Compare 4x16GB DDR-3200 with 4x8GB DDR-3600 in terms of speed and capacity.
Compare 4x16GB DDR-3200 with 4x8GB DDR-3600 in terms of speed and capacity.
Hello, I'm trying to boost my system performance by utilizing the two open RAM slots. After finishing my PC build in February, I've been a bit overwhelmed with all the options and research. Should I buy another identical 64GB of 2x16GB DDR-3200 RAM or opt for a 32GB setup using 4x8GB DDR-3600 RAM? I know more RAM doesn't always mean faster speeds, and a dual-channel motherboard also plays a role. My current specs are an i5-12600KF CPU on an ASRock B660M Pro RS motherboard with G.Skill Trident Z memory.
The available configurations won’t significantly boost performance. Choose the one that suits your storage needs. Are you truly requiring 64GB of RAM?
The existing 32GB configuration works fine, but it would be slightly more economical right now to purchase a matching set of sticks instead of buying a fresh 4-pack for the same capacity. I considered selling my current sticks to fund the new ones, though in reality the performance difference remains unchanged. The idea of handling the marketplace seems like a hassle without guaranteeing better results.
Gaining just 400MHz isn’t enough to noticeably improve performance in practice. For a 64GB memory upgrade, what kind of workload would demand such a large capacity? I’d recommend postponing the savings until a future DDR5 refresh.
I didn’t go through anything requiring 64GB, just a possible mix-up about matching stick sizes and capacities. Adding two 8GB DDR-3200 modules would bring the total to around 48GB, which might cause RAM issues. Since your motherboard isn’t compatible with DDR5, upgrading there is still far off. A good lesson learned in PC building!
Sorry just to help clarify, I don't want 64. I'm just looking to fill the 2 open slots and hopefully gain some noticeable speed. Buying anther set 2x16 of what I already have would bump me to 64 but still be cheaper than buying a new 4x8GB set. I could try selling my original set to offset the cost of the new 4x8 set if I went that route, but I really don't wanna.
It would still keep two empty spots, but switching from 2x16GB at 3200MHz to 2x16GB at 3600MHz shows a clear boost in performance.
It varies depending on your situation. I notice more noticeable improvements with extra RAM in games where you move quickly between areas. Assets that were cleared from the game’s RAM stay in the IO cache if you travel back fast, speeding things up. A jump from 3200 to 3600 RAM is only really obvious in certain scenarios, like compiling code. In most cases, a few percentage changes won’t be perceptible. I’ve upgraded several PCs from 3200 to 3600 to boost both speed and memory, and performance differences beyond that are usually minimal. One exception is when using a NAS; more cache there significantly impacts filesystem performance.