Question Is DDR4 RAM Still Good Enough in 2025? From the perspective of workstation systems.

[aroy1995]

In 2025, DDR5 RAM has largely taken over new consumer and enterprise systems, with DDR6 on the horizon. But many midrange workstations — especially in research labs, including mine — still rely on DDR4 RAMs.

We use an HP Z-series workstation with an Intel Core i5-12500 (Alder Lake) paired with 32 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200 CL16 RAM. The workloads? Heavy and diverse — from compiling scientific code and running physics simulations to training and running machine learning models (small to mid-sized models).

My question is: Is DDR4 still sufficient for these demanding tasks in 2025? Or are we leaving performance on the table by not upgrading? For a midrange research workstation today, is DDR4 3200 MHz CL16 memory still adequate for heavy real-world tasks? How does it compare to DDR5 and projected DDR6 systems based on benchmarks alone?

Does it affect performance and efficiency that much? And if so, then how does RAM speed and latency affect each workload?

We’ve heard: “Faster RAM can help with compiling code more quickly”. Is this a reasonable summary? Or does it only apply in large, memory-bound build environments?

Lastly, for researchers and developers, but not bleeding-edge gaming or high-end rendering, does DDR4 still hold up? What would you recommend as a future-proof upgrade path?
Add more DDR4 now and wait? Or switch to DDR5? Hold for DDR6?

Would love to hear your thoughts, benchmarks, or upgrade experiences from similar workloads.

 

[USAFRet]

Is the system still sufficient for your needs?
If so, leave it alone.

Don't change the motherboard just for DDR5.

 

[Eximo]

32GB of memory is kind of the de facto minimum today. You might be better off increasing that capacity.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/7Xbkcf/gskill-memory-f43200c16q64gvk

DDR5 supports higher capacity on consumer systems. 192GB is achievable at relatively slow speeds like 4800, which matches the top end of DDR4, which is still available at 4400 which is easy to do.

2x48GB kit at 5600 is doable. 2x32 is quite common and can easily hit 6400 with ease at nominal expense.

Getting high capacity quad dimms in a dual channel system usually means dropping to 4800, or less.

12500 is not a heavy hitting processor by any means. 6 cores 12 threads. 16 core and 32 thread CPUs are easily attainable.

We are talking like $1000 to get started with a platform upgrade.

And you can of course go well beyond this with true workstation platforms like Threadripper, Epyc, and Xeon.

4800/5200 256GB is somewhat affordable, but that is more like $2000+ And you sacrifice speed and latency for compatibility across many memory channels, higher bandwidth though.

I agree, though, you need to know what your performance limits actually are. CPU or memory.

 

[aroy1995]

Is the system still sufficient for your needs?
If so, leave it alone.

Don't change the motherboard just for DDR5.

Yes, my system is working well. However, we have to put in a budget every year to buy new hardware, which prompted me to ask this question: Should I invest in better RAM or focus on other components instead?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, my system is working well. However, we have to put in a budget every year to buy new hardware, which prompted me to ask this question: Should I invest in better RAM or focus on other components instead?

Full parts list, please.

And I agree with the above...32GB is rather slim for your stated use case.

 

[Eximo]

I should add that you can look at cost/benefit.

If you have a task that is similar to a known benchmark, you can show the effective productivity increase new/more expensive hardware will produce.

If it costs you $360 to get an i9-13900 + $100 for 64GB of memory and it increases productivity by 40% or something, but if you spend $1000 on a 9950X + 96GB of memory and get 120% increase, etc. Just random numbers.

 

[aroy1995]

32GB of memory is kind of the de facto minimum today. You might be better off increasing that capacity.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/7Xbkcf/gskill-memory-f43200c16q64gvk

DDR5 supports higher capacity on consumer systems. 192GB is achievable at relatively slow speeds like 4800, which matches the top end of DDR4, which is still available at 4400 which is easy to do.

2x48GB kit at 5600 is doable. 2x32 is quite common and can easily hit 6400 with ease at nominal expense.

Getting high capacity quad dimms in a dual channel system usually means dropping to 4800, or less.

12500 is not a heavy hitting processor by any means. 6 cores 12 threads. 16 core and 32 thread CPUs are easily attainable.

We are talking like $1000 to get started with a platform upgrade.

And you can of course go well beyond this with true workstation platforms like Threadripper, Epyc, and Xeon.

4800/5200 256GB is somewhat affordable, but that is more like $2000+ And you sacrifice speed and latency for compatibility across many memory channels, higher bandwidth though.

