It is no secret that we are well and truly in the age of DDR5 RAM. Prices are nowhere as prohibitive as they used to be, and the latest processors from both AMD and Intel have completely transitioned to the latest memory standard. Gamers have experienced the benefits of the blazing-fast transfer speeds of DDR5 RAM, and previous-gen DDR4 memory is gradually being phased out.

However, this doesn't mean that DDR4 RAM is completely useless. Whether you already have a DDR4 gaming PC, or are about to build a new budget gaming rig for yourself, there is still a case to be made in favor of the older memory standard. In terms of gaming performance, cost-effectiveness, and overall platform considerations, the DDR4 vs. DDR5 RAM debate is pretty relevant in 2024.

5 DDR4 RAM is a cheap upgrade for your old PC

It's time to upgrade to 32GB RAM

I'll start with the scenario that many users with budget gaming PCs would have faced at some point or another. If you built a cost-effective, value-for-money gaming PC a few years ago, there's a chance you opted for 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, optimizing the budget in favor of a stronger GPU, with the hopes of upgrading your memory when 16GB would no longer suffice. It turns out that 32GB has now become the new 16GB for desktop gamers.

Many AAA games have easily been using upwards of 16GB of RAM for a while now. Running out of VRAM on your GPU might be old news; you are now much more likely to also run out of memory on systems with 16GB of RAM. Buying another 16GB stick of identical DDR4 RAM provides budget gamers with a relatively cheap and quick solution to memory limitations. A huge number of gaming PCs in the wild are still rocking DDR4 memory, and many of them will require a RAM upgrade sooner than later, necessitating a good supply of DDR4 RAM in the market.

Whenever a new technology enters the market and gradually gains widespread adoption, its predecessor eventually disappears. For DDR4 RAM, this will inevitably come true, but just like DDR3 RAM before it, it'll take a few more years for DDR4 to be completely replaced by its successor.

4 DDR4 isn't far off from DDR5 in gaming

DDR4 is good enough

Existing DDR4 users might be tempted to migrate to DDR5 RAM for increased gaming performance. While DDR5 memory does bring improvements over its predecessor, the difference in gaming FPS is hardly night and day. If you compare two systems, one with 3,600 MT/s DDR4 RAM and the other with 6,000 MT/s DDR5 RAM, with the rest of the components being similar, you will not see more than a 10% difference in favor of the faster memory.

10% might not be negligible, but it isn't groundbreaking either, and certainly not something that warrants an urgent platform upgrade to DDR5, or even a memory and motherboard replacement if your CPU supports both memory standards. If you already have a decently powerful DDR4 gaming PC with, say, a 3,600-4,000MT/s kit, you aren't missing out on a lot. Besides, gaming performance will depend on not just the memory but also the rest of your components, the specific games you play, and the in-game settings you use. A lot of variability still exists when comparing DDR4 and DDR5 gaming performance.

My personal gaming rig is also a DDR4 system with a Ryzen 7 5700X, RTX 3080, and 32 GB of 3,600MT/s DDR4 RAM. I've been using the system for over 2 years now, and I don't see myself upgrading my CPU or memory for another year at least. I'm still getting 60+ FPS at maximum settings in the latest titles, with ray tracing and DLSS enabled.

3 DDR4 systems are still cheaper for new builders

Pick DDR4 for your budget build

Upgrade considerations aside, I would even argue that anyone contemplating a fresh gaming build can still consider a DDR4-based system. DDR5 RAM and motherboards might have come down in price in the last few years, but when you factor in the entire platform cost (CPU + motherboard + RAM), it still costs less to build on DDR4 than DDR5.

If you are going the DDR5 route, you are limited to the Ryzen 9000, Ryzen 7000, and Intel's 12th-gen or newer processors. Compared to these, the Ryzen 5000 CPUs offer much of the gaming performance of newer CPUs at a significantly lower price. For budget builders, combining, say, the Ryzen 5 5600 or Ryzen 7 5700 with an entry-level DDR4 motherboard and a 32GB DDR4 kit offers a much lower entry point compared to a DDR5 build. Plus, going DDR4 leaves you some extra dough to invest in a more powerful budget graphics card.

When you are dealing with a limited budget, every dollar matters, and hence, DDR4 gaming PCs will remain relevant for the next year or two, even as newer CPUs enter the market and the share of DDR4 RAM goes down. AMD is still supporting its AM4 socket, so we are likely to see a healthy level of stocks of the Ryzen 5000 CPUs, which when bought during sales will prove to be even better deals for budget builders.

2 Wait for next-gen CPUs before moving to DDR5

You can easily delay your eventual DDR5 upgrade

I was one of the Ryzen 5000 users eagerly awaiting the Ryzen 9000 series in hopes of finally upgrading to AM5 and getting a huge bump in gaming performance. Needless to say, AMD's Zen 5 CPUs disappointed a lot of us, delivering little over Ryzen 7000 to be excited about. If you were satisfied with the performance of your Ryzen 5000 gaming PC compared to the Ryzen 7000 CPUs, there is still no urgency to move to AM5, since Zen 5 is mostly Zen 4 with a new name.

Even on the Intel side, the latest Arrow Lake processors failed to impress gamers, offering lower performance than even the 14th Gen Intel Core processors. The latest CPUs from both camps haven't provided any major incentives for gamers to ditch their DDR4-based systems, so it's reasonable to wait it out for next-gen offerings from AMD and Intel before making a decision. You are already enjoying great gaming performance on your existing setup, plus the latest CPUs come with significant price premiums over previous-gen SKUs (at current prices).

1 A GPU upgrade is better than jumping to DDR5

Hit it where it hurts

As always, the biggest impact on your FPS will be determined by your graphics card. If you already have a relatively powerful DDR4 gaming PC, dropping in a new graphics card instead of jumping to DDR5 RAM will unlock a much better gaming experience for you. Users on more budget systems might have bottlenecks concerning the CPU or RAM, but a GPU upgrade will nonetheless catapult you to the next tier of gaming performance.

You can always delay the eventual platform upgrade, and simply install a stronger graphics card for now. If you play your cards right, you'll be able to retain your new GPU even after moving to a DDR5 system later. This also enables you to stagger your spending over a few months or years instead of facing the prospect of a single big investment. Personally, a graphics card upgrade next year is what I'm considering for my DDR4 gaming PC. Switching from the RTX 3080 to a high-end RTX 5000 series card will be enough to set me up for a few more years.

DDR4 and DDR5 RAM can co-exist for now

The growing adoption of DDR5 RAM doesn't mean DDR4 has to go away anytime soon. We still have a few years of co-existence for both memory standards, where those with the budget can build a DDR5 gaming PC, and those maximizing value can still consider DDR4-based rigs. Gaming performance is still quite comparable between the memory standards, and platform longevity isn't a priority for everyone.

As games start utilizing the high transfer speeds of DDR5 RAM more in the near future, the demand for DDR4 RAM will start going down. Users with older systems can still delay their eventual DDR5 upgrade by a few years, but just like DDR3 RAM before it, DDR4 RAM will slowly but surely be replaced almost completely with DDR5.