Digital hardware enthusiasts all know that Intel and AMD will both release new generations of desktop processors in the second half of the year, namely the Arrow Lake-S series and the Ryzen 9000 series.
From the various performance evaluations currently known, the new generation of processors from both manufacturers show significant improvements. Additionally, Microsoft has been promoting AI, which has made many enthusiasts look forward to assembling a new platform host around 2025.
However, many enthusiasts are now focusing on the performance of the new processors and overlooking another very important issue: both Intel and AMD’s new platforms will no longer support DDR4 memory, but only DDR5 memory.
The performance differences between DDR4 and DDR5 memory in practical applications have been a hot topic in the digital community for the past few years, with ongoing debates. According to previous various evaluation results, the overall difference between the two is very small and not strongly perceptible.
In view of this, this article will compare them again with the following specific approach:
Two hosts will be used, with identical processors, graphics cards, and hard drives. One will use a DDR4 motherboard with DDR4-3600 MHz memory, and the other will use a DDR5 motherboard with DDR5-6200 MHz memory. The final gaming performance differences between the two platforms will be compared for your reference.
1. Test Platform Configuration DDR4 3600 and DDR5 6200
The main configurations are as follows:
The two platforms differ only in the motherboard and memory used, while other components are identical. The DDR4-3600 platform uses the ASUS ROG Strix B660-A Gaming WIFI D4 motherboard, and the DDR5-6200 platform uses the Gigabyte Z790 Gaming X AX DDR5 motherboard.
The processor is the Core i5-12400F, the graphics card is the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, and the hard drive is the ADATA XPG S40G. The operating system is Windows 10.
2. Game Performance Tests
The following tests seven games, all set to 1080P with the highest graphics quality. In the series of images below, the left side represents the DDR4-3600 platform, and the right side represents the DDR5-6200 platform.
Game 1: God of War
DDR4-3600 Platform:
- Average FPS: 154
- Minimum Instant FPS: 102
- Frame Time: 6.6ms
- CPU Usage: 91%
- Power Consumption: 57W
- Temperature: 71°C
- Memory Usage: 11.0GB
- GPU Usage: 53%
- VRAM Usage: 3.8GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 163W
- GPU Temperature: 53°C
DDR5-6200 Platform:
- Average FPS: 207
- Minimum Instant FPS: 110
- Frame Time: 4.7ms
- CPU Usage: 77%
- Power Consumption: 62W
- Temperature: 63°C
- Memory Usage: 9.2GB
- GPU Usage: 70%
- VRAM Usage: 3.6GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 198W
- GPU Temperature: 57°C
In this game, the DDR5-6200 platform has 14% lower CPU usage, 1.8GB lower memory usage, 17% higher GPU usage, and 0.2GB lower VRAM usage compared to the DDR4-3600 platform. The DDR5-6200 platform also achieves 53 more FPS on average, 8 more FPS at minimum, and about 2ms lower frame time, showing a significant overall advantage.
Game 2: Red Dead Redemption 2
DDR4-3600 Platform:
- Average FPS: 128
- Minimum Instant FPS: 80
- Frame Time: 6.0ms
- CPU Usage: 60%
- Power Consumption: 49W
- Temperature: 63°C
- Memory Usage: 11.9GB
- GPU Usage: 91%
- VRAM Usage: 5.2GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 237W
- GPU Temperature: 60°C
DDR5-6200 Platform:
- Average FPS: 141
- Minimum Instant FPS: 80
- Frame Time: 4.1ms
- CPU Usage: 61%
- Power Consumption: 57W
- Temperature: 57°C
- Memory Usage: 11.8GB
- GPU Usage: 94%
- VRAM Usage: 5.1GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 245W
- GPU Temperature: 61°C
In this game, the DDR5-6200 platform has a 1% higher CPU usage, almost identical memory usage, 3% higher GPU usage, and 0.1GB lower VRAM usage compared to the DDR4-3600 platform. The DDR5-6200 platform achieves 13 more FPS on average, identical minimum FPS, but about 2ms lower frame time, offering slightly better stability and smoothness.
Game 3: Ghostwire: Tokyo
DDR4-3600 Platform:
- Average FPS: 174
- Minimum Instant FPS: 130
- Frame Time: 6.5ms
- CPU Usage: 38%
- Power Consumption: 38W
- Temperature: 58°C
- Memory Usage: 12.2GB
- GPU Usage: 82%
- VRAM Usage: 4.1GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 199W
- GPU Temperature: 56°C
DDR5-6200 Platform:
- Average FPS: 193
- Minimum Instant FPS: 151
- Frame Time: 5.3ms
- CPU Usage: 33%
- Power Consumption: 44W
- Temperature: 52°C
- Memory Usage: 12.4GB
- GPU Usage: 88%
- VRAM Usage: 4.1GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 213W
- GPU Temperature: 59°C
In this game, the DDR5-6200 platform has 5% lower CPU usage, 0.2GB higher memory usage, 6% higher GPU usage, and identical VRAM usage compared to the DDR4-3600 platform. The DDR5-6200 platform achieves 19 more FPS on average, 21 more FPS at minimum, and about 1ms lower frame time, providing a small overall lead.
