More RAM or faster RAM?

[Bobbysixjp]

So I currently have 32 GB of Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz LPX DDR4 and was considering buying either 16GB of Trident Z RGB 4266 Mhz (or PNY 4000 Mhz XLR8). 

So effectively I would be upgrading the speed but downgrading the amount of RAM (32 to 16 GB). Paired with a 12600K would I notice any difference and is this worth it? I only play games with my PC, not multi-tasking, streaming, etc. 

[Skiiwee29]

From what I have seen in posts, 12th gen on ddr4 doesn't seem to play well above 3200mhz so I would just stick with what you have now. 

[191x7]

Don't go from a slower horse to a faster donkey. A horse can pull more.

[HQuan]

Let me start by asking a similar question. Which is better:

A Ferrari F50, speed fast as hell, 2 seats

…or a Ford F150? Slow as SHIT but has 5 seats and a trunk?

I think you know the answer: It Depends!™

 

 

If you’re hauling a sack of groceries, the Ferrari is just fine. If you’re hauling a few tons of dirt, rocks, lumber, and so forth, you want the truck.

The same goes with memory. If your workload fits in 1GB of RAM (and that includes the OS, application, and whatever data you’re manipulating), then chances are the faster DDR4 memory would perform better.

 

If your workload does not fit in 1GB, but does fit in 4GB, then there’s a good chance the larger but slower memory will perform better overall.

 

If you try to haul the dirt, rocks, and/or lumber with the Ferrari, you’ll have to make many trips, and you may even need to drive slower than usual. Likewise, if you try to run a workload that doesn’t fit in your 1GB of RAM, you’ll probably end up paging to disk. Disk is extremely slow compared to RAM.

 

If you try to take your Ford F150 around a twisty race track, you’re going to have to slow down quite a bit in the corners, and you won’t have as high a top speed in the straightaways as you would in the Ferrari. Likewise, if you try to run a workload that doesn’t use a lot of memory, but is very sensitive to access latency and throughput, you’ll find it runs much better in the smaller, faster 1GB DDR4 than it does in the larger, slower 4GB DDR.

 

Where’s the crossover point? Is there a magic equation for “When is xxGB of speed xx better than yyGB of speed yy?” No. You need to know the workload and its characteristics. There isn’t a single figure of merit. This is a multidimensional problem.

 

A minor, related work anecdote: A coworker and I were talking about memory layout for one of our systems. I pointed out that we had just referred to a 2 kilobyte buffer as “generous.” This is in a very high speed peripheral that attaches to a server that has half a terabyte of RAM.

 

The “best” size and speed characteristics of a RAM really depend on what it’s being used for, and where.

 

(https://www.quora.com/What-is-better-1GB-of-2666-MHz-DDR4-RAM-or-4GB-of-400-MHz-DDR-RAM)

 

[the_onlooker]

1 minute ago, HQuan said:

Let me start by asking a similar question. Which is better:

A Ferrari F50, speed fast as hell, 2 seats

…or a Ford F150? Slow as SHIT but has 5 seats and a trunk?

I think you know the answer: It Depends!™

 

 

If you’re hauling a sack of groceries, the Ferrari is just fine. If you’re hauling a few tons of dirt, rocks, lumber, and so forth, you want the truck.

The same goes with memory. If your workload fits in 1GB of RAM (and that includes the OS, application, and whatever data you’re manipulating), then chances are the faster DDR4 memory would perform better.

 

If your workload does not fit in 1GB, but does fit in 4GB, then there’s a good chance the larger but slower memory will perform better overall.

 

If you try to haul the dirt, rocks, and/or lumber with the Ferrari, you’ll have to make many trips, and you may even need to drive slower than usual. Likewise, if you try to run a workload that doesn’t fit in your 1GB of RAM, you’ll probably end up paging to disk. Disk is extremely slow compared to RAM.

 

If you try to take your Ford F150 around a twisty race track, you’re going to have to slow down quite a bit in the corners, and you won’t have as high a top speed in the straightaways as you would in the Ferrari. Likewise, if you try to run a workload that doesn’t use a lot of memory, but is very sensitive to access latency and throughput, you’ll find it runs much better in the smaller, faster 1GB DDR4 than it does in the larger, slower 4GB DDR.

 

Where’s the crossover point? Is there a magic equation for “When is xxGB of speed xx better than yyGB of speed yy?” No. You need to know the workload and its characteristics. There isn’t a single figure of merit. This is a multidimensional problem.

 

A minor, related work anecdote: A coworker and I were talking about memory layout for one of our systems. I pointed out that we had just referred to a 2 kilobyte buffer as “generous.” This is in a very high speed peripheral that attaches to a server that has half a terabyte of RAM.

 

The “best” size and speed characteristics of a RAM really depend on what it’s being used for, and where.

 

(https://www.quora.com/What-is-better-1GB-of-2666-MHz-DDR4-RAM-or-4GB-of-400-MHz-DDR-RAM)

 

Mate when you have someone answer like this, you know they are serious

[HQuan]

1 minute ago, a_twoyearold said:

Mate when you have someone answer like this, you know they are serious

That guy answered this question is my friends. He said:

 

"God bless him to request me to answer, other answer are just shit. Took me damm half an hour to write"