Memory Matters for Gaming in 2024

Last year, we reached out to Digital Foundry to independently test the impact of upgrading from DDR4 to DDR5 on gaming performance. With average frame rates improving by as much as 31%, the outcome was clear – for the best performance, you want to be running DDR5.

This year, we returned to Digital Foundry for more independent testing to determine the optimal capacities and frequencies for the latest DDR5 platforms. Once again, the involvement from CORSAIR was limited to providing only the necessary hardware and memory for testing. We were not involved in the actual benchmarking, which was conducted according to Digital Foundry's exceptionally high standards.

The purpose of the testing was to investigate how different memory configurations impact frame rates in recent, popular titles:

• Does capacity affect how smooth a game feels?
• How about the memory frequency?

Digital Foundry set out to answer these questions with its stellar attention to detail.

It may not be the focus of this round of testing, but we still wanted to compare DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Thus, an Intel Core i9-13900KF is still a great choice. Intel's 13th Gen Core processors are nearly identical to the slightly newer 14th Gen CPUs, so we’ve stuck with the existing chip and used it for both DDR4 and DDR5 testing. The results are largely platform agnostic, and you should see similar performance whether you’re using an AMD or Intel CPU.

Two motherboards were used during testing: an MSI MAG B660M MORTAR MAX for assessing DDR4 performance and an ASRock Intel Z790 Steel Legend for DDR5. Other than that, and the memory used, the rest of the system remained the same, including the graphics card, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. Additionally, the same storage and version of Windows 11 were used for both platforms.

We’ve updated the games that Digital Foundry used for this round of testing, including more recent releases and significant titles for PC: Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Microsoft Flight Simulator. These are all popular titles that look incredible on PC, particularly at 4K using the best possible settings.

All testing was done at 4K (3840 x 2160) using the highest possible settings, with ray tracing enabled where applicable as well as DLSS. You can find a complete breakdown of the results on the Benchmarking page.

Digital Foundry recorded footage for each run to allow comparisons between the memory kits and provided detailed frame rate information. Average frame rates are of most interest here, although the 1% minimum frame rates also reveal a lot about how smooth a game feels to play. In both cases, the higher the frame rate, the better.

PC gaming loves high-frequency and low-latency memory. This probably isn’t surprising news for long-term PC gamers, although finding exactly which kits best hit the mark can be tricky – they need to balance performance with value for money. Given the maturity of DDR5 right now, we recommend picking a 32GB memory kit that runs at 6000 MT/s and has a CAS latency of 30. Such kits will boost your average frame rates by up to 14% compared to 16GB DDR5-4800 configurations.

We recommend our 32GB VENGEANCE RGB DDR5-6000 kits to this end and our 32GB VENGEANCE DDR5-6000 for those who don’t need LEDs. If you’re a power user looking to game while also engaging in more demanding pursuits, a 64GB version of the same kits could be a better option. For a premium touch, the 64GB DOMINATOR TITANIUM DDR5-6000 kit is a great choice, it’s available in 32GB kit too.

It's worth highlighting that we’ve set 16GB of DDR5-4800 as the base configuration for comparisons, as this is a memory configuration increasingly used for mainstream gaming systems. So, it isn’t just about picking a memory kit that runs at a higher frequency, but at a higher capacity too.

Essentially, for the best performance right now and the best compatibility with the latest games, you’ll want 32GB of speedy RAM.

This is echoed by other independent testers and reviewers. Hardware Unboxed posed the question How Much RAM Do Gamers Need? 16GB vs. 32GB vs. 64GB and came to a definitive conclusion: “For a gaming system, 32GB of memory is the sweet spot and should be plenty for the foreseeable future.” TechSpot, meanwhile, asked a similar question and concluded, “Really, the answer is 32 GB.” Both are worth checking out if you’re interested in a deeper dive into why 16GB is no longer the sweet spot.

What if you’re still using a DDR4 platform? We’ve got a separate article that covers your DDR4 upgrade options, but spoilers: upgrading to 32GB is still your best option for a smoother experience.