RAM capacity for a 28 is typically 28 gigabytes.
RAM capacity for a 28 is typically 28 gigabytes.
Hey everyone, a few months back I was gearing up for a PC build. I thought timing would be key, right? I hoped PCSpecialist, this UK-based setup service, would still offer competitive prices long enough for me to secure a machine. Unfortunately, they didn’t. What caught my attention was that I hadn’t seen CAS timings listed on the RAM choices before. Now they are, and it defaults to CL40. According to the charts I’ve seen, using CL40 means sacrificing performance. I’m worried we might be stuck with limited RAM options if manufacturers aren’t releasing better timings, especially for AI companies. My main question is: should I go all-in on CL30 and risk getting a 3080, or wait for CL28 to improve? If I decide to go big on 64GB, it feels a bit crazy.
I believe you've never encountered them before, they've always been present. It seems unlikely that anything under CAS 30 will become AI; rather, everything is moving toward AI. Due to limited availability, they can charge more for higher quality kits. This might not be accurate. I wouldn't purchase a CL40, unless you secure an excellent deal, I wouldn't opt for a CL30, and I definitely wouldn't buy CL28 or any premium high-bin models. Instead, I'd choose CL36-36-36—there are other options beyond just CAS latency, and they likely offer better performance. These models are quite similar in speed to CL30 but much more affordable than CL40.
For most professional applications, AI included, latency is pretty much irrelevant, They just need lots of it, with good enough bandwidth. Stability is paramount, so they don't go for any crazy numbers there either. Latency is mostly just relevant for gaming. Many smallish memory transfers over time? Latency king, bandwidth secondary. Few, largish memory transfers? Latency irrelevant, speed is king. The reason you're not seeing good numbers on sale anymore is likely because manufacturers would need lots to pick from, to bin by quality. Which isn't worth their effort if companies are buying buckets of whatever they have available at a much higher price than most consumers are willing to spend. Depending on your use case, you don't need 64 gigs, maybe not even 32 gigs. Note that this is a different video from above, just the thumbnail is fairly similar. In any case, having enough is way more important than having the fastest RAM. With higher latency you may lose a couple percent of performance at worst. With too little RAM your performance will tank completely, because the system will start to swap.
Consumer low latency solutions won't appear near massive data centers. If you're using AMD, the 6000C30 runs at non-standard, heavily overclocked speeds. My 6000C30 gaming RAM drops to 4800C40 to meet standard operating requirements. Servers typically run stable, production-grade RAM rather than cutting-edge specs. Unless you're very fortunate, you likely wouldn't have secured a 3080 chip. The 30 series was widely recognized in the industry. We didn't have pricing details, but purchasing a new GPU at the end of the cycle before successor information is released is always risky. I made the reverse error. I sold many CPUs at low prices before the 30 series launch, assuming they'd become obsolete, unaware of supply issues and the mining boom.