on a 9700X the DDR5 speed ladder past 6000 just looks like price climbing

Question

So I'm finally wrapping up my 9700X build and the last thing left is memory, which is somehow the part making me want to cry. A 32GB DDR5 kit is sitting around $389 and apparently that's just how it is now. I keep running into kits from 6000 all the way up to 8000 and beyond, price climbing the whole way. For a 9700X, does anything above 6000 or 6400 actually do something you'd feel? I don't care about a synthetic bar chart, I care whether it matters when I'm actually gaming.

arch_btw · Accepted Answer

6000 CL30 or 6400 CL32 with EXPO on, that's the target for a 9700X and i run 6000 CL30 on mine. past 6400 the controller drops out of 1:1 into 1:2 and the gaming gains basically evaporate (you're paying more for worse latency). an 8000 kit at current prices is just lighting money on fire

burninWorrier · Answer

From what I read this isn't easing any time soon. The whole AI datacenter thing has memory locked up, and Lenovo literally called it a new normal through 2030. Probably worth just buying now. Anyone actually expect relief here?

fanspinning · Answer

remember when RAM was the cheap part of the build lol, good times