RAM Upgrade Performance DDR4-2666 C15 to DDR4-3600 C16

[greentea]

What performance gain would I get with a RAM upgrade from 8GB DDR4-2666 CL15 to 16GB DDR4-3600 CL16 ?

• ASUS TUF Z390-Plus Gaming Wi-Fi motherboard
• Intel Core i5-9600K CPU

[rene]

Depends on what you do with the system and especially since doubling capacity is by far most interesting: if you frequently do things that benefit from more than 8G speed-up would be massive. If never, not.

If you're asking in the context of finding CL16 to be a downgrade from CL15: note that it is not. DDR4-2666 runs at 1333MHz, i.e., has a cycle time of 1000/1333 ns. DDR4-2666CL15 as such means (first-word) latency of 15 * 1000/1333 ~= 11.25 ns. DDR4-3600CL16 of 16 * 1000/1800 ~= 8.89 ns, i.e., better by 21%.

That improvement you're not likely to notice in every-day usage; would show in specific memory-intensive tasks but as said, doubling capacity is the important thing and usefulness of that depends on your usage --- although these days 8G is starting to become little so it's likely significant when you load up the machine.

[MikeNovember]

Hi,

Twice the RAM size, from 8GB to 16 GB:
- this will reduce, if any now, swapping; if there is now swapping and if you have an HDD, you will notice change (less noticed if you have an SSD);
- this will allow more RAM caching for system and apps, you will notice changes if you have an HDD, less if you have a SSD

Higher frequency:
- more performance for apps making a lot of use of RAM.

--> It is generally a good thing to increase RAM for 8 to 16 GB; the way you will notice change depends a lot on apps you use; if your main use is internet browsing, e-mails sending / receiving, some use of LibreOffice, viewing videos and playing audio, you will not perceive changes. If you perform image editing on large size images, video editing or anything pushing your hardware to its limits, you will perceive changes.

More generally, to improve perceived performance, the priority order is the following:
1) Replace HDD by SDD
2) Increase RAM
3) Change MOBO for one more recent with fresh chipsets and more powerful microprocessor (higher frequency / more cores)

You can change GPU, if you play demanding games or use programs taking profit of the GPU for their computations (using Open CL).

Regards,

MN

[greentea]

If you're asking in the context of finding CL16 to be a downgrade from CL15: note that it is not. DDR4-2666 runs at 1333MHz, i.e., has a cycle time of 1000/1333 ns. DDR4-2666CL15 as such means (first-word) latency of 15 * 1000/1333 ~= 11.25 ns. DDR4-3600CL16 of 16 * 1000/1800 ~= 8.89 ns, i.e., better by 21%.

That improvement you're not likely to notice in every-day usage; would show in specific memory-intensive tasks but as said, doubling capacity is the important thing and usefulness of that depends on your usage --- although these days 8G is starting to become little so it's likely significant when you load up the machine.

Thanks, rene.

Hi,

Twice the RAM size, from 8GB to 16 GB:
- this will reduce, if any now, swapping; if there is now swapping and if you have an HDD, you will notice change (less noticed if you have an SSD);
- this will allow more RAM caching for system and apps, you will notice changes if you have an HDD, less if you have a SSD

Higher frequency:
- more performance for apps making a lot of use of RAM.

--> It is generally a good thing to increase RAM for 8 to 16 GB; the way you will notice change depends a lot on apps you use; if your main use is internet browsing, e-mails sending / receiving, some use of LibreOffice, viewing videos and playing audio, you will not perceive changes. If you perform image editing on large size images, video editing or anything pushing your hardware to its limits, you will perceive changes.

Regards,

MN

The system drive is a SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus SSD 500GB - M.2 NVMe.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M7Q21N7?psc=1

Current RAM is HyperX Kingston FURY 2666MHz DDR4 Non-ECC CL15.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013H7QBTG?psc=1

Chosen upgrade to G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB DDR4 3600 Model F4-3600C16D-16GVKC.
https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288 ... 6820232880

With prices so low on Cyber Monday ($63), it seems a shame to pass this up.

[absque fenestris]

Your link points to the black ones, only the red ones are available for $62.99 ...

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288 ... 6820232731

[greentea]

Your link points to the black ones, only the red ones are available for $62.99 ...

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288 ... 6820232731

There is a Promo Code for 10% discount available which is noted on the product page:

[absque fenestris]

The black ones are 10% off at 69.99, so they cost exactly the same as the red ones without.
Personally I would be interested to know what green RAMs would cost - would somehow go better with Mint.
But may confuse the somewhat strange pricing of Newegg ...

[greentea]

The black ones are 10% off at 69.99, so they cost exactly the same as the red ones without.
Personally I would be interested to know what green RAMs would cost - would somehow go better with Mint.
But may confuse the somewhat strange pricing of Newegg ...

I definitely do not want Red, so I would have ignored it.
I have some Ripjaws 3200 in another machine which are Gray.
The color scheme of the motherboard and CPU fan are black and gray with dark yellow highlights.
The interior lighting is purple.
Green RAM would be pretty funcky.
I really like Mint, but that would be a bridge too far.