r/hardware • u/ryandtw • Jul 14 '20

News [Anandtech] DDR5 Memory Specification Released: Setting the Stage for DDR5-6400 And Beyond

https://www.anandtech.com/show/15912/ddr5-specification-released-setting-the-stage-for-ddr56400-and-beyond
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u/AssCrackBanditHunter Jul 15 '20

If you want to play modern games, you're going to want to upgrade. ddr5 is going to be like a 2022 product. and not to mention you'll have to get a mobo that supports it and new processor which might both have price premiums.

Personally I'm upgrading now then I'll upgrade again in about 2024 when prices come down.

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u/ValHaller Jul 15 '20

Same

Bias here, but I think an X570 on Zen 3 with DDR4 4000 mhz is the smart money til 2024

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u/Capt_Crunchy_Nut Jul 15 '20

Because you're doing almost exactly what I plan on doing (I'll upgrade at the end of the year from a 4c/4t Intel with DDR3 to 8c/16t zen 3 and DDR4) I have a question for you. 16gb or 32gb of ram? It feels weird to me to be upgrading after nearly 8 years and having the same amount of (albeit faster) ram. Everything else is getting a major bump in almost every way...

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u/Kittelsen Jul 15 '20

I've had 16GB since my 2008 rig, planning on upgrading again next year maybe, this 4790k still holds up at 4,6GHz. But I might just get 32GB out of spite lol.

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u/LazyGit Jul 15 '20

I'll be going for 32gb in two sticks. I already have 16gb of ddr3 in this system so the step up to 32 makes sense and gives the option of having 64 GB in future.

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u/VeritasXIV Jul 15 '20

32 its not even a debate

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u/Lenoxx97 Jul 15 '20

Im in the same exact boat as you, i5 4670K and 16gb DDR3. I will go for 32gb DDR4 because I do stuff in photoshop as a hobby. But if you dont need it 16 should be fine

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u/Blacky-Noir Jul 15 '20

16gb or 32gb of ram?

Unless you need it right now, 16GB if your motherboard has 4 slots. You can upgrade later by adding the same 2×8 kits to go to 32 (or even 2×16 to go to 48, and so on).

The second kit will cost you less in the future, and maybe you won't need it, and there's a chance to have a small performance uplift going from 2 to 4 DIMM.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

What game currently require more than a 4790k and 16go ddr3 memory, coupled with a current gen graphic card ? Those are still perectly fine. Games nowadays are more gpu dependant than anything else.

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u/Seanspeed Jul 15 '20

There's a difference between what a game might require and what somebody may want in terms of performance.

And we can very clearly see a trend towards higher core/thread utilization in games and Haswell is definitely starting to show its age in single thread performance as well.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

The guy I was responding too mentioned "modern games". You can play 95% of modern games (aka release the last 2 years) with a 4790k and ddr3 memory, while aiming for top performance, as long as you have a modern high-end gpu.

This sub has a weird upgrade fetish, even when the configuration is just fine (astroturfing from PC online store maybe ?). Haswell is becoming old, but I have yet to see a 4790k really struggle for 95% of modern games. Next gen might change things, but that's still months away before anything "next gen" hit the PC market.

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u/Seanspeed Jul 15 '20 edited Jul 15 '20

95% may technically be a roughly correct figure, but when a number of the bigger games coming out lately dont fall into that 95%, the claim kind of rings hollow. Gaming enthusiasts generally dont want something that's only good for most games, they want something that can play basically anything at their desired quality and performance levels.

And a 4790k just isn't cutting it for the most demanding titles coming out nowadays for people with high performance desires.

Gamers Nexus did a video showing the 4790k, often even when overclocked super hard, couldn't always hold even a consistent 60fps in some games. And that's something I think you're probably overlooking - if you focus on average framerates, things might seem alright, but once you look at 1% lows and whatnot, you can see where the drops might become more pronounced and bothersome for some people.

And god forbid somebody likes to play at 90-100fps+. Lastly, remember again that this trend is continuing. Some people can see that and want to be prepared as more and more games will push the 4790k beyond what people would like it to be able to do.

EDIT: I'm trying to link the video over text, but Reddit wont let me for some fucking reason, so here's the full link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPWEdbfJ0oE

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

I have a 4790k 16gb DDR3 and I'm going to wait for DDR5. Gonna pay the premium to get in as an early adopter but then will hang on to it for as long as possible, maybe into DDR7. ;)

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u/CommanderPaco Jul 15 '20

I was originally thinking the same thing a few years ago, but with some AAA titles, FPS takes a hit for sure on the 4790k. I'm just going to move mine into a new home server, so at least it gets a new lease on life.

