35incVAT.

MIDRANGE

Tobeonthesafeside,it’sworthsteppingupto16GB,especiallygiven

currentDDR4prices.However,32GBsimplyisn’tnecessary– save

yourmoneyandspendit elsewhere.Again,whenit comestoclock

speed,3000MHzis thegamingsweetspot,butyoudon’thaveto

spendmuchmoretogeta littleextraperformance.

TOPDOG

Wedidn’ttesttheveryfastestRAMavailable,butourtestscertainly

suggestthatthere’sminimalbenefittopushingmuchbeyondthe

3600MHz.Also,thepricesforfastermemorykitsrampupquickly

beyondthispoint– 3466MHzis a sensiblefrequencyfora gamingrig.

RAMamount(averagefps)

1,920x 1,080 8GB 16GB

RiseoftheTombRaider 125 123

PUBG 146 165

Dota 2 179 179

AshesoftheSingularity 54 54

CS:GO 176 197

3,840x 2,160 8GB 16GB

RiseoftheTombRaider 48 48

PUBG 69 73

Dota 2 136 139

AshesoftheSingularity 52 53

CS:GO 187 195

RGBLEDsarefarfromessential

forgaming,buttheydolooknice

RAM speed (average fps)

1,920 x 1,080 2133MHz 2666MHz 3000MHz 3600MHz

Rise of the Tomb Raider 119 122 123 123

PUBG 163 167 165 180

Dota 2 170 175 179 178

Ashes of the Singularity 49 54 54 56

CS:GO 181 204 197 196

3,840 x 2,160 2133MHz 2666MHz 3000MHz 3600MHz

Rise of the Tomb Raider 48 48 48 48

PUBG 73 70 73 70

Dota 2 132 132 139 133

Ashes of the Singularity 49 52 53 52

CS:GO 199 182 195 193

Dropping to 8GB of RAM made little difference in
most of our tests

RAM speed makes a noticeable difference up to a point. Our performance figures

tailed off at around 3000MHz