Question Will 3200Mhz vs 3600Mhz ram make that much difference?

[Shuten]

I am just wondering about the different ram speeds when it comes to gaming, does it actually matter, even slightly? I am looking to pick up 16 gb of ram but I am not sure of what the difference between the 2 different frequencies are. When I select the ram, I am trying to reach around 8.75 ish timing, For 3200, a CL of 14 would be around that margin and the same goes or 3600 of CL 16, they are so close to eachother that the small difference is insignificant. but more to the point, does any of this affect gaming at all? Would it be better to go for the 3600 I described or would it be better to save a bit of money and go for the 3200. I do apologize if I am being vague or if my knowledge of this stuff is fragmented to give a better explanation.

 

[jay32267]

I'm running an older machine with 1066 memory....and a new machine with 2400 memory.....and I'm running all the same games on both machines.....and I notice zero difference while playing on either. Both machines hold 60 fps at 1080p flawlessly.....and both machines feel the same to me when playing a game.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

you more than likely would not notice a difference of 400MHz if they were functioning at the same timings.
but going for 3200MHz at a lower timing, like 14 vs 16, would likely be slightly noticeable with certain loading times, etc.
the price difference would be the biggest factor for me in choosing between the two.

 

[EndEffeKt_24]

There are some tests on that matter. I think gamersnexus found a significant difference on ryzen cpus. For intel not that much.

 

[Gam3r01]

3200MHz CL14 RAM would be a "better" choice over 3600MHz CL16.
While Ryzen does like fast RAM, its only to a point. At 3200MHz the speed gain itself likely wont be significant enough to warrant the increase in latency.

 

[Shuten]

3200MHz CL14 RAM would be a "better" choice over 3600MHz CL16.
While Ryzen does like fast RAM, its only to a point. At 3200MHz the speed gain itself likely wont be significant enough to warrant the increase in latency.

ok that does sound good. I did read something about that if i used a 3200MHz CL14, i could OC to 3600MHZ CL15 or something like that, im not entirely sure how that works but is that also something to consider when buying ram?

 

[Gam3r01]

Its not so cut and dry with OCing, but I would imagine most of the times that would work somewhat like that. Increasing speeds generally leads to increased latency.