Upgrading During the DRAM Apocalypse with AMD's $75 CPU

[Shirley Dulcey]

Another scenario where AM4 can make sense is if you currently have a non-gaming PC that has an adequate amount of DDR4 RAM, reducing the cost of that component to zero. Or you have some DDR4 sticks lying around. If the RAM cost is $0 vs $330, that AM4 platform is looking really good; the AM4 motherboard is also cheaper, bringing the total system price delta close to $400.

 

[Hotlynx16]

DDR4 prices are getting silly in the UK for 8GB sticks and above (2666 and faster). Tried a few second hand sticks but could only get 32GB to work (the other 3 16GB sticks wouldn't post). Oh well will get the money back but really wanted to max out the motherboard (only supports up to 64GB). Plenty of games will still run happily and nothing new looks that interesting at the moment.

Here in the US I bought two sticks of G-Skill 32GB 3600 in 2024 for $118 now they are double that price!

 

[yukka]

Yes, buddy. I guess you are the only one that don't see a 30% - 40% drop in performance then. That you have to enable up-scaling & frame gen, just to make it playable in most cases.

I mean, I can play Darktide at 120fps @3440x1440p with full ray tracing and VRR, literally melting enemies in their hundreds in a disco of blood, explosions, fire and clouds of volumetric smoke etc etc. I’ve been playing games since the 90s and had a voodoo 1 card to play quake. I’m older now and I’ve got a 4070ti super after spending 2021-2025 with a 3060ti. It’s great. Honestly just wow. So good. Cyberpunk with path tracing and frame gen and DLSS transformer model on performance. Looks outstanding. Indiana Jones looks like a movie. Dont know what to tell you. Fake pixels. Yeah. The fake pixels look pretty great

 

[DirtyLoad]

If you're upgrading AM4, dont get a 5500. Get a 5600. The price difference isnt that big, and the performance is always better with a 5600. Sometimes only a bit, but sometimes by a huge amount!

https://www.techspot.com/review/2494-amd-ryzen-5500/

That halfed L3 cache really hurts the 5500.

The L3 and pcie 3.0. That's why I have a 5600. They are priced at $130ish, but you can find them used too.