WEBVTT 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:10.160 It seems this RAM crisis just won't stop. Earlier today, a customer's wallet 00:00:07.680 --> 00:00:15.200 was brutalized at the local computers RS. Live at the scene is special 00:00:12.559 --> 00:00:19.520 correspondent Riley [music] Murdoch. Thank you, Lionus. The scene here is 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:24.240 chaos. There is affected customers everywhere. Excuse me. Excuse me, sir. I 00:00:21.439 --> 00:00:27.840 I see you're holding a high-speed DDR5 kit there. Can you explain why you paid 00:00:25.840 --> 00:00:31.760 extra for that instead of a lower speed kit? >> I don't know, man. Uh, everybody tells 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:37.680 me I need the more expensive stuff, but I It's just so expensive. I'm just happy 00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:39.040 they didn't take my other kidney. 00:00:37.680 --> 00:00:43.040 >> Should we tell them? >> Are you a gamer, sir? 00:00:41.440 --> 00:00:47.840 >> Yes. [laughter] >> Then we've got some fantastic news for 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:52.559 you because we tested four CPUs at eight different speeds of DDR5 running as slow 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:57.920 as 4,800 mega transfers per second. And it turns out you might not need to spend 00:00:54.719 --> 00:01:01.280 as much on memory as you thought. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:02.800 Ooh, that does not look great. Good 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:08.880 thing he was born with two of them. But hey, it's not all bad. Let me cheer you 00:01:05.199 --> 00:01:10.240 up with this segue to our sponsor. 00:01:08.880 --> 00:01:14.240 Can we get this guy some help? >> Synergy. Synergy lets you use one 00:01:12.320 --> 00:01:18.400 keyboard and mouse to control multiple computers on your local network. You can 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:22.240 even do things like copy and paste in between computers. Check them out with 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:28.560 our link in the video description. The TLDDR of our extensive testing is that 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:30.799 while some CPUs do obviously benefit 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:36.720 from faster memory, AMD's recent statement that their popular X3D gaming 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:38.799 CPUs are super down to shack up with 00:01:36.720 --> 00:01:43.119 even the slowest memory seems to be pretty much accurate. We found that at 00:01:40.960 --> 00:01:47.840 typical gaming resolutions and settings, there was almost no difference between 00:01:45.360 --> 00:01:53.200 kits that run at industry standard or JDEX speeds and faster overclocked 00:01:50.799 --> 00:01:57.040 gaming RAM. Now, this is not going to completely solve the problem. Even 00:01:54.960 --> 00:02:02.240 slower memory has been impacted by recent price increases, but hey, at 00:01:59.759 --> 00:02:06.640 least it gives us some options. Let's find out then how much performance we 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:13.120 might be giving up. Starting with Intel, where unfortunately the story is not 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:15.760 quite as rosy as AMD's X3D chips. We 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:19.840 chose both a lastg and a current gen representative, and we used our standard 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:23.599 Labs test benches. Testing took forever, by the way, because we had to use the 00:02:21.760 --> 00:02:28.319 same memory kit across each platform, which meant swapping out a lot of RAM. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:32.400 Let's start with gaming on Raptor Lake. Looking strictly at our Geo Mean across 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:39.200 all games at 1080p, it's pretty clear that our 14900K loves fast DDR5. So, if 00:02:37.200 --> 00:02:42.879 your grandma made a strategic DDR5 investment last year and you can get 00:02:40.720 --> 00:02:47.840 some 8,400 megat transfer per second CL40, to the moon it goes. At least in 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:52.160 certain games like Ashes of the Benchmark, Cyberpunk, and Red Dead 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:56.160 Redemption 2. The good news is though, as long as you don't pair it with the 00:02:53.760 --> 00:03:01.440 slowest kit you can find, it won't suffer too much. As for Intel's newer 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:03.599 Core Ultra 285K, good news, it couldn't 00:03:01.440 --> 00:03:08.080 even run our fastest kit. And as for the rest, as long as you're using something 00:03:05.200 --> 00:03:12.959 that's faster than JDK, basically don't worry about it. When we look at the 00:03:09.760 --> 00:03:15.200 allimportant 1% lows, there is at most a 00:03:12.959 --> 00:03:19.680 handful of FPS difference across every game in resolution that we tested to the 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:23.519 point where I would say that unless you have an FPS counter in the corner, you 00:03:21.760 --> 00:03:27.200 would never know the difference. And this is especially true as your 00:03:25.200 --> 00:03:31.280 resolution and your in-game details scale up. Now, you're probably wondering 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:36.080 at this point, if these differences are so small, why were all of you reviewers 00:03:33.519 --> 00:03:41.599 acting like RAM speed mattered before? It's all about the context, guys. When 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:43.519 we were talking about 20 or 30 bucks to 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:49.360 get a few% performance improvement on your $1,500 or $2,000 gaming PC, that's 00:03:47.440 --> 00:03:55.200 a no-brainer. Who doesn't want bang for the buck? But we're not talking 20 or 30 00:03:51.519 --> 00:03:57.280 bucks. We're talking $200 or $300 for a 00:03:55.200 --> 00:04:00.560 higher speed kit. That changes the math completely. Or does it? Maybe 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:06.480 productivity will tell a different story. Okay, not in Blender. But our 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:10.879 GDAU compile test does see a decent improvement with higher speed memory on 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:15.120 the 14900 K. And that's not a completely isolated case. While many of our 00:04:12.959 --> 00:04:20.000 productivity tests do mirror our gaming tests across both Intel's current and 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:24.720 last gen chips, there are a significant number of results here where spending 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:28.160 far more on your memory can yield a meaningful difference in performance to 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:32.160 the point where if you're making money with your