This is not a performance question rather around theoretical future proofing.
I have 32GB ram in my PC I built myself and was considering buying another 32GB. I do some basic photo/video editing and also to reduce potential ram bottleneck (not that I know much about that).
My question - Is it worth buying more DDR4 ram now or is there potentially something else just around the corner (in the next few years) like DDR5?
Id buy it now, because when DDR5 comes in, DDR4 will be harder to get and really expensive.
I don't know why you are getting downvoted. The production of DDR4 has already been reduced to make room for DDR5 production, hence the price of DDR4 will start to go up because of the reduced production. DDR5 has a higher frequency but with much higher CL, at least the first few editions. In addition, it's a new technology and the price to performance ratio might not be acceptable for the first year. This is the same process that happened when DDR4 replaced DDR3.
Thats what I thought - but it does look like I am an idiot :P
Dear OP
Personally if your just doing basic photo/video editing then getting DDR4 will most likely be the way to go due the more then likely high price of DDR5 and won't be needed if your still planning to do basic editing in the future but if you want to do more advanced editing then maybe you should wait for DDR5.
Regards,
Your Pog Champ
Wow, 1.1 mill views already!
itll be around for a while.. especially for legacy.
check the history of ddr3
You can still buy new modules of DDR3
Do you actually feel a bottleneck on RAM now? Cause if you are go buy it now. If not, whats going to change in the future that you will be doing? Will you be editing 8K videos? Cause by that time you will probably go on a different system anyway (new cpu, motherboard, ram)
Yes it will, even the new gen of Intel CPU's out this year will have support of DDR4 or DDR5 dependent on the motherboard.
Just buy when you need the extra RAM
Is it worth buying more DDR4 ram now or is there potentially something else just around the corner (in the next few years) like DDR5?
DDR5 is already out. A little while back, there was an occasional report of DDR5 underperforming. We'll find out in the next month or so with widespread Intel Gen 12 being released. Oddly enough, DDR6 is also out but AFAIK you only see it in a few instances (like Playstations) and video card memory.
The new Intel CPU's that are coming out next month are both DDR4 and DDR5 compatible. As far as I understand, that'll depend on what motherboard you choose. If you want to go DDR5, you'll need a new CPU and motherboard, on top of the ram. I don't know if you can put DDR4 and DDR5 in the same machine. I suspect not.
That all being said, it doesn't really matter. Unless you've got a CPU that is only bordering on powerful enough for you useage (in which, you should upgrade your whole system, not just your ram), if you need the upgrade for your current use, you should get it. When you pick up a new system, at that time, you'll see what you have and what you'll need and adjust accordingly.
You can't reliably predict consumer technology a few years out and nor should you. Within a few years, I'd expect 32gig sticks to be significantly cheaper than the current 16gig sticks.
Well, DDR5 will be out there within the next 12 months, but will be expensive and real life performance improvement in your use case will probably be unnoticeable.