With the Ryzen 7 7800X3D holding its own as the fastest gaming CPU that money can buy in 2024 even as it trades at a discount versus most of its high-end peers, users are finally looking at an affordable next-generation AMD X3D-enabled experience. This generation, however, does see AMD switching out sockets altogether (for a newer AM5 socket) and using DDR5 memory as a newer, singular platform requirement, which requires new users and AMD veterans alike to switch out both their motherboards and memory for the latest versions available to maximize their gains.
It continues to hold its own even as the recently-launched AMD Ryzen 9000 series CPUs offer better IPC counts and a revamped Zen architecture under the hood but are unable to overturn the benefit that the stacked L3 cache offers the Zen 4 chip which continues to be the hottest CPU for gamers since it launched over a year ago.
Getting the most out of AMD’s Zen 4 CPUs involves choosing relevant DDR5 RAM modules that support its newer EXPO standards. To allow users to have a more uniform experience and get the expected levels of performance, AMD has come up with its version of higher-clocked memory standards (EXPO) that deliver tighter timings than Intel’s requirements to ensure better performance on its DDR5-based motherboards and CPUs.
Unlike Intel’s XMP standards, these are open-source and publicly available for testing modules and their compatibility with EXPO requirements and certification.
Note: For its part, the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D already employs a larger 96MB of extremely fast L3 cache under the hood so it is considerably more flexible (or in other words, has less of a performance impact) when it comes to slower or higher latency memory modules. The difference is, however present and given that the 7800X3D happens to be the performance part of choice at the time of writing, many users do invest in better memory modules to get better performance out of the box.
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G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB (AMD Expo)
Best Overall Gaming RAM for AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
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Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz C36
Best RGB Gaming RAM for AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
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G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal Neo 32GB
Best Premium Gaming RAM for AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
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XPG LANCER RGB DDR5 64GB
Best Productivity-Centric Gaming RAM for AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
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G.Skill Flare X5 Series (AMD Expo) 6000MHz 32GB (CL36)
Best Budget Gaming RAM for AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
The Best Gaming RAM For AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
The G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 6000MHz CL30 kit above comes with all the ingredients that make some of the best RAM modules money can buy. They come in a 32GB trim which is the relatively new accepted standard of “adequate” RAM for gaming, given that games are already pushing Windows-based PCs past 16GB, which was the previous sweet spot, with relative ease at higher resolutions.
The Trident Z Neo is one of many offerings from G.Skill, and it offers a mix of value for money, low latencies on offer and an acceptable clock speed, all of which allows gamers, power users and enthusiasts alike to benefit from modules that work well with all AM5 CPUs to date.
The G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 6000MHz CL30 (AMD Expo) kit is excellent for most use cases including gaming and productivity with its RGB lighting and availability in 2 distinct colors making it a great aesthetic addition in most modern PC builds in 2024.
The G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB kit above also overclocks fairly well versus the competition and comes with a lifetime warranty for users worried about it failing in the near future versus other lesser-known brands.
While the Trident Z5 Neo RGB kit is slightly pricier than similarly configured non-RGB RAM options, they are fairly competent as an offering in terms of value for money in their own price range, making it an easy-to-suggest option that also comes in a well-priced 64GB kit with similar timings. This, coupled with its easy-to-control RGB lighting on offer, makes it a no-brainer recommendation as the best overall RAM modules for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
The Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CL36 kit is a capable AMD-certified set of memory modules that offers a relatively tight CAS latency to some of its competition. It also offers excellent compatibility thanks to many motherboard vendors checking and rating these for various QVLs (Qualified Vendor Lists) for their respective AMD offerings.
With a built-in AMD EXPO profile and excellent control over the preset profiles, you can add or remove the RAM modules in addition to fine-grained control over the kit’s RGB lighting. Not only does the Vengeance RGB arguably look better than the competition, but it also has the customization enthusiasts might demand, both in terms of looks and overclockability.
The Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CL36 kit is ideal for budget no-nonsense gamers wanting RGB RAM.
With a significant price cut, Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 32GB 6000MHz CL36 kit looks considerably more appealing than it did a few months ago while retaining its position as the best alternate RGB DDR5 memory for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D (and potentially any subsequent X3D-based Ryzen 7000 series launches). Plus, it continues to be market-competitive in pricing and an attractive alternative to most of its direct competition.
The recently released G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal Neo happens to be one of the most premium DDR5 RAM sticks gamers and enthusiasts can buy for their AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU as they merge the looks of the older DDR4-based Royal lineup from G.Skill with some of the features of G.Skill’s DDR5 ‘For-AMD’ offerings in a package that comes in 2 different colors (Silver and Gold) and with 3 different clock speeds and latencies in play.
For users wanting excellent performance with a limited premium in play, both the CL28 6000MT/s and the CL30 6400MT/s kits suffice, with the latter being slightly cheaper than the one featured above.
The G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal Neo lineup targets enthusiasts, power users, and gamers who focus on looks as a priority as it aims to be the best at all of the above in its price class.
For those wanting the highest clocked DDR5 RAM available to them with a built-in EXPO profile, an 8000MHz SKU is also on offer with a slightly loose CAS latency in play (CL38) at a sub $70 premium. All SKUs come with built-in support for AMD’s current and future AM5-based CPUs even as they offer a premium feel, excellent overclockability and a large list of compatible motherboards to meet aesthetic and performance needs alike.
The XPG LANCER RGB DDR5 6400MHz CL32 64GB kit offers multiple features that other gaming-centric memory on this list skips, which makes it a more reliable option for users and creators wanting performance and stability in games and productivity applications alike.
It comes in a handier 64GB trim while keeping its latency low with a CAS32 rating for its timing with an advertised clock speed of 6400MHz and a lower 1.35V voltage in play. It also incorporates tolerance for a broader spectrum of DDR5 RAM voltages even as the key reason that sets it apart from its peers is its support for ECC out of the box (requiring a supporting motherboard), which offers additional stability that productivity users in particular covet.
The XPG LANCER RGB DDR5 6400MHz CL32 64GB kit caters to creators and performance users who often deploy applications and workloads that directly benefit from ECC support at an on-die level.
The XPG LANCER RGB DDR5 6400MHz CL32 64GB kit does trade at a premium versus other 64GB DDR5 RAM kits that work with AMD’s AM5 CPUs and does cater in specific to users who find themselves with a 7800X3D but need high capacity ECC RAM to meet their needs, a niche that does exist especially in game development circles in particular.
The G.Skill Flare X5 Series 6000MHz 32GB is an excellent AMD-optimized DDR5 kit that should work well with users’ AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D upgrade without costing them an arm and a leg, unlike some of its competitors. While it skips RGB altogether for a more generic look, this means that it can be used in PCs with more subtle RGB effects than in the competition. It also supports AMD’s EXPO profiles. This means it comes tweaked out of the box to support AMD’s stated sweet spot of 6000MHz clock speed at decent CAS latency (CL36 (36-36-36-96)).
The G.Skill Flare X5 Series 6000MHz 32GB is ideal for budget gamers and minimalist builds.
While the Flare X5 kit isn’t the cheapest DDR5 memory that money can buy, even as prices exhibit a downward trend, it is a capable kit that is optimized for AMD’s Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series offerings. Most users upgrading to a Ryzen 7 7800X3D are expected to benefit more from using AMD’s own EXPO profiles versus the memory’s default clock speeds.
The Flare X5 kit has seen an extensive price cut that only further cements it as an excellent alternate, budget-oriented upgrade that gamers should consider. It also comes in a tighter timing trim that users can benefit from at the same cost, in addition to a higher capacity alternative for gamers and professionals looking for more from an unassuming RAM offering in 2024.
