Does RAM Speed Really Matter for Gaming in 2024?

By Muhammad Ibrahim | Published on October 22, 2024

Beyond Capacity

For years, the main advice about RAM has been "get 16GB for gaming." While capacity is crucial, it's not the whole story. The speed of your RAM, measured in megahertz (MHz), and its timings (or latency) play a vital role in how quickly your CPU can access data. For certain CPUs, especially AMD's Ryzen series, this speed can directly impact gaming performance.

The Sweet Spot

So, do you need the fastest RAM on the market? Not necessarily. There's a point of diminishing returns. For most modern systems (both Intel and AMD), a 32GB kit of DDR5 RAM running at 6000MHz with low CL (Cas Latency) timings is considered the "sweet spot." It provides a noticeable performance boost over baseline speeds without the exorbitant cost of enthusiast-grade, high-frequency kits.

When Does It Matter Most?

  • CPU-Bound Scenarios: Faster RAM helps the CPU process and feed data to the GPU more quickly, which is most beneficial when you're CPU-bottlenecked (e.g., playing at 1080p with a high refresh rate).
  • Integrated Graphics: If you're gaming on an APU without a dedicated graphics card, faster RAM is critical, as the integrated GPU uses your system RAM as its video memory (VRAM).

While a GPU upgrade will almost always give you a bigger FPS boost, choosing the right RAM is an important part of building a well-rounded, snappy system.