Game 4: Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0
DDR4-3600 Platform:
- Average FPS: 148
- Minimum Instant FPS: 61
- Frame Time: 7.2ms
- CPU Usage: 75%
- Power Consumption: 55W
- Temperature: 66°C
- Memory Usage: 16.2GB
- GPU Usage: 85%
- VRAM Usage: 14.6GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 205W
- GPU Temperature: 59°C
DDR5-6200 Platform:
- Average FPS: 169
- Minimum Instant FPS: 69
- Frame Time: 5.2ms
- CPU Usage: 82%
- Power Consumption: 64W
- Temperature: 63°C
- Memory Usage: 16.6GB
- GPU Usage: 83%
- VRAM Usage: 14.6GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 223W
- GPU Temperature: 60°C
In this game, the DDR5-6200 platform has 7% higher CPU usage, 0.4GB higher memory usage, 2% lower GPU usage, and equal VRAM usage compared to the DDR4-3600 platform. The DDR5-6200 platform achieves 21 more FPS on average, 8 more FPS at minimum, and about 2ms lower frame time, showing a slight overall lead.
Game 5: Hogwarts Legacy
DDR4-3600 Platform:
- Average FPS: 78
- Minimum Instant FPS: 45
- Frame Time: 9.8ms
- CPU Usage: 47%
- Power Consumption: 44W
- Temperature: 62°C
- Memory Usage: 20.2GB
- GPU Usage: 66%
- VRAM Usage: 9.9GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 180W
- GPU Temperature: 55°C
DDR5-6200 Platform:
- Average FPS: 94
- Minimum Instant FPS: 57
- Frame Time: 9.0ms
- CPU Usage: 42%
- Power Consumption: 50W
- Temperature: 57°C
- Memory Usage: 19.1GB
- GPU Usage: 76%
- VRAM Usage: 9.8GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 195W
- GPU Temperature: 57°C
In this game, the DDR5-6200 platform has 5% lower CPU usage, 1.1GB lower memory usage, 10% higher GPU usage, and 0.1GB lower VRAM usage compared to the DDR4-3600 platform. The DDR5-6200 platform achieves 16 more FPS on average, 12 more FPS at minimum, and nearly equal frame times, showing a slight overall lead.
Game 6: The Last of Us Part I
DDR4-3600 Platform:
- Average FPS: 98
- Minimum Instant FPS: 58
- Frame Time: 9.8ms
- CPU Usage: 95%
- Power Consumption: 61W
- Temperature: 67°C
- Memory Usage: 15.6GB
- GPU Usage: 73%
- VRAM Usage: 9.0GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 175W
- GPU Temperature: 55°C
DDR5-6200 Platform:
- Average FPS: 113
- Minimum Instant FPS: 67
- Frame Time: 6.8ms
- CPU Usage: 97%
- Power Consumption: 65W
- Temperature: 63°C
- Memory Usage: 15.2GB
- GPU Usage: 84%
- VRAM Usage: 9.1GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 196W
- GPU Temperature: 57°C
In this game, the DDR5-6200 platform has 2% higher CPU usage, 0.4GB lower memory usage, 11% higher GPU usage, and 0.1GB higher VRAM usage compared to the DDR4-3600 platform. The DDR5-6200 platform achieves 15 more FPS on average, 9 more FPS at minimum, and about 3ms lower frame time, showing a slight overall lead.
Game 7: Starfield
DDR4-3600 Platform:
- Average FPS: 73
- Minimum Instant FPS: 50
- Frame Time: 12.1ms
- CPU Usage: 78%
- Power Consumption: 56W
- Temperature: 67°C
- Memory Usage: 13.8GB
- GPU Usage: 88%
- VRAM Usage: 5.7GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 229W
- GPU Temperature: 60°C
DDR5-6200 Platform:
- Average FPS: 86
- Minimum Instant FPS: 56
- Frame Time: 11.6ms
- CPU Usage: 69%
- Power Consumption: 60W
- Temperature: 61°C
- Memory Usage: 13.2GB
- GPU Usage: 98%
- VRAM Usage: 5.6GB
- GPU Power Consumption: 247W
- GPU Temperature: 62°C
In this game, the DDR5-6200 platform has 9% lower CPU usage, 0.6GB lower memory usage, 10% higher GPU usage, and 0.1GB lower VRAM usage compared to the DDR4-3600 platform. The DDR5-6200 platform achieves 13 more FPS on average, 6 more FPS at minimum, and nearly equal frame times, showing a slight overall lead.
3. Comparative Conclusion
Based on the above test results, the performance difference between the DDR5-6200 platform and the DDR4-3600 platform is quite evident. The average FPS is generally higher by about ten frames, the minimum instant FPS is also slightly higher, and the frame times are generally lower by a few milliseconds.
Therefore, the overall smoothness and stability of the DDR5-6200 platform are significantly better, providing a noticeably improved experience. It’s no longer a case of “not perceiving a difference”; the improvements can indeed be felt and experienced.
In most games, the DDR5-6200 platform shows significantly lower CPU usage than the DDR4-3600 platform, similar or lower memory usage, and notably higher GPU performance (GPU usage).
Additionally, it’s important to emphasize that even DDR5-6200 memory is somewhat outdated and not the first choice for purchase anymore. The mainstream DDR5 memory frequencies on the market have reached 7000MHz and above. Currently, a 32GB DDR5-7200 memory kit is priced around a thousand yuan, and its performance advantage is expected to be even greater.
The final conclusion is that if the budget allows and the goal is to pursue the best experience, DDR4 memory platforms should no longer be considered. Configurations like a Core i5-14700K with a D4 version B660 motherboard and DDR4 memory are now strongly discouraged.
Instead, it is advisable to go directly for a new platform with DDR5 memory. Although this configuration comes with a higher overall cost, it is definitely worth the investment.
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