Is DDR5 worth it?

[gotopepik]

Hello, I'm currently using a intel i7 12700k paired with 32gb of ddr4 3600 mhz ram. I'm wondering, if its worth the upgrade to ddr5 for cpu heavy games especially? I do run an old b660 mother board and I also thought about upgrading to Z series, as the B can't fully utilize my current cpu.

[podkall]

no.

 

Just like premium tires won't make your car faster.

[OhYou_]

ddr5 is 100% worth it over 4, it's newer and faster.
however, it is not worth it on a 5 year old platform.

[OddOod]

Nah, at this point you should probably either live with the cpu/mobo/ram combo, or do a full platform upgrade to DDR5/AM5. 
Are you running into significant barriers running your current CPU? if not, don't upgrade. Do you game or do real work or both?
I ran a 3090 with an 8700K playing games at 4K60 for a good long while until I hit Division 2 which pinned every one of the 12 threads to the roof. Even after upgrading to a 5950X it still pulls north of 85% on all 32 threads. That game eats CPUs for breakfast.

[YoungBlade]

This will not make sense from a cost perspective. The improvement from DDR4 to DDR5 for 12th gen is not worth the cost of the "upgrade" here. It's going to run you $200 at a minimum, likely more, and you'll only see a minor improvement in most games. A few might see a 15% boost or something, but you'll also find a few where performance goes backwards a bit because the game benefits more from RAM timings than RAM bandwidth.

You'd be better off jumping ship to AM5 if you have to buy a new board and RAM anyway.

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, podkall said:

Just like premium tires won't make your car faster.

I mean, this is shown to be true. Premium tires do grip better, allowing you to accelerate more aggressively and do better around corners. I wouldn't slap them on a prius, but something a bit sportier with 200+ hp it does actually make a pretty big difference compared to the cheap all weather stuff. 

 

6 minutes ago, gotopepik said:

Hello, I'm currently using a intel i7 12700k paired with 32gb of ddr4 3600 mhz ram.

It's not worth the upgrade. DDR5 is faster, but it's not enough faster to warrant a whole new motherboard as well. If you were buying new today, I wouldn't look at DDR4 setups unless you were really strapped for cash, but since you already have it I wouldn't look at DDR5 until you're ready to upgrade your CPU platform as well. 

[podkall]

5 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I mean, this is shown to be true. Premium tires do grip better, allowing you to accelerate more aggressively and do better around corners. I wouldn't slap them on a prius, but something a bit sportier with 200+ hp it does actually make a pretty big difference compared to the cheap all weather stuff. 

Yeah, that's like saying B580 is faster if you get higher end CPU

[KidKid]

40 minutes ago, gotopepik said:

Hello, I'm currently using a intel i7 12700k paired with 32gb of ddr4 3600 mhz ram. I'm wondering, if its worth the upgrade to ddr5 for cpu heavy games especially? I do run an old b660 mother board and I also thought about upgrading to Z series, as the B can't fully utilize my current cpu.

No. It's not worth the cost. Get DDR5 when you upgrade your entire system.

[BowlOfSomething]

Better? Not really

Unless you expect to carry over your ram to a newer platform I'd just save a buck 

[starsmine]

11 hours ago, podkall said:

no.

 

Just like premium tires won't make your car faster.

but they will make you stop better.

DDR5 is worth it if you were building new.... kinda. You generally are not thinking about the what ram your platform supports. you buy the ram your platform supports, not the platform that supports your ram. 
but since you would be spending 250-350 to swap out your motherboard and ram, no it would not be worth it to you. 

[podkall]

12 hours ago, starsmine said:

but they will make you stop better.

DDR5 is worth it if you were building new.... kinda. You generally are not thinking about the what ram your platform supports. you buy the ram your platform supports, not the platform that supports your ram. 
but since you would be spending 250-350 to swap out your motherboard and ram, no it would not be worth it to you. 

hence why my comment, and stopping better doesn't really matter, if you're running slower Honda Civic, what does the break range matter? You're not going 200 mph

[Selle]

On 6/25/2025 at 6:09 PM, podkall said:

hence why my comment, and stopping better doesn't really matter, if you're running slower Honda Civic, what does the break range matter? You're not going 200 mph

It will matter when a child unexpectedly runs out into the road right in front of you.
 