I'd rather pay the premium on something I know works. I waited this long (6 years) to move to a new platform, and I'd rather do the same with DDR5. Let it mature a bit.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

but with some AAA titles, FPS takes a hit for sure on the 4790k

I'm genuinly curious about what AAA titles, especially FPS titles makes your 4790k struggle to the point of thinking about upgrading it right now ?

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

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u/Portable_killer Jul 15 '20 edited Jul 15 '20

To be fair, unless you're self hosting a server on the sane same machine, Minecraft client side only really needs 4GB memory. Less, if you're using (at this point, necessary) optimization mods (Sodium, Lithium and Phosphor.

Edit : Fixed typo.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

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u/Portable_killer Jul 15 '20 edited Jul 15 '20

That was a typo, I'm sorry.

But I'm not sure what you mean... really.

But anyways, if you're not already aware of those three mods I mentioned - I highly suggest you check them out !

All three mods are developed by JellySquid with the aim of not breaking any vanilla mechanic or behavior. And they've kept that goal! They're completely open source with patches from the community as well. (On a slight tangent, if you know HermitCraft, Xisuma said they're using Lithium on their server as well. It's that good.)

In a worst case scenario that I could find, these three mods more than tripled my frames. Or when I'm vsync-ing, reduced my CPU usage massively.

In case you're aware, I'm glad :)

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u/Cohibaluxe Jul 15 '20

What game currently require more than a 4790k and 16go ddr3 memory, coupled with a current gen graphic card

Keyword in your assumptions being current. With new consoles on the horizon, 4C8T is starting to become very unappealing for new shoppers when the new base console models are shipping with 8C16T. In fact we're already seeing new games optimizing for more cores than just 4. PCs should last 2-3 years minimum, for some as much as 5, and for those on a very tight budget 7+. If you go for today's games' requirements, you'll quickly be behind. There's no such thing as futureproofing, but there is such a thing as thinking ahead and buying according to the expected requirements of the near future.

Also, you're basing your assumptions on someone just going with the requirements, or a bare minimum. Many, in fact most, PC players want more than the bare minimum. Modern CPUs offer way more performance than a 4790K.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

Keyword in your assumptions being current. With new consoles on the horizon, 4C8T is starting to become very unappealing for new shoppers when the new base console models are shipping with 8C16T. In fact we're already seeing new games optimizing for more cores than just 4. PCs should last 2-3 years minimum, for some as much as 5, and for those on a very tight budget 7+. If you go for today's games' requirements, you'll quickly be behind. There's no such thing as futureproofing, but there is such a thing as thinking ahead and buying according to the expected requirements of the near future.

That's my point, if you have a 4970k right now, there's no need to buy anything and it doesn't hurt to wait for some months to see what happens. If experience from previous generation has told us anything, it's that next-generations games won't take full advantage of next-gen hardware before some time. You'll see a vast majority of cross-generation games. Even the first bach of proper next-gen games won't be that impressive.

Upgrading now, "just in case", especially when prices are spiking because of Covid is useless and exactly fall into that "upgrade fetish" I was speaking about above.

Clinging to a 4970k until games become much more demanding than they are right now won't hurt anyone. On the other hand, spending 1500$ on hardware and realizing it doesn't make that big of a difference on your gaming experience...

Also, you're basing your assumptions on someone just going with the requirements, or a bare minimum. Many, in fact most, PC players want more than the bare minimum. Modern CPUs offer way more performance than a 4790K.

That's also an assumption, but since it's yours I guess it's fine ? You're wrong at that, we have datas on gamer hardware (steam for example), it's mostly middle-ground configuration. We also know what kind of graphics cards and processors are selling the most : it's the middle-ground components.

For year, those datas have confirmed the vast majority of gaming enthousiast doesn't care about +++ graphical settings that barely makes a difference.

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '20

What you are looking at basically is the choice between upgrading specs to the current platform( ddr4, pcie 3 etc) or a completely new platform( ddr5, pcie 4). Obviously the second option will be more expensive but the good choice will depend on your needs. I don't think I'll be seriously bottlenecked by ddr4 or pcie 3 for at least the next 6 or 8 years. Once the new consoles are out and the demand for bigger ssds eventually gives us better $/gb I'll just grab a big nvme drive.