Are you wondering should you get a cheaper slower RAM or a costly faster RAM memory? Are Faster RAM memory really worth the extra price you pay? And Should you get the faster RAM memory or a higher amount of RAM memory? And Does RAM speed really matter in actual performance? If you have any of the above questions in mind just continue reading till last as we are going to answer all these questions in this article.
Whenever we start building a new PC or plan to do a RAM memory upgrade one thing that always comes to mind is should I get faster RAM or save some bucks. Now this question is obvious since there are a lot of things that are highly hyped up. And in real life, these hyped-up things might not matter that much in comparison to the extra money you have to pay.
And someone might also consider the same about RAM speeds. As support of high-speed RAM memory is mostly offered by the RED team only, even in the budget processors. And considering the competition not offering much of that feature it might just be an advertisement tactic from the Red team, Right? Let’s see that further in this article. First, let’s see what is RAM and what is RAM speed.
What is RAM and RAM speed?
RAM(Random Access Memory) is a super fast and temporary data storage device. Every program you run gets stored on RAM for faster access by the processor as RAMs are much faster than SSDs or HDDs. It stores information that your computer is actively using so that it can be accessed quickly.
The higher number of programs or heavy programs your system is running the higher information it needs to process. And that’s why to run more or heavy programs you need to have a higher amount of RAM. Now as you know RAM is a temporary data storage device it needs to read and write data. And in the case of RAM each read and write is done on a cycle.
RAM clock speeds commonly referred to as RAM speed is the number of cycles it can perform per second. For example, if RAM is rated at 3200 MHz, it can perform 3.2 billion cycles per second. The higher number of cycles your RAM can perform per second means a higher the number of data that can be written and read per second.
So in general higher, the clock speeds higher the number of cycles per second, which should mean faster the RAM. But do you need faster RAM modules?
Do I need faster RAM?
Now as you know in general RAM with faster clock speeds is overall faster than the other similar RAM with slower clock speed. But do you need it or not depends on your use case. While the other important thing to consider while purchasing a RAM with a higher clock speed is budget and processor support.
If you don’t have a budget problem then you should think about your use case while choosing a RAM. But most importantly you should check if your processor supports it, if not then there is no use in getting faster RAM. Since even the fastest RAM like 4000 MHz will start working on the clock speeds your processor supports.
And if you have a budget concern then the decision should be made on, if you really need the faster RAM. While it’s almost always better to have more RAM than faster RAM for better performance.
Although if you have a budget to get more than 16 GB of RAM then for most use cases it’s better to get faster RAM than going for more capacity. Since there are limited use cases right now that require more RAM than 16GB of RAM. Right now even the most demanding game titles can be played with 16 GB smoothly.
Instead, if you have to choose between more RAM or faster RAM then it’s better to have more RAM until you have sufficient RAM like 16GB in your PC. Are you building a Gaming PC here is a great budget Processor that also supports faster memory you can buy.
Which Tasks or Program get benefited from Faster RAM?
Even though hearing about clock speed and cycles you might think faster RAM is better for every task it’s not that true. In most of the tasks, you can’t even notice the performance difference between a faster and a slower RAM. In which case, more RAM is better. But that does not mean that faster RAM is only a gimmick.
Ryzen processors have shown better performance in Gaming and benchmarks when paired with faster RAM. So if you plan to do gaming on your PC then it’s a better choice to go for faster RAM which ensures you get better performance.
Should I buy faster RAM for Video Editing or Photo Editing?
If you are planning to build your PC for tasks like video editing or photo editing. Then it’s better to spend money on more amount o RAM and a better processor than to spend it on faster memory. As faster or slower RAM doesn’t really make much of a difference in these use cases. But having more RAM can be beneficial as both these tasks store a lot of data on RAM.
Should I buy faster Memory for Gaming?
Yes, definitely if you have a budget to get more than 16 GB of RAM then you should also go for faster RAM. Since almost every game can be played smoothly in 16GB of space. But getting faster RAM improves the gaming performance of your PC and provides higher FPS.
Higher FPS provides you a better experience as well as an advantage in games like CS go and other battle royale games. So for a gaming PC faster RAM is always a plus for gaming performance. Here is one of the best budget Fast memory you can buy for better performance.
Should I get cheaper slower or Faster costlier Memory?
This seriously depends on your use case, if you are building a gaming PC it’s better to spend some money and buy faster RAM(Only if your processor supports that faster RAM clock speed). This will provide you some performance boost in gaming.
But if you are building are work or productivity PC then there is no use in spending that extra money on faster RAM. As you will not be able to actually benefit from the performance boost that those RAM modules will bring.
Are Faster RAM really worth the extra price?
Recently faster RAM modules have also become cost-effective. And the price difference between the slower and faster module of the same quality isn’t much. Now if you need for PC for tasks like gaming which can benefit from faster RAM. Then it’s worth spending that extra money to get higher performance. And if your use case can’t benefit from that it would be a waste of money for you right now.
Does RAM speed Really Matter in actual performance?
Yes as we have already discussed RAM speed does matter as it gives a higher number of read and write cycles per second. Which in turn offers faster data to processors which means better performance in certain tasks. But not all tasks can utilize this, so if you have a task that can utilize that faster RAM speed then it does matter. Otherwise, it may not matter for you.
Conclusion:
I hope this makes your doubts clear and you can make the right decision for your next purchase and think Should I buy faster RAM. In the end, it all comes to what task you want to use your PC for. Tasks like gaming can benefit from faster RAM and offer higher FPS. While other tasks might not benefit that much from faster RAM. In which case it can be better to save money and buy cheaper slower RAM. But if the price difference isn’t much then it’s best to go for faster RAM as it will make your build more future proof.