this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
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I wouldn't waste any money on DDR4 at this point. The only excuse I could think of is if you have a motherboard that requires DDR4 and your current RAM is not working. Otherwise, get a motherboard that supports DDR5 and you're good.
Which would also require a new CPU depending on the current setup. And rebuilding the whole PC just to upgrade the memory?
Get a new case, and fan, and maybe a liquid cooling setup too. And switch operating systems while you’re at it. Might as well upgrade to larger SSDs. And it’s a good opportunity to go down the mechanical keyboard rabbit hole as well.
That'll be 3500, and 2 months of tweaking please.
What stage is after 'owning more mechanical keyboards than you have excuses for using them'?
Hmm. I’ll let you know when I figure that out because that’s the stage I am at?
Ergonomics, forget the gaming gear and move into healthier computing. New office chair, standing desk, adjustable pneumatic monitor arms, fatigue mat, clean up wiring, vertical mouse ball, split keyboards, desk organizers. It never ends
Split ergo keyboard is next on my list in fact
Correct. Yes.
... But also with a lot of other perks and some downsides... if you are willing to consider a different paradigm for a pc build.
I say: Adapt, Improvise, Overcome.
I present to you....
... the Minisforum BD 795i SE.
https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-motherboard
https://www.amazon.com/MINISFORUM-Motherboard-BD795i-SE-PCIe4-0/dp/B0DQ8WXMKP
ITX Mobo + soldered on AMD 7945hx processor, outperforms by a significant margin any standard cpu+mobo combo you could get for the current price, which is under $400 pre tax.
So thats a mobo, high powered labtop AM4 cpu, that uses ddr5 sodimm ram.
Oh and you can just slot any ole normal GPU into its PCIe x16 v5.0 slot, its got two standard SSD M2 2280 gen 4 slots you can put your existing SSD(s) in.
There you go, for your consideration, there's your upgrade/sidegrade path, or your framework for just a new build, given that GPUs now basically cost as much or more than ... everything else in a pc combined.
........
Pop out your old mobo, this thing is ITX so it'll probably fit in your old case, though that isn't guaranteed.
Grab 32gb (2x16) of 5200/5400/5600 sodimm ddr5 ram for roughly $90 to $110.
(You could go as high as 2x48gb = 96gb but frankly 95% of people will be a ok with 32gb)
Sell your now apparently appreciating in value standard form ddr4 ram.
Grab a noctua 120mm nf-f12 pwm fan for $20, or some equivalent from your preferred fan company, slap that on the massive built in cpu heatspreader, you're good to go.
Sell old cpu heatsink/fan or aio loop.
You may lose the ability to run... an extensive argb case fan setup without some finagling on that front, but who cares, you wont need all of them, this is a very energy and heat efficient cpu.
If you've got some kind of nest of internal archive HDDs, yeah, that may be a bit of a problem too, but realistically, not too many people do that, and you can put an internal HDD into a ~$20 enclosure and just turn it into an external hardrive, something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/X-MEDIA-XM-EN3451-BK-3-5-Inch-SATA-Enclosure/dp/B00ARNCYEU
Oh and also switching to this kind of paradigm, paired with say a non XT AMD 9070, this'll do basically all gaming you could want at 1440p, and will almost certainly substantially lower your total setup power draw... if you're maybe also worried about just general rising energy prices.
Which you probably should be.
You can also now consider just downsizing your rig's case, and power supply, to a portable ITX form factor, or an mATX form factor, should the idea of your PC not weighing 60+ pounds appeal to you.
There are a good number of ITX cases that will fit most full size GPUs, some via a riser cable, some not even needing one.
Also get a motherboard made in Taiwan 🇹🇼
AMD is still putting out some AM4 CPUs just because it's cheap for them to do so. They can run its chiplets off an old node, so no big deal. It's still a halfway decent budget option, though that may change with DDR4 going out of manufacturing.
Yup, still happily running a DDR4 build and am considering upgrading to one of the 3D chips at some point.
Last time I did a simulation few months ago, DDR4 motherboards (and memory if I recal) were still considerably cheaper than DDR5.
I have a server on AM4 that is running fine, but the 16Gigs of ram are getting tight and I might need 32. All other aspects of the system are completely sufficient. Why should I get a new CPU and board?
I think that falls under the category of "RAM is not currently working". If you need 32, 16GB isn't working for you.
A good reason for staying with DDR4 at this point in time is if you need faster boot times. DDR5 makes computers boot slower because it's less stable and needs more work during POST to get stable.
In many cases it's not a requirement though, and the speed improvements of DDR5 after boot outweigh the extra boot time.
You mean memory training?
Thats only really an issue during first boots or after a reset due to FW updates (or you didnt turn off memory training after each boot).
There are much more steps than just training. Even after training you still have slower boot speeds.
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Can't say that my PC (r7 7800x3d) boots any slower than my company issued notebook (i5 1235U).
Anecdotally the same for my older PC which had DDR4 (i5 6th gen)
Initial Training isn't done on every start. Training only happens when you change the configuration.
There are much more steps than just training. Even after training you still have slower boot speeds.