DDR4 vs. DDR5 on Intel Core i9-12900K Alder Lake

[saf81]

It seemed like the DDR5 wasn't really given the best chance to reach its full potential with only half of the memory channels used? I think to make it an accurate test you would need to include quad channel DDR5 since each channel has a narrower bus than DDR4?

An example of the difference this can make is comparing memory bandwidth numbers between Threadripper and Ryzen chips.

 

[W1zzard]

It seemed like the DDR5 wasn't really given the best chance to reach its full potential with only half of the memory channels used? I think to make it an accurate test you would need to include quad channel DDR5 since each channel has a narrower bus than DDR4?

An example of the difference this can make is comparing memory bandwidth numbers between Threadripper and Ryzen chips.

Each DDR5 module is dual-channel, two modules is quad-channel. This is the maximum config supported by the Alder Lake MC and what was tested

 

[Cowboystrekk]

Best I can get is 3600 15-18-18-36. I don't think that's worth spending several hours of testing vs 3600 16-20-20-34

You don't have a B-die 2x16 or 2x8 laying around?

 

[mechtech]

due to gear 2 i doubt that can impress

Ya. Kinda what I had in mind. 3200 ddr4 stock timings vs ddr5 4800 stock timings

jedec vs jedec
Stock vs stock

from your review though it seems timings and frequency are about linear. With 3200 ddr4 at half the timings of 6000 ddr5 are pretty close in terms of performance

main take away use ddr4 until price of ddr5 is within % of ddr4 vs performance increase.

 

[saf81]

Each DDR5 module is dual-channel, two modules is quad-channel. This is the maximum config supported by the Alder Lake MC and what was tested

Thanks for the clarification. After re-reading the review it was clearly 2x40bit channels per DIMM.

 

[Wirko]

Thanks for the clarification. After re-reading the review it was clearly 2x40bit channels per DIMM.

It's 32 bits, not 40, because there's still no ECC on the data bus in consumer RAM. There's just on-die ECC, which is mandatory for DDR5, we've discussed it several times.

 

[Steevo]

Interesting to see RDR performance was the only one showing benefits of DDR5, perhaps the slow move to larger on die caches and more split lanes at higher speeds like GDDR has in the consoles is the reason.

 

[Nihilus]

Remember last year when alot of people were saying that they wanted to wait until DDR5 as if that was going to be so amazing?

 

[Jacek]

Check if your new system is running in Gear1, the board might be defaulting to Gear2 at higher mem clocks, which halfs the IMC clock and increase latency.
It can also be the board defaulting to really loose sub-timmings. Check those in the bios.

Hehe i check 3600cl14-15-15-15 Gear1 59ns!!!!!! i z390 system 39ns!!! disgraceful ddr4 handling z690 chipset........

 

[swirl09]

Interesting to see RDR performance was the only one showing benefits of DDR5, perhaps the slow move to larger on die caches and more split lanes at higher speeds like GDDR has in the consoles is the reason.

Other reviews showed large gains in WD Legion. Im sure others will pop up, but overall and for the foreseeable future, a good DDR4 kit will serve you just fine. Or so I hope considering thats what Im going with (... waits for mounting kit....)

I do appreciate more reviews and benchmarks to show how the DDR types stack up, and also Win10 v 11. But really, pitting brand new pricey DDR5 against the not just older but budget DDR4 options seems off. Sure, folks who have an old DDR4 kit lying around might want to see how it compares to DDR5, but realistically those who might put a new system together who want to know which to pick - how does this help them? Better DDR4 kits are widely available and quite cheap!

 

[Zubasa]

Thanks for the clarification. After re-reading the review it was clearly 2x40bit channels per DIMM.

Easiest way to think of it is both DDR4 and DDR5 configurtations are 128-bit wide total. DDR5 has 2 sub-channels per dimm for better interleaving.

 

[Fantik]

DDR4 motherboards are not as "feature rich". Expect less of a "premium feel". As for example. Why does the ASUS TUF has 2 SATA ports when 4x is part of the chipset? Save one penny...

I'm with you. The problem is the only boards supporting ddr4 are not good. If they make the high end boards compatible with ddr4 that will be the best case. Now buy a 12900k and use a low end board

 

[chrcoluk]

I'm with you. The problem is the only boards supporting ddr4 are not good. If they make the high end boards compatible with ddr4 that will be the best case. Now buy a 12900k and use a low end board

The steel legend looks the best board out the lot and it works with ddr4? One of only a few z690 boards with decent sata connectivity.

ASRock Z690 Steel Legend

Supports 14th, 13th & 12th Gen Intel Core™ Processors (LGA1700); 13 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design; 4 x DDR4 DIMMs, Supports Dual Channel, up to 5333+ (OC); 1 PCIe 5.0 x16, 1 PCIe 4.0 x16, 1 PCIe 3.0 x16, 2 PCIe 3.0 x1, 1 M.2 Key-E for WiFi; Graphics Output Options: HDMI, DisplayPort; Realtek ALC897...

www.asrock.com

Unless you mean boards for extreme o/c and over engineered VRMs?

