DDR, DIMM, XMP, CAS ... Confused? No problem -- our RAM buying guide will help you demystify this once and for all so that you can make your PC run great.
If you want to choose the best RAM for your PC, you’ll be faced with a lot of terms that may not sound familiar at a glance. DDR? DIMM? CAS? XMP? When you just want something that goes well with the rest of your PC, having to pull out a dictionary before you shop can be pretty daunting.
What is RAM? RAM stands for Random Access Memory, and more precisely, a type of volatile memory that only holds data while your PC is powered on. Its main job is to provide quick read and write access to your processor . Every processor and motherboard is limited to supporting one or two generations of DDR RAM. Although your CPU might support both DDR4 and DDR5 — that is the case with many of Intel’s best processors right now — your motherboard will almost always be limited to just one. As such, when you build your PC, you’ll have to decide which generation of memory you’ll be using, and then stick to it until you make major upgrades.
SO-DIMM is also used in some mini PCs, as well as regular PCs with some mini-ITX motherboards. This isn’t a rule, though, so if you own such a PC, you should still check whether you need to be buying DIMM or SO-DIMM memory. MicroDIMMs used to be a thing, too. Smaller than SO-DIMMs, they’ve pretty much fallen out of use, so they barely warrant a mention at this point.
For starters, you should never buy a single RAM module for a motherboard that supports dual-channel memory. The performance loss between using single-channel and dual-channel is massive, so even if you want to buy 16GB of memory, don’t buy a single 16GB module — instead, get two of 8GB each. Capacity Having enough RAM capacity is even more important than focusing on high speeds. If your PC doesn’t have enough RAM, the lack of it will become a major bottleneck, and even having the best graphics card or the fastest gaming CPU won’t save you.
Frequency RAM frequency is something you definitely want to look at, and it’s usually easily found right in the name of the RAM stick. You’ll see RAM branded as, let’s say, DDR5-6000 or DDR4-3200, referring to the frequency of that particular model, often followed by either MT/s or MHz. It’s worth noting that in many models, this refers to the maximum frequency the RAM can run at, but it’s not necessarily the speed you’ll get out of the box.
Timings In terms of frequency, more is better, but when we’re talking about CAS latency, the opposite is true. This refers to the delay, measured in clock cycles, between when the CPU requests the data from your RAM and when it’s sent to the processor. Just like your so-called ping in games, you want this to be as low as possible — but much like frequency, CAS is limited by the DDR generation you’re using.
However, if you want to learn as much as possible before buying RAM, there are a few other specs and features to consider. When you first install new RAM, it’ll run at box speeds, which can often be well below the maximum speed it’s capable of. Fortunately, overclocking is easy thanks to these premade profiles that are enabled in the BIOS. Not sure how to do this? No worries — check out our guide to RAM overclocking and our step-by-step guide to enabling XMP.
In short, choose what your budget can stretch to, but DDR5 is a better option these days if you don’t mind the additional expense.
Buying Guide DDR4 DDR5 Memory RAM
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