For users looking for one of the cheapest RAM kits that simply works with the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, the Crucial RAM 8GB DDR5 4800MHz CL40 sticks are a handy find and a great temporary replacement at under $25 a pop.
They do come slightly crippled in terms of clock speeds and latency versus the other options on the list as a result, but given that the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D doesn’t suffer as much in terms of performance as its non-X3D alternatives, much of that performance issue (that still persists) with games are mitigated slightly by the presence of a larger L3 cache on AMD’s fastest octa-core gaming CPU to date.
The Crucial RAM 8GB DDR5 4800MHz CL40 RAM sticks are great for testing an ongoing build or working as a spare RAM kit for a rainy day.
While most users would be better off going with the Flare X5 above on a budget, the Crucial memory sticks do work, albeit with a performance penalty that most users would be unwilling to pay given the cost of and the focus of the CPU on gaming in particular. Others needing a temporary fix or a spare RAM stick might find Crucial’s offering a convenient no-nonsense play that doesn’t burn a hole through their wallet, warranting a second look.
Note: The Crucial RAMs also come in a higher clocked 5600MHz trim for an additional $1 which does eliminate most of the performance concerns some users might have including those not willing to manually overclock their RAM modules.
AMD’s EXPO: What Makes It Good To Have?
AMD’s EXPO, also known as AMD’s Extended Profiles for Overclocking, is AMD’s new terminology for the memory profiles it assigns to RAM that runs optimized for its hardware at specific memory timings and clocks. This allows AMD to offer both better voltage control than current-generation XMP profiles and custom profiles based on what it determines are the needs of its processors at certain frequencies.
Intel’s Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) has been previously used as a benchmark to allow for AMD-focused DOCP profiles. This, however, does not extend to DDR5, where AMD is moving forward with its official certification process. There is a separate tiered set of AMD-specific RAM being pushed by multiple memory manufacturers that cater specifically to AMD’s AM5 platform.
AMD’s EXPO is exclusive to DDR5 and essentially replaces Intel’s XMP profiles, which were supplanted by ASUS’s DOCP profiles when AMD’s AM4-based CPUs needed a similar option for DDR4 RAM in the past. Having EXPO RAM essentially means that users are guaranteed a better, trouble-free experience, running RAM modules at tested overclocked frequencies and timings. Thanks to AMD’s easy-to-use self-certification tools, it is expected that an increasing number of DDR5 RAM modules in the coming days will have certified EXPO profiles by default.
While some enthusiasts and overclockers might not find EXPO of much use as they attempt to eke out higher clocks or better performance from their existing DRAM modules, for most users, it is a handy baseline of what a RAM kit or stick can do out of the box and a great way to determine the limitations of memory modules in terms of potential performance down the line. It is essentially a more AMD-centric version of XMP and makes it easy for users to know what kind of memory modules they are buying.
Note: Some memory module manufacturers such as Corsair also allow for programmable EXPO profiles via its iCUE application for its existing (and compatible) DDR5 memory making it easy to tweak things for advanced users. They also make RAM modules that conform to both XMP and EXPO standards at similar clock speeds and latencies which can make picking a compatible set of memory a much easier affair than it previously was due to limited EXPO memory offerings at launch.
Picking The Best Gaming RAM For The Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Picking the best gaming memory for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a relatively simple task, but it can seem overwhelming simply because of the sheer number of choices currently on offer to end users. The team at Game Rant has picked some of the best choices based on the following considerations:
Clock Speeds: Memory clock speeds dictate the amount of data that can be transmitted over any period on DDR5 memory. While the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is less sensitive to memory needs compared to most Ryzen 7000 series CPUs thanks to its large L3 cache, it does still retain performance gains from higher memory clock speeds than some of its competing Intel processor alternatives.