 

[Wirko]

DDR4 motherboards are not as "feature rich". Expect less of a "premium feel". As for example. Why does the ASUS TUF has 2 SATA ports when 4x is part of the chipset? Save one penny...

Hey, it has two horizontal and two vertical SATA connectors, plus one M.2 PCIe+SATA (not sure if all five are usable at the same time). Looking at the geizhals.eu database, most DDR4 boards have six SATA connectors and one M.2 SATA too. Connectivity wise they're not bad (but indeed none of them has M.2 PCIe 5).

 

[Why_Me]

I'm with you. The problem is the only boards supporting ddr4 are not good. If they make the high end boards compatible with ddr4 that will be the best case. Now buy a 12900k and use a low end board

First post on here and you already blew it.

https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z690-a-gaming-wifi-d4-model/

Z690 AERO G DDR4 (rev. 1.x) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

 

[Mussels]

3200 C14 seems to make one hell of a showing, on either AMD or intel

 

[fortiori]

W1zzard thank you for all the work you put into this--this comparison is something i've been looking forward to for quite some time.

TPU is the best tech site on the internet.

 

[arni-gx]

However, there are many things to consider when choosing to take the DDR4 route. You'll need reasonably fast memory able to sustain Gear 1 mode and tight timings—we recommend something similar to our DDR4-3600 configuration. Intel memory controllers aren't very picky about dual-rank modules, at least while you stay in Gear 1. In our performance results, Dual-Rank DDR4 Gear 1 at DDR4-3200/3600 is able to stay ahead of their DDR4-4000/4400 single-rank Gear 2 counterparts. In conclusion, you could avoid paying the hefty DDR5 early-adopter tax if you're willing to live with a single-digit percentage performance hit in applications, and a negligible hit in gaming performance. On the other hand, if you want the absolute highest performance, DDR5 is what you want, but be ready to pay for it. I am happy to report that running DDR5 is trivial, at least on my G.SKILL Trident Z memory kit. Just enable XMP and you're done. Overclocking and tweaking was also trouble-free, and straightforward, which is an impressive feat for a technology that's as new as DDR5.

==== so, DDR 4 is the past and DDR5 is the future of pc gaming..... alright.... see u there, 1-2 years ..... when the price is right......

 

[JD100]

What were the RAM settings used for Zen 3 CPUs in this benchmark?

 

[UnCertainty]

Something i havent seen anyone test yet, is how it does vs high end ddr4, like 2x16 4000 cl14, for example, or 4x8 4000 cl14.

I'm wondering the same. I have ddr4 4000 cl15 and I haven't spent any time oc'ing it.

The performance gain is so small for ddr5(~3-4% average) I would bet that ~ddr4-4400 cl14/15 would at least tie the ddr5.

 

[W1zzard]

What were the RAM settings used for Zen 3 CPUs in this benchmark?

Other test systems are the same as in our Core i9-12900K review.

Intel Core i9-12900K Review - Fighting for the Performance Crown

The Intel Core i9-12900K is Intel's flagship processor for the Alder Lake architecture. In our testing, we saw fantastic gaming performance from this new processor. Not only low-threaded tests have improved, the 12900K can even beat AMD at highly threaded workloads.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Shatun_Bear]

Oh damn we'll lose 0.8% performance going with DDR4!!!

I feel sorry for all those people that buy memory kits faster than 3200.

 

[Deleted member 215115]

Oh damn we'll lose 0.8% performance going with DDR4!!!

I feel sorry for all those people that buy memory kits faster than 3200.

Ok, buddy. You go buy a 3200 kit. The rest of us will see double-digit extra fps just from tuned, faster memory. I guess we're all suckers and we're seeing things.

Who knew maximizing performance was this easy? All those idiots running DDR4-4800 CL14 in their 10900K builds. Just get a 3200 kit, dummies.

 

[Shatun_Bear]

Ok, buddy. You go buy a 3200 kit. The rest of us will see double-digit extra fps just from tuned, faster memory. I guess we're all suckers and we're seeing things.

Who knew maximizing performance was this easy? All those idiots running DDR4-4800 CL14 in their 10900K builds. Just get a 3200 kit, dummies.

You can tell the difference between 140fps and 145fps? Or 50fps and 52fps @ 4K? You genius.

Yep, I'll stick to 3200 memory. And I do serious work with my PC in any case, I'll leave high refresh gaming to the man children with nothing better to do with their time

 

[Mussels]

Oh damn we'll lose 0.8% performance going with DDR4!!!

I feel sorry for all those people that buy memory kits faster than 3200.

Ah, remember that its the timings that made the difference there - 3200 CL14 is basically not for sale in Au, period.

3200 C14/3600C16 seem to be ideal, beyond that the gains seem to be trivial.