What memory should I use for i5-10400F?

[c3524]

Hi all,

I have recently changed my parts list from the Ryzen 3 3300x to the i5-10400F. I would like to use 16gb of ram. The intel chip says that it supports ddr4-2666. Is there any reason i should be putting a higher speed ram in, and will it actually do anything?

I want to use the PC for Minecraft, Apex, Overwatch, Valorant, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Youtube and possibly blender.

Thanks!

[m0k]

1. buy a faster kit if you think you will re-use the RAM in a future build (unless next gen is DDR5 and its not backwards compatible - we dont know when that will happen)

and / or 

2. buy faster ram if tis the same price as slower ram (maybe it will hold its value better when/if you decide to sell it in the future)

 

3. getting faster ram will not provide you with any benefits today with that i5 cpu. it will cap the memory speed to 2666mhz. 

 

 

 

[Dedayog]

18 minutes ago, c3524 said:

Hi all,

I have recently changed my parts list from the Ryzen 3 3300x to the i5-10400F. I would like to use 16gb of ram. The intel chip says that it supports ddr4-2666. Is there any reason i should be putting a higher speed ram in, and will it actually do anything?

I want to use the PC for Minecraft, Apex, Overwatch, Valorant, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Youtube and possibly blender.

Thanks!

I would buy 2x8GB of 3200MHz RAM for the i5.  Enable XMP to utilize the speed increase.  The CPU will definitely use it and will offer better performance for barely any more money than 2666MHz.

[thewelshbrummie]

Probably not. But I wouldn't rule it out.

 

Whether you want faster memory is the question and the TLDR is that it's a bit complicated.

 

Ultimately the motherboard is the deciding factor. Since you've chosen a non-K CPU then Z490/Z590 motherboards aren't worth it for CPU overclocking as you can save money by going with a B460/560 or H470/570 based motherboard.

 

Memory overclocking is not available on the B460 or H470 motherboard, so DDR4-2666 is the maximum supported as it's the highest speed that isn't technically overclocking the memory modules (which is why it's mentioned on the 10400F listing). This Anandtech article should help but they clearly make the point that memory overclocking is availalbe on 10th Gen Intel CPUs, so long as the motherboard is a 500 series or Z490 based chipset. 10th Gen Intel CPUs running on a B460/H570 motherboard will have memory speed capped at 2,666MHz.

 

All of that said, 2,666MHz will work and going faster may not make any noticable difference, even on a supported motherboard. Personally I'd get 3,600MHz RAM as the price difference isn't much more (but does increase significantly from that point).

 

I'd also consider the 11400F - timing makes a difference but I'm finding that most retailers I'm looking at (UK & US) have very similar pricing for 10th & 11th Gen parts of the same SKU (e.g. both 1x400F CPUs are the same price to the penny). That will eliminate any issue - but so would buying any 500 series motherboard.

 

Ultimately it depends on how you intend to upgrade the system going forward - DDR5 memory looks likely on 12th Gen Intel parts (and next gen AMD) and whether you can reuse DDR4 is an unknown at this point. You'd need a new motherboard for any 12th Gen CPU regardless. It might be worth waiting, though that decision is yours to make.

 

 

[thewelshbrummie]

2 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

I would buy 2x8GB of 3200MHz RAM for the i5.  Enable XMP to utilize the speed increase.  The CPU will definitely use it and will offer better performance for barely any more money than 2666MHz.

We don't know what motherboard @c3524has chosen but it matters. If it's a B460/H470 board, you can't just enable XMP as the option doesn't exist because memory overclocking isn't available on those boards.

 

The full parts list would really help determine whether faster RAM is an option or not.

[c3524]

2 minutes ago, thewelshbrummie said:

We don't know what motherboard @c3524has chosen but it matters. If it's a B460/H470 board, you can't just enable XMP as the option doesn't exist because memory overclocking isn't available on those boards.

 

The full parts list would really help determine whether faster RAM is an option or not.

Sorry, i forgot about that. Someone recommended the Gigabyte B560M DS3H which i can get for $99 AUD. Do you have any recommendations for a motherboard?

Thanks

 

[c3524]

9 minutes ago, thewelshbrummie said:

Probably not. But I wouldn't rule it out.

 

Whether you want faster memory is the question and the TLDR is that it's a bit complicated.

 

Ultimately the motherboard is the deciding factor. Since you've chosen a non-K CPU then Z490/Z590 motherboards aren't worth it for CPU overclocking as you can save money by going with a B460/560 or H470/570 based motherboard.

 

Memory overclocking is not available on the B460 or H470 motherboard, so DDR4-2666 is the maximum supported as it's the highest speed that isn't technically overclocking the memory modules (which is why it's mentioned on the 10400F listing). This Anandtech article should help but they clearly make the point that memory overclocking is availalbe on 10th Gen Intel CPUs, so long as the motherboard is a 500 series or Z490 based chipset. 10th Gen Intel CPUs running on a B460/H570 motherboard will have memory speed capped at 2,666MHz.

 

All of that said, 2,666MHz will work and going faster may not make any noticable difference, even on a supported motherboard. Personally I'd get 3,600MHz RAM as the price difference isn't much more (but does increase significantly from that point).

 

I'd also consider the 11400F - timing makes a difference but I'm finding that most retailers I'm looking at (UK & US) have very similar pricing for 10th & 11th Gen parts of the same SKU (e.g. both 1x400F CPUs are the same price to the penny). That will eliminate any issue - but so would buying any 500 series motherboard.

 

Ultimately it depends on how you intend to upgrade the system going forward - DDR5 memory looks likely on 12th Gen Intel parts (and next gen AMD) and whether you can reuse DDR4 is an unknown at this point. You'd need a new motherboard for any 12th Gen CPU regardless. It might be worth waiting, though that decision is yours to make.

 

 

Thanks for that, ill check out that article now. I had a look at the 11400F, and its about $90 AUD more than the 10400F.

[thewelshbrummie]

8 minutes ago, c3524 said:

Sorry, i forgot about that. Someone recommended the Gigabyte B560M DS3H which i can get for $99 AUD. Do you have any recommendations for a motherboard?

Thanks

 

Personally I'm not fond of the last Gigabyte board I bought but since it is an Ivy Bridge 3rd Gen H77 board from 2012 I can't comment on whether the one you've found is a bad option or a great one.

 

It would certainly work, and being a B560 board means that you can enable XMP and use whatever RAM you want and get it to run at its fastest speed. Ignore the 2,666MHz limit as that doesn't apply.

 

AUD$90 more? I'd stick with the 10400F, unless you really need or want PCI-E 4.0 support - that's the only thing you would miss out on (and it's effectively irrelevant for GPUs).