RAM comparison

How to choose RAM in 2026

DDR5 has fully displaced DDR4 on current platforms. The Mars Score for memory weights capacity, speed, CAS latency, and platform-stable operation — not RGB or heatspreader styling. Real-world game performance differences between sane kits cluster within 3–5%; budget the savings toward CPU or GPU.

Capacity: 32 GB is the new minimum, 64 GB is the comfort tier

16 GB is no longer enough for AAA gaming with content creation, browser, and Discord open. 32 GB DDR5 (2×16) covers nearly all gaming and productivity needs in 2026. 64 GB (2×32 or 2×48) is the comfort tier for creators, VMs, and local LLM inference.

Speed and timings: the AM5 / LGA1851 sweet spots

On AM5, DDR5-6000 CL30 is the documented EXPO sweet spot — higher speeds force the memory controller out of 1:1 mode and lose performance. On LGA1851, DDR5-7200+ scales further. Match the kit to the platform's known sweet spot rather than chasing peak MT/s.

Single rank vs dual rank, 2 DIMM vs 4 DIMM

Dual-rank kits (48 GB DIMMs in particular) deliver slightly more bandwidth but train at lower speeds. Populating 4 of 4 DIMM slots usually forces a downclock; for high-speed configurations, run 2 sticks.

ECC, RDIMM, and workstation memory

ECC UDIMM is supported on most AM5 motherboards (verify on the QVL); RDIMM/LRDIMM requires Threadripper or Xeon W. For local LLM inference and long-running compilation, ECC catches single-bit errors that silently corrupt data.

EXPO, XMP, and timing presets

Always enable the kit's EXPO (AMD) or XMP (Intel) profile in BIOS after install — JEDEC defaults run several speed grades slower. If POST fails on EXPO, drop to the next-lower preset before assuming the kit is bad.

How vsMars scores RAM

Each score combines DDR generation, capacity, speed (MT/s), CAS latency, and warranty/lifetime support per the methodology. See motherboards for QVL compatibility and CPUs for memory-controller specs.