[SOLVED] 3200MHz and 2666MHz RAM costs the same. Should/can I buy 3200MHz, if my CPU and motherboard only supports 2666MHz?

[AspireOne]

Im getting i5-10400F (max. 2666MHz) and ASRock B460M Pro4 (max. 2933MHz). Should I buy a 2666MHz ram or a 3200MHz ram, considering they cost the same?

RAMs last for a long time, so 3200MHz seems to be more future proof (but I'm not sure it doesn't have any downsides).

 

[boju]

Same price id go for the 3200 if the intent would eventually use them at rated speeds at some stage.

Although speed is capped as you're aware, you can still enable XMP so bios sets the timings. And you could tinker timings even lower if wanted to since say CL 16/18 at 3200 can potentially run tighter timings at lower speeds.

Shouldn't have any issues.

 

[SamirD]

Faster is always better if it works. 😉

 

[animekenji]

I think by the time you are ready to upgrade to a motherboard that supports faster memory, DDR5 will be in widespread release at lower prices than at launch, and you'll be better off buying a motherboard that supports that instead of faster DDR4. The only real advantage I see in faster DDR4 now, is possibly higher resale value later.

 

[iPeekYou]

Well....you can always use the extra steps down in speed to bump down steps in timings. Might not worth much on 10400F, but it's free real estate. Who knows, you might end up with one extra bump down further. Bit of a pain to stress test properly, though.