DDR5 RAM: Should I upgrade my PC now with RDNA 2 or RTX 3000 series and Ryzen 5000 series or wait a bit longer?

[Prebuilt]

I know it seems like a little long way to go for DDR5 to be used on PCs, but it's the matter of when should I upgrade? I'm not quite sure so I want everyone's opinion about if I should upgrade or not.

 

PC Specs:

RTX 2060

Intel Core i5-7400

DDR4 Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB

[WereCat]

if you need to upgrade, do so

if you can wait, wait

 

but I think DDR5 for desktop is still at least 1.5y to 2.5y away

[TehDwonz]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

if you need to upgrade, do so

if you can wait, wait

 

but I think DDR5 for desktop is still at least 1.5y to 2.5y away

Yep, and almost nothing the typical home user runs right now would even benefit from it. Sure, there'd be some benchmark gains, but in practical terms, it'd be an invisible and expensive upgrade.

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, TehDwonz said:

Yep, and almost nothing the typical home user runs right now would even benefit from it. Sure, there'd be some benchmark gains, but in practical terms, it'd be an invisible and expensive upgrade.

especially every new DRAM gen is at most as good as the top end of the last gen for at least the first 0.5y-1y after release so its not usually worth it to jump the ship right away anyways

[Eigenvektor]

You probably won't see DDR5 in the desktop market until AM5 and Zen 4 are released, which means you'd be waiting at least another year or more. And if DDR4 is an indication, the first release of DDR5 will probably be slower than high end DDR4, which means you'll be waiting some more for frequency to go up.

 

If you don't need something right now, by all means, wait. Just keep in mind that "something new" is always on the horizon. By the time DDR5 arrives, you'll be waiting for PCIe 5.0 or even 6.0. And once those arrive you'll be waiting for Zen 5 and RTX 5000 series (or whatever it'll be called).

[Prebuilt]

Wow seems like a long way for DDR5 to be mainstream.

[mahyar]

8 minutes ago, WereCat said:

if you need to upgrade, do so

if you can wait, wait

 

but I think DDR5 for desktop is still at least 1.5y to 2.5y away

ddr5 is confirmed for intel's 12th gen 

[BlackManINC]

2 minutes ago, FoldingToFightAnyDiseases said:

Wow seems like a long way for DDR5 to be mainstream.

Screw the mainstream...just do what makes you happy.....if you need to upgrade now, then do it. As others said, you aren't really missing much with DDR5. 

[Prebuilt]

Looks like its to hell with DDR5 for now XD

[Eigenvektor]

2 minutes ago, mahyar said:

ddr5 is confirmed for intel's 12th gen 

Based on rumors that's coming 2nd half of 2021, so factor in some delays and availability issues and you're looking at late 2021, early 2022.

[WereCat]

8 minutes ago, mahyar said:

ddr5 is confirmed for intel's 12th gen 

Even if that rumour is true, it says nothing about desktop parts. It is very likely that the early DDR5 will be only for notebooks and OEMs as thats where it makes sense because of the lower power requirements.

For that reason alone, the DDR5 will also cost a lot due to lower availability as new DRAM always is in low supply.

[Prebuilt]

Well I think I may upgrade around November to December then. If there it's going to take a year or two and if it doesn't really benefit me personally then I may upgrade during that time.

 

Thx for all your opinions.

[ewitte]

Your

36 minutes ago, WereCat said:

if you need to upgrade, do so

if you can wait, wait

 

but I think DDR5 for desktop is still at least 1.5y to 2.5y away

3y probably before its cost effective.  It should eventually be cheaper per GB as they doubled the minimum and maximum density but that's years off.

 

[SkilledRebuilds]

Remember.... DDR6 is incoming.
#ForeverWaiting
Buy whatever is available to you today (Price to Perf) if you need it now.

[ewitte]

Just now, SkilledRebuilds said:

Remember.... DDR6 is incoming.
#ForeverWaiting
Buy whatever is available to you today (Price to Perf) if you need it now.

DDR5 will make the most sense for an APU.  There will likely be more benefits since the socket is getting replaced though.  It would be nice to have more PCIe lanes, USB 4.0 (which has a lot of Thunderbolt tech), etc.