Should I Use DDR3 RAM or DDR4 for Gaming?

[Pronteous]

Hello everyone,

I'm going to be building a new rig with a budget of $1200 used only for gaming (even though I can spend a little above the budget), and just daily-life browsing and schoolwork. I would like to get games like Battlefield 4, GTA 5, Skyrim, CS:GO, The Witcher 3, etc. as well as upcoming games like Star Citizen, Fallout 4, and Star Wars: Battlefront to run at 1440p or at most, if possible, 2k resolution, with 60fps. I will not be using it to render, stream, record, or anything else along those lines. The specs I currently have is:

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Memory: Not yet decided
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive & 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor

So according to my build, should I get a DDR3 RAM or a DDR4? Which one will be the best for gaming? One option I have is the G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600. This is my first build, so I don't a whole lot about all of this hardware and stuff. Please leave some suggestions on how I could improve any of the specs of this rig. I will be buying it during Black Friday of these year to maybe get a little bit of a sale, even though it's pretty much unpredictable at this point. Thank you in advance, everyone.

(P.S. Will this hardware get outdated until November?)

 

[Suztera]

if you want to use a i5 6600k, you need a Z170 motherboard and DDR4. If you want to use a Z97 motherboard, you need a socket 1150 cpu and ddr3.

 

[norseman4]

That board only accepts DDR3, so that is the answer to the question. (DDR3 and DDR4 are not interchangeable)

 

[Dark antz1]

Your motherboard only supports DDR3. DDR4 is only available for 1151 and 2011 chipsets. Due to developments in RAM technology there is not really a substantial difference in performance between DDR3 and DDR4 Memory modules. So i wouldn't be to bothered about it.
However your build can only support DDR3. I would be inclined to go for Corsair Vengeance as its cheap, reliable an performs well.

 

[norseman4]

@Suztera, the z97 was a Haswell/Devils Canyon/Broadwell board socketed at 1150. The 1155 socket was for Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge CPUs.

 

[ak47jar3d]

Z97 won't work with i5 6600k. Skylake processor s require z170 chipset. Indirectly, DDR 4 is not supported by z97 chipset. DDR 4 Requires z170 or x99 chipset. The difference between DDR3 and DDR 4 are very insignificant for gaming based on the tests I have seen. As long as you have more than 8 gb, it really doesn't matter.

 

[Pronteous]

That board only accepts DDR3, so that is the answer to the question. (DDR3 and DDR4 are not interchangeable)

I forgot to mention that I can change the motherboard and stuff according to these parts. The motherboard was just one suggested by someone a while back.

 

[Pronteous]

Your motherboard only supports DDR3. DDR4 is only available for 1151 and 2011 chipsets. Due to developments in RAM technology there is not really a substantial difference in performance between DDR3 and DDR4 Memory modules. So i wouldn't be to bothered about it.
However your build can only support DDR3. I would be inclined to go for Corsair Vengeance as its cheap, reliable an performs well.

Which model should I go for?

 

[Pronteous]

if you want to use a i5 6600k, you need a Z170 motherboard and DDR4. If you want to use a Z97 motherboard, you need a socket 1150 cpu and ddr3.

Do you have any suggestions on which one I should get?

 

[Dark antz1]

That board only accepts DDR3, so that is the answer to the question. (DDR3 and DDR4 are not interchangeable)

I forgot to mention that I can change the motherboard and stuff according to these parts. The motherboard was just one suggested by someone a while back.

Ok so if you want to change your motherboard then you need to do as others have suggested and get a Z170 motherboard so that it is compatible with your CPU. You will then be able to get DDR4 RAM. You should build your PC on this website which is very good for checking any compatibility issues and finds you the best price around the internet for parts.

UK - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/
US - http://pcpartpicker.com/

 

[Pronteous]

That board only accepts DDR3, so that is the answer to the question. (DDR3 and DDR4 are not interchangeable)

I forgot to mention that I can change the motherboard and stuff according to these parts. The motherboard was just one suggested by someone a while back.

Ok so if you want to change your motherboard then you need to do as others have suggested and get a Z170 motherboard so that it is compatible with your CPU. You will then be able to get DDR4 RAM. You should build your PC on this website which is very good for checking any compatibility issues and finds you the best price around the internet for parts.

UK - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/
US - http://pcpartpicker.com/

Will a DDR3 work well with this build, though? Because I already have them, from a PC build from 2010. Don't know the full specs yet.

 

[Dark antz1]

That board only accepts DDR3, so that is the answer to the question. (DDR3 and DDR4 are not interchangeable)

I forgot to mention that I can change the motherboard and stuff according to these parts. The motherboard was just one suggested by someone a while back.