Latency: Lower latency memory generally allows AMD’s Zen 4 cores to access data faster. This in turn means that lower latency memory delivers more favorable performance across the board for AMD CPUs in general because of how the Infinity Fabric design works. An ideal EXPO memory kit has the lowest latency possible to allow faster gaming performance even as clock speed performance gains cap out at around 6400 MHz for AMD’s Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
Capacity: Modern games require ever-increasing amounts of memory. While 8GB or 16GB of RAM previously sufficed for high-end gaming needs, many titles currently demand as much as 24GB or 32GB of memory to perform optimally. Users should aim for DDR5 memory kits that meet or exceed the current capacity requirements for the games they currently play or intend to play soon.
AMD EXPO Compatibility: For gamers looking for a one-button tweak to their RAM kit, AMD’s EXPO profiles offer the equivalent of Intel’s XMP RAM profiles. This allows users to know what particular overclocks and memory profiles work on their particular set of memory while offering an AMD CPU-centric tweaked version of the RAM’s profile as a result.
AMD’s previous AM4-based CPUs favor moderate to high clocks and lower latency. AM5 offerings seem to follow suit, despite AMD AGESA firmware updates that allow for AMD’s higher-end CPUs and chipsets to push clocks to 8200 MHz and beyond. However, most AMD-centric EXPO-certified kits tend to sit under 7000 MHz currently even as tweakers push past these limits in experiments that tend to benefit other AM5-based CPUs in particular.
Conclusion
Gaming memory is only a part of the discussion when you are looking to build your gaming PC. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is expected to be here for a long time as a PC gaming favorite, given its unique price compared to performance. You would also need adequate cooling to take care of the processor (which does not ship with a thermal solution by default) to ensure it delivers unthrottled, sustained performance.
Part of what will enable the Ryzen 7 7800X3D to shine will be an excellent motherboard that can handle the processor’s power needs. This will allow gamers, creators, and enthusiasts to take advantage of the latest in tech with what is a formidable gaming processor in 2024.
FAQ
Q: Is it worth switching to DDR5 memory?
DDR5 memory is historically cheaper now than it has ever been since its launch. The same is true for most mainstream DDR4 offerings as well as NAND flash in general, with SSDs receiving numerous price cuts as we deal with cheaper storage and memory offerings. That being said, an upgrade to DDR5 is mandatory for the AM5 platform, given that AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series processors work with chipsets that only support DDR5 memory.
While users can put off a DDR4 memory upgrade to a later date if they go Intel in terms of CPU choices, AMD’s faster Ryzen 7 7800X3D only works with DDR5 memory currently. This makes it a relative no-brainer to upgrade to the newer, faster RAM modules at a time when they are trading at deeper discounts than ever before.
Q: What is AMD EXPO?
AMD’s EXPO stands for ‘Extended Profiles for Overclocking’ and is AMD’s version of Intel’s XMP memory overclock profiles but tweaked to allow better performance gains from AMD’s latest Ryzen 7000 and 9000 Series processors. It is exclusive to DDR5 and is an open standard, meant for more mass adoption down the line.
Q: Why is CAS latency important for RAM?
In a nutshell, CAS latency is the delay incurred before a system’s CPU can access the memory that it is paired with. As performance becomes key and we deal with larger sets of data, having more responsive memory means better and more stable performance both in games and productivity applications.
Q: Is Intel XMP better than AMD’s EXPO?
Intel’s XMP standard is not a new standard like AMD’s EXPO, but it is not superior or inferior in any way to AMD’s own EXPO guidelines. This is because while XMP is a more well-known standard when it comes to memory overclocks, AMD’s EXPO, which is exclusive so far to DDR5 RAM modules only emphasizes tighter timings for Rams at certain clock speeds only for AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series.
This could primarily be due to AMD’s recent reliance on certain levels of memory-related latency and clock optimizations to bring the best out of its Zen architecture-based processors, which sees it push as much as an 11% gain in certain tasks and games when used with supporting memory.