machine, you might want to 00:04:30.080 --> 00:04:37.280 consider ponying up for a high-speed, low latency kit, even at today's 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:42.000 extortionate pricing, which is exactly the problem that consumers are facing 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:46.479 right now. You want to play video games and you got to budget accordingly. Well, 00:04:44.479 --> 00:04:51.120 Joe Workstation user, he's not playing games. He wants to compile his code 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:53.759 faster. So, he submits a requisition to the IT department who goes, 00:04:52.479 --> 00:04:57.919 >> "Yeah, if it'll make you more productive, go for it." >> We're going to have a companion 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:02.160 lttabs.com article, by the way, that dives a little deeper into which 00:04:59.919 --> 00:05:05.759 business use cases might benefit and which ones won't. On the subject of 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:09.280 business, check out the new sand colored tech pants at ltstore.com. They offer 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:13.280 loads of utility with hidden pockets galore while keeping you stylish on the 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:17.520 job. Now, let's change gears and talk a little bit about AMD. Don't you guys 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:22.160 love it when twice a day the corporate puffery clock gets it right? Just look 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:27.520 at those beautifully aligned graphs on our 9800 X3D. Okay, there is a little 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:33.759 bit of variance. Our 4,800 megat transfer per second kit does sit in last 00:05:29.919 --> 00:05:35.919 place and 6,000 mega transfer CL30 is 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:41.199 still the sweet spot. But turn on ray tracing or up the resolution and things 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:46.000 become even more seemier than before. Like on Intel, Cyberpunk and Ashes show 00:05:43.600 --> 00:05:50.000 the biggest spread in our 1080p results, but it's a much smaller gap. And 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:55.360 realistically, there are cases here where using 16 gig versus 24 gig modules 00:05:53.199 --> 00:06:01.039 is going to make as much of a difference or more. 3dB cache for the win. As for 00:05:58.080 --> 00:06:06.240 the regular cache, it might be for the win, too. It turns out that while our 00:06:03.039 --> 00:06:08.880 9950X did stumble a little bit with our 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:14.000 slowest JDK kit, overall, as long as you can get your hands on something, 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:18.080 anything with a tuned expo profile, you probably won't notice a difference. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:22.000 Especially at risk of sounding like a broken record, at risk of sounding like 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:25.919 a broken record. Especially if you turn up your in-game details or kick your 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:29.919 resolution up to 4K. Moving on to productivity, we've got a similar story 00:06:27.440 --> 00:06:33.680 to what we saw in Intel, just through a different colored lens. The JDK kit is 00:06:31.919 --> 00:06:38.244 definitely the slowest, demonstrating that overclocked memory does have a 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:41.199 reason to exist, just not [clears throat] at the current prices. 00:06:39.440 --> 00:06:46.240 Beyond that, there were occasional cases where faster memory, or especially sweet 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:51.199 spot memory that runs in sync with AMD's Infinity Fabric at nice low latencies, 00:06:48.880 --> 00:06:55.600 did result in measurable gains. But outside of those specific use cases, 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:00.639 like GDAU, the differences are not going to be enough to ruin your day. So, in 00:06:57.440 --> 00:07:02.639 conclusion, don't be this guy. If you're 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:06.960 a gamer and high-speed memory is available for a modest price delta, it 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:12.240 can make a lot of sense, especially if you're on an older Intel platform. But 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:14.160 right now, I just can't recommend it, 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:18.000 especially to the tens of thousands of you that are buying X3D processors for 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:21.360 gaming. By the way, we're going to have X3D processors and all the stuff that we 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:26.240 used on our benches linked in the video description if you guys wanted to check something out for your next rig. Just uh 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:30.080 don't expect any great deals on the RAM down there. As for the non-gaming folks, 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:35.120 man, I really feel for the cottage industry professionals right now. The 00:07:31.840 --> 00:07:38.479 folks who do work at home that requires 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:40.800 faster RAM or especially a lot of RAM. 00:07:38.479 --> 00:07:45.039 Like, it's hard to care too much about corporates's workstation budget, but if 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:50.479 you're an atome developer or you're a contract creative professional, it is a 00:07:47.599 --> 00:07:54.080 super sucky time to need an upgrade. The only good news I have for you is that 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:57.840 you can shave a few bucks off of your budget for now and then with the money 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:02.039 you saved, hopefully get something a little faster once the bubble pops. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:08.039 Anytime now would be nice. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:13.919 All right. Well, I guess it's not happening yet, but um while we continue 00:08:11.840 --> 00:08:17.680 to wait, here's a word from our sponsor, >> Synergy. 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With Synergy, one keyboard and mouse is all 00:08:53.040 --> 00:08:59.839 you need to control every computer in your setup. Grab 50% off using code LTT 00:08:57.839 --> 00:09:03.360 at checkout with our link down below. If you guys enjoyed this video, make sure 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:09.040 to check out the last time we did this, but with DDR4. So, if you want to pick 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:13.600 up like an older Intel 12th or 13th gen chip and pair that with some nice fancy 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:16.720 DDR4, you can decide for yourself exactly how much to spend.