Faster Memory-worth it?

[T34p075]

Hi, I’m running a 12700K with a 3060TI and 32GB of 2400 DDR4 memory. I’m wondering if the slow memory is bottlenecks me in a meaningful way? I’m sure bigger number is better, but in real world application is it actually going to do me any good to get faster, or is that money better spent elsewhere? 

 

 in addition to gaming I also edit video of it matters. I don’t really play competitive games just single player.
 

thank you for the help!

[YoungBlade]

With memory that slow, it could be a meaningful factor, but it depends. When gaming, for example, RAM speed is really only important when CPU limited - if your GPU is the primary performance limiting component of your system, then slow RAM won't hurt performance much. However, if you are CPU limited, then DDR4-2400 could certainly hurt the performance of a 12700K, as that CPU is plenty fast enough to take advantage of more memory bandwidth.

 

If you have a B, Hx70, or Z series motherboard, you could also try memory overclocking, rather than buying new RAM. It's possible that your DDR4-2400 kit could run at a higher speed if you try it, although you would need to test its stability.

[T34p075]

3 hours ago, YoungBlade said:

With memory that slow, it could be a meaningful factor, but it depends. When gaming, for example, RAM speed is really only important when CPU limited - if your GPU is the primary performance limiting component of your system, then slow RAM won't hurt performance much. However, if you are CPU limited, then DDR4-2400 could certainly hurt the performance of a 12700K, as that CPU is plenty fast enough to take advantage of more memory bandwidth.

 

If you have a B, Hx70, or Z series motherboard, you could also try memory overclocking, rather than buying new RAM. It's possible that your DDR4-2400 kit could run at a higher speed if you try it, although you would need to test its stability.

Thanks.

I have a Z series motherboard so I might look into overclocking? Not a bad idea. I rarely push this CPU anywhere close to hard though, GPU is almost always the bottleneck.