I know this is very off topic but podkall’s comments about tires are just so wrong and dangerously I have to reply. The tires are the only thing connecting a car to the road. A good set of tires will make any car faster where it matters like braking and evasive maneuvers. I don’t care if you drive a 1999 Civic 1.5 or a brand new BMW, do not cheap out on tires. 

[starsmine]

2 minutes ago, Selle said:

It will matter when a child unexpectedly runs out into the road right in front of you.
 

I know this is very off topic but podkall’s comments about tires are just so wrong and dangerously I have to reply. The tires are the only thing connecting a car to the road. A good set of tires will make any car faster where it matters like braking and evasive maneuvers. I don’t care if you drive a 1999 Civic 1.5 or a brand new BMW, do not cheap out on tires. 

Better tires also make you faster in a track as it does not mater how "fast" the car is. driving is more then a drag strip, its corners and late braking. aka tires. For everyday driving or track driving, how fast you go in a straight line is like... not a thing you are caring about. 

[podkall]

13 hours ago, Selle said:

It will matter when a child unexpectedly runs out into the road right in front of you.
 

I know this is very off topic but podkall’s comments about tires are just so wrong and dangerously I have to reply. The tires are the only thing connecting a car to the road. A good set of tires will make any car faster where it matters like braking and evasive maneuvers. I don’t care if you drive a 1999 Civic 1.5 or a brand new BMW, do not cheap out on tires. 

You know the comparison is supposed to be abstract and not taken literally right?

 

Also, stock tires can break as well as expensive tires unless you're driving 60 in a 15 zone, at which point why/how do you even have driver's license?

[starsmine]

41 minutes ago, podkall said:

Also, stock tires can break as well as expensive tires unless you're driving 60 in a 15 zone, at which point why/how do you even have driver's license?

uhhhh... nope. That just isnt true. 
Well, it can be. expensive is the wrong word to use here

 

There are usually better tires then stock tires for most cars after a few years. Like why would anyone put on new stock tires on a 2008 anything when tire tech has improved so much the last 20 years.

expensive does not mean "good" but good usually does not mean cheap. 

Better tires will make a car go 60 to zero faster. Does not mater if you are in a 25 or a 80mph zone

tires or the single cheapest way to improve 90% of cars out there safety and performance. (no it wont improve your drag race time)

[podkall]

20 minutes ago, starsmine said:

hhhh... nope. That just isnt true. 
Well, it can be. expensive is the wrong word to use here

 

There are usually better tires then stock tires for most cars after a few years. Like why would anyone put on new stock tires on a 2008 anything when tire tech has improved so much the last 20 years.

 

21 minutes ago, starsmine said:

Better tires will make a car go 60 to zero faster. Does not mater if you are in a 25 or a 80mph zone

By a significant/relevant amount to justify spending premium $?

 

21 minutes ago, starsmine said:

tires or the single cheapest way to improve 90% of cars out there safety and performance. (no it wont improve your drag race time)

What about breaks? Don't those wear too?

[starsmine]

17 minutes ago, podkall said:

By a significant/relevant amount to justify spending premium $?

Yes.


Stopping in 192 feet rather then 229 feet is a god damn fucking problem. thats 40 feet. 

Or


stopping in 182 feet rather then 213 feet. 
that is a problem.

https://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Tire-Study-Report.pdf

These are old tires, I am not saying go out and buy expensive tires, but there is no reason to focus on stock tires. 

Use services like consumer reports when you go replace your tires before they turn 10 years old and dry rot out from under you. Find the set that fits your car and are high performing for your seasonal regional mix. If you have a local library, you have access to them. and if your library doesnt pay for them, just ask the librarian, they will. 

and get a set of winter tires.

Like imagine emergency breaking in the wet. and with good tires it takes you 250 feet to stop, but your cheap ass tires take 315 feet to stop

like that is 65 fucking feet.

17 minutes ago, podkall said:

What about breaks? Don't those wear too?

better breaks dont make you stop faster. they make you able to break for longer without overheating. Once breaks overheat they are unable to brake.