Ok so if you want to change your motherboard then you need to do as others have suggested and get a Z170 motherboard so that it is compatible with your CPU. You will then be able to get DDR4 RAM. You should build your PC on this website which is very good for checking any compatibility issues and finds you the best price around the internet for parts.

UK - http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/
US - http://pcpartpicker.com/

Will a DDR3 work well with this build, though? Because I already have them, from a PC build from 2010. Don't know the full specs yet.

Your build will not work. The CPU will not fit into your motherboard. It's a different size and different architecture.

If you want DDR3 then you should get a haswell CPU i.e. 1150 chipset

If your want to keep your I5-6600K then you need to change your motherboard and buy DDR4 RAM.

 

[ak47jar3d]

Will a DDR3 work well with this build, though? Because I already have them, from a PC build from 2010. Don't know the full specs yet.

The DDR 3 motherboards for z170 chipset are the more budget friendly ones and don't support sli.

ASUS Z170-K ATX DDR4 Motherboards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012NH08B8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_8-f4vbK5BY1FB

ASUS Z170-P D3 ATX DDR3 2600 Motherboards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012VOO120/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_V.f4vb9R4AVB6

 

[game junky]

For DDR4 options, would either need a Haswell-E (2011-3) motherboard and CPU combo or a Skylake (1151) motherboard and CPU combo.

For games currently on the market, DDR4 isn't really a game changer - it's incredibly powerful but DDR3 is for than sufficient. That being said, if you have the budget, there is no reason not to go with a Skylake and DDR4 setup for daily usage performance.

 

[Pronteous]

Will a DDR3 work well with this build, though? Because I already have them, from a PC build from 2010. Don't know the full specs yet.

The DDR 3 motherboards for z170 chipset are the more budget friendly ones and don't support sli.

ASUS Z170-K ATX DDR4 Motherboards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012NH08B8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_8-f4vbK5BY1FB

ASUS Z170-P D3 ATX DDR3 2600 Motherboards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012VOO120/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_V.f4vb9R4AVB6

Can you link some with DDR4 and 6600K support? They don't have to have SLI support.

 

[Dark antz1]

Will a DDR3 work well with this build, though? Because I already have them, from a PC build from 2010. Don't know the full specs yet.

The DDR 3 motherboards for z170 chipset are the more budget friendly ones and don't support sli.

ASUS Z170-K ATX DDR4 Motherboards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012NH08B8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_8-f4vbK5BY1FB

ASUS Z170-P D3 ATX DDR3 2600 Motherboards https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012VOO120/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_V.f4vb9R4AVB6

Can you link some with DDR4 and 6600K support? They don't have to have SLI support.

Product list from newegg for Z170 1151 chipset motherboards. There isn't much in it compared to each one. Some of the others offer certain features that you might find beneficial but if you don't then its not worth spending the extra money. I personally like ASUS, Gigabyte & MSI but there really isnt much between them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007627%20600009016%20600567584%204814

 

[ObelixThe]

if you want to use a i5 6600k, you need a Z170 motherboard and DDR4. If you want to use a Z97 motherboard, you need a socket 1150 cpu and ddr3.

Actually you can use both DDR3 and DDR4 with the Z170 motherboards as Skylake supports both RAMs. It depends on the motherboard vendor to include DDR3 support... GIGABYTE GA-Z170-HD3.

 

[Dennyd1]

Your motherboard only supports DDR3. DDR4 is only available for 1151 and 2011 chipsets.

NO, NOT 2011!!!!
IF YOU'RE GOING TO GIVE ADVICE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE, GET IT RIGHT, 2011 VERSION 3 or as you might see it listed, 2011-3 or 2011 v3. BUT NOT 2011. 2011 is DDR3, and their outdated motherboards cost like $600 to $900 dollars right now.

I have a 2011 MSI Big Bang Xpower II that just started sparking a month after its warranty expired. So now, I'm going to have to buy a $600 to $700 outdated motherboard because these butt-holes in the CPU/RAM/motherboard industry got together and decided to force an inferior DDR4 down our throats and then make their slots and processors incompatible with DDR3!!!

They never learn! This why we NEED Capitalism. We need people to have the ability to start a business and rise up and give us what we want so that we have an alternative.

One thing in history that Capitalism keeps proving time and time again is that universal compatibility always out-competes a religious adherence to a given line of products. Apple would NEVER EVER have survived without Steve Job's innovative intelligence. Microsoft and IBM became the mainstream because that's the nature of making that extra effort towards universal compatibility.