"Waiting for DDR5 pricing to drop before I make a new build": Community polarized after AMD's questionable decisions with Ryzen 7000

Amidst the tumultuous conditions of the memory hardware market, AMD declared the Ryzen 7000 series to be DDR5 only. Ever since AMD's reveal event, the community has expressed reluctance about upgrading their systems.

The current price of DDR5 sticks has users thinking twice before biting the bullet. The new generation of memory modules currently costs much more than a regular high-performance DDR4 stick while providing negligible performance gains.

AMD's decision is in sharp contrast to that of Intel, who added support for DDR5 memory while also retaining support for DDR4 memory modules. This will allow gamers to choose between performance and value-for-money offerings when opting for an Intel build.

DDR5 pricing is not expected to come down to DDR4 levels until mid-2023, according to AMD. Thus, users will face a dilemma after the Zen 4 chips hit the market on September 27.

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Huge unrest in the PC DIY community after Ryzen 7000 is declared to be DDR5 only

AMD introduced EXPO, a memory overclocking technology (Image via AMD)

The community has not welcomed AMD's decision to make Ryzen 7000 only compatible with DDR5. Several Ryzen fans are reconsidering their decision to upgrade to the upcoming Zen 4 CPUs once they launch.

AMD introduced the EXPO (Extended Profiles for Overclocking) alongside their Ryzen 7000 launch on August 29. This technology will enable users to achieve better memory overclocks while using DDR5 sticks with Zen 4-based Ryzen chips.

However, excluding the option of DDR4 will result in users having to spend more on upgrading the rest of their system. According to Twitter user @SoraxCloud22, it "will add to the overall system cost."

Alongside pricing concerns, as spotted by Twitter user @dcominottim, Ryzen 7000 chip's DDR5 maximum memory speed dropped to 3600 MT/s when using more than 1 DIMM per CPU memory channel.

Although this specification applies to Intel Alder Lake chips, Team Blue is working on improving maximum memory speeds with Raptor Lake, leaving AMD in an unfavorable situation.

As expressed by several Ryzen fans, Zen 2 and Zen 3 chips continue to remain relevant. Thus, several Team Red users are planning to stick to their current platforms and not upgrade to Ryzen 7000 when they drop later this month.

According to AMD, DDR5 pricing is still higher than expected. However, the company expects the next-gen memory sticks to be priced similarly to DDR4 by mid-2023. Until then, Ryzen 7000 is poised to have a limited market.

Alongside the pricing issues of DDR5 memory, motherboards supporting this technology are priced high as well. Thus, several users are also considering the pricing of B650, B650E, X670, and X670E motherboards while upgrading to the upcoming platform.

Also, AMD has no entry-level motherboard options for Ryzen 7000. This might cost Team Red some loyal users.

AMD took the DIY PC building community by storm when they introduced the Ryzen 7 5800X3D earlier this year. This chip beats the Core i9 12900K in terms of gaming performance.

AMD is also expected to launch 3D stacked versions of Zen 4 processors down the line. Some users are considering waiting until the improved Ryzen 7000 3D processors launch to upgrade their systems. The main idea behind this move is that DDR5 and AM5 motherboard pricing will come down by the time the improved Zen 4 chips launch.

Alongside DDR5, AM5 will pioneer support for M.2 PCIe Gen 5 SSDs. According to some rumors, these SSDs will be priced astronomically high upon launch. Several SSDs are reconsidering upgrading to Ryzen 7000 because they will not be able to afford the platform's features.

AMD's decisions have shattered the expectations of budget gamers. The cheapest Ryzen Zen 4-based build will cost users $1000, and this has upset a large part of the gaming community.

Team Red recently declared that DDR5 RAM running at 6000 MHz will be the sweet spot for the upcoming Ryzen chips. Chips clocked at such high speeds cost a hefty premium over entry-level DDR5 memory modules. Gamers who want to get the most out of their Zen 4 chips will have to spend upwards of $200 on memory alone.