DDR4 worth it for gaming?

[Taylor Long Crow]

I would like to hear some opinions on whether DDR4 (And in effect, the motherboards that support them) is strictly for people willing to spend huge amounts of money on a rig right away, or if it's plausible to buy it for upgradability right now.

Here's my situation, although I'd like to have a motherboard that supports DDR4 for later upgradability, I do not have the money to invest 500+ on a processor that's compatible with the same motherboard that will be better for gaming. The 5820k (cheapest 2011-3 CPU that is worth it as far as I know), as I've heard, is worse than the 4790k in terms of gaming because the amount of cores it uses for gaming is the same, but they clock at lower speeds. Although the 6 core might be better for other programs that need all those cores, I don't plan on using it for those programs. At the same time, even though the processor right away that I would get is worse than the 4790k for gaming, the DDR4 outclasses DDR3 in terms of performance and speed by a good amount.


Without going into too much detail, and more on a general scale: is the upgrade to a 2011-3 chipset motherboard that supports DDR4 be worth it for gaming rather than an 1150 chipset motherboard with a "better" processor and DDR3 RAM?

 

[unknownofprob]

I would go for DDR4 ram not primarily because of the Ram itself, but the processors which are used on the LGA 2011-3 sockets. The i7 5820k is an excellent CPU for the price, and that socket is certainly not going to be outdated anytime soon. DDR4 vs DDR3 -

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/6619/crucial-ddr4-memory-performance-overview-early-look-vs-ddr2-ddr3/index.html

It is very hard to get a gaming performance review as DDR3 is not compatible in the X99 DDR4 slots, so in order to get results you need to use a different processor and different motherboard, which makes the test unfair and not controlled.

 

[Taylor Long Crow]

Yes, I wasn't really doubting the DDR4, but the number of course matter less as you increase so the 4 core 4790k I want is worse than the 5820k with 6 cores because games usually only use the 3 or so fastest cores and the 4790k would win in that matter, would the DDR4 be worth the loss in processing power between those cores if I'm not willing or able to get a more expensive 2011-3 processor?

 

[unknownofprob]

Don't worry about the 'needed cores vs cores you have', 6 Cores with higher cache amount is far better, not so much now but later on it is a far better alternative users wished they'd have. DDR4 ram is without a doubt better, accompany it with an LGA 2011-3 CPU it is unbeatable, especially when it comes to future proofing.

 

[Hanneth]

I know that this was asked a while back, but the DDR4 system is not what you want based on your application of gaming.
DDR4 sacrifices higher latencies for pure speed. Gaming performance is mostly based on keeping the reaction time to a minimum.

The simplified calculation which is close to reality is
CL / Speed * 2000 = reaction time in ns
Lower is better.

I have AMD Radeon 2x8 16GB DDR3 1880
AMD Radeon 8GBX2 DDR3-1866 CL9 (~ $200)
9 / 1866 * 2000 = 9.65ns

The best gaming DDR4 I can find is
G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 16GB 4X4GB DDR4-3000 CL15 (~ $420)
15 / 3000 * 2000 = 10ns
(Though your are using 4 memory sticks instead of 2)

A better match would be
Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB Kit (2X8GB) DDR4 2400 CL16(~ $260)
16 / 2400 * 2000 = 13.33ns

I had found a 2x8 that was 12.5ns response time. It was ~ $800.

All this being said, I told you the memory I have. AMD does make a better DDR3 gaming memory.
AMD Radeon 8GBX2 16GB DDR3-2400 CL 10 (~ $230)
10 / 2400 * 2000 = 8.33ns

Note: My computer is an Intel Core i7 (3rd Generation)

Applications that are reaction time bound will most likely perform worse on a DDR4 system. I say most likely as other components and quality of those components will also affect your performance quite dramatically. Even the power supply can make a big difference.

Why DDR4 at all then?
There are many applications that it doesn't matter how long it takes from request to getting the data. The speed it is coming is more important. Video processing is more speed dependent. A DDR4-3000 system would be much better than a DDR3-2400 for video editing.

Also DDR4 is lower voltage and power.

 

[Justkeeplookin]

In your situation if you dont want to spend $600-700 on a New Processor keep DDR3

 

[Pinhedd]

I know that this was asked a while back, but the DDR4 system is not what you want based on your application of gaming.
DDR4 sacrifices higher latencies for pure speed. Gaming performance is mostly based on keeping the reaction time to a minimum.

The simplified calculation which is close to reality is
CL / Speed * 2000 = reaction time in ns
Lower is better.

I have AMD Radeon 2x8 16GB DDR3 1880
AMD Radeon 8GBX2 DDR3-1866 CL9 (~ $200)
9 / 1866 * 2000 = 9.65ns

The best gaming DDR4 I can find is
G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 16GB 4X4GB DDR4-3000 CL15 (~ $420)
15 / 3000 * 2000 = 10ns
(Though your are using 4 memory sticks instead of 2)

A better match would be
Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB Kit (2X8GB) DDR4 2400 CL16(~ $260)
16 / 2400 * 2000 = 13.33ns

I had found a 2x8 that was 12.5ns response time. It was ~ $800.

All this being said, I told you the memory I have. AMD does make a better DDR3 gaming memory.
AMD Radeon 8GBX2 16GB DDR3-2400 CL 10 (~ $230)
10 / 2400 * 2000 = 8.33ns

Note: My computer is an Intel Core i7 (3rd Generation)

Applications that are reaction time bound will most likely perform worse on a DDR4 system. I say most likely as other components and quality of those components will also affect your performance quite dramatically. Even the power supply can make a big difference.

Why DDR4 at all then?
There are many applications that it doesn't matter how long it takes from request to getting the data. The speed it is coming is more important. Video processing is more speed dependent. A DDR4-3000 system would be much better than a DDR3-2400 for video editing.

Also DDR4 is lower voltage and power.

Your math and assumptions are both way, way off.