DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s: Which is better for gaming?

These days, most motherboards come with default support for high-speed RAM. That said, there is a lot of debate about the DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s. That's because tech enthusiasts love overclocking RAM to get the maximum performance when gaming. DDR5 RAM starts at 4800MT/sec, but if memory overclocking is unlocked, you can get it to 5200MT/sec.

The other option is to buy a gaming RAM that can provide 5200MT/sec speeds by default. A jump to 5200MT/sec should elevate your gaming performance. That's because higher RAM speeds generally tend to provide better average FPS and 0.1% lows in games.

But how much difference does DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s make in gaming? Let's find out.

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DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s: Which is a better choice for gaming?

Memory module on one side of the RAM (Image via Liam Briese/Unsplash)

To understand how much of a difference DDR5 4800MT/s vs DDR5 5200MT/s can make, you have to understand what this jump to higher RAM speeds really means. Think of the pathway between the CPU and the memory as highways. The wider the highway, the more cars can travel freely without congestion. Here, it's the bandwidth.

The more bandwidth your system has, the more data can travel between the CPU and the memory. This leads to a fast system and generally lower latencies, both of which are good for gaming. A DDR5 4800MT/sec has a total bandwidth of 62.74 GB/sec, and a jump to DDR5 5200MT/sec will move it to 66.12 GB/sec.

That is quite a jump and should theoretically provide better FPS in gaming, but that's not always the case. That's because not all games are memory-dependent. Those games may not show much of a difference, but others will. So, expect an average of 2 - 4 FPS increase in Average FPS. Any FPS increase is always good, no matter how small or large.

Here, the DDR5 5200MT/sec is better than the DDR5 4800MT/s for gaming.

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DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s: How much does it really matter?

Empty RAM slots on a motherboard (Image via Sven Finger/Unsplash)

We've established that between DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s, the latter is faster. However, there is an increase of just about 2 - 4 FPS on average, and that too in select games. So, should you buy a new RAM just for a slight improvement in performance? Is it worth upgrading? Well, that depends.

If you have decent RAM and an unlocked memory overclocking support on your motherboard, then you don't need to buy a new RAM. You can simply overclock that RAM from 4800MT/sec to 5200MT/sec. If you can successfully hit that without any issues, it's worth going through the trouble of overclocking.

However, if your RAM cannot hit the described 5200MT/sec or your motherboard doesn't support memory overclocking, you would need to make additional purchases. It will probably cost you a fair bit, and your old RAM sticks would be a waste. In that case, the upgrade is probably not worth it. That's because spending that much for 2 to 4 more FPS isn't worth it.

In this case, the 4800MT/sec is a better choice between the DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s. So, stick to your 4800MT/sec RAM sticks and save that money, which can be later spent towards your next GPU upgrade. That would provide you with a much bigger boost to your average FPS. However, if you are set on buying new 5200MT/sec RAM sticks, try higher-capacity sticks.

That's because 16GB RAM is just not enough for gaming these days. Many games list 32GB RAM in their requirements. Even if you don't need 32GB RAM at the moment, you will in the future. So, buying a new high-speed 5200MT/sec kit with 32GB capacity at the minimum is recommended.

Buy two 16GB sticks to get 32GB, which would also enable a dual-channel RAM system. Thus, that settles the debate of the DDR5 4800 MT/s vs DDR5 5200 MT/s winner.