I agree, though, you need to know what your performance limits actually are. CPU or memory.

Actually, I have to submit a future-proof budget for new components for my lab workstation. Earlier, I was only concerned with improving RAM, but now I think the CPU and GPU both need an upgrade. Would you kindly provide some suggestions, given my demand for heavy tasks, both demanding heavy graphics and processing power?

PS. The low-end 12500 CPU came with the tower case, and is long overdue for an upgrade.

 

[Eximo]

13700/13900 and a decent heatsink.
If the board has 4 slots. 4x16GB memory above is doable. If it is dual slot, probably a good time to ditch the system.
GPU would depend on the power supply and physical room available.

If the PSU is proprietary, best to just start over with a custom build. You would have to set a budget range.

 

[aroy1995]

Full parts list, please.

And I agree with the above...32GB is rather slim for your stated use case.

CPU: i5 12500
GPU: Rtx 3060
RAM: 32 GB DDR4 3200 MHz
SSD: Samsung 9100 Pro PCIe 5.0 M.2
PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower GF A3 750W 80 Plus Gold

 

[USAFRet]

CPU: i5 12500
GPU: Rtx 3060
RAM: 32 GB DDR4 3200 MHz
SSD: Samsung 9100 Pro PCIe 5.0 M.2

And PSU? Make/model/age.

Was this a prebuilt system?
If so....time to start over.

 

[aroy1995]

13700/13900 and a decent heatsink.
If the board has 4 slots. 4x16GB memory above is doable. If it is dual slot, probably a good time to ditch the system.
GPU would depend on the power supply and physical room available.

If the PSU is proprietary, best to just start over with a custom build. You would have to set a budget range.

Yes, it has dual slots. That's why I felt the need to upgrade. The budget range is around 2000 USD.

 

[aroy1995]

And PSU? Make/model/age.

Was this a prebuilt system?
If so....time to start over.

Yes it was a pre-built system.
PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower GF A3 750W 80 Plus Gold

 

[USAFRet]

Yes it was a pre-built system.
PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower GF A3 750W 80 Plus Gold

Time for a new system!!!

 

[Eximo]

Yeah, dual slot board is not sufficient. Not to mention the motherboard is likely to falter running the larger CPUs.

GF A3 is a okay PSU, I suppose we can keep that and the SSD. Not exactly comfortable with a 750W and a 5070 Ti though... Maybe squeeze in a 850W unit.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor ($523.04 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X870 Pro RS WiFi ATX AM5 Motherboard ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-5600 CL40 Memory ($214.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI SHADOW 3X OC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card ($852.98 @ Newegg)
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 501 Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($110.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 3 57.4 CFM 140 mm Fan ($12.90 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 3 57.4 CFM 140 mm Fan ($12.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $1983.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-16 16:02 EDT-0400

 

[LordVile]

Depends if the other hardware is up to the task. I wouldn’t go for a full platform upgrade just for DDR5. Increasing the capacity might be a good idea though to 64GB. If you are happy with the speed of the hardware why spend thousands? You could also just throw a bunch of money at a better GPU and use that for acceleration.

 

[Misgar]

Heavy and diverse — from compiling scientific code and running physics simulations to training and running machine learning models (small to mid-sized models).

Depending on budget, I'd probably start looking at Xeon, EPYC or Threadripper workstations with quad channel memory. If your (department's) needs are increasing, I'd start off at 128GB (ECC) RAM with the option to increase to 256GB/512GB/1TB.

A mobo with 8/12/16 DIMM slots allows upgrades without discarding old RAM. Alternatively you could increase capacity with RDIMM or LRDIMM on a compatible mobo.
https://corewavelabs.com/lrdimm-vs-rdimm-vs-udimm/

I wouldn't get too fixated on DDR4 vs DDR5 and outright speed (in terms of MT/s). What you probably need is memory bandwidth and that's where quad or 8 channel workstation or server CPUs can help.

If your simulations and models benefit from GPU acceleration and you need fast results, consider professional GPU support, e.g 48GB RTX 6000 Ada. With a really big workloads and commensurate budgets, you could stack multiple GPUs in a big chassis. Costs a small fortune but......

If you're prepared to divulge the names of any commercial programs you're running and your budget, it would be easier to make realistic suggestions.

You should be able to find hardware recommendations for most programs on the manufacturers' web sites. They'll probably define the minimum spec for their current software, but it would be better to choose their recommended hardware or higher for future proofing.

As @Eximo says, run a cost/benefit analysis, then fight with your finance department for more money. Been there. Done that.

Good luck.