Introduction
AMD‘s Ryzen 7 7800X3D has been a massive success in the PC gaming space. After a lukewarm reception from the Ryzen 9 3D SKUs, the 7800X3D seems like a much stronger value proposition in comparison. Consumers can expect excellent long-lasting performance in all modern games, even at the high-end, when 4K and Ray-Tracing are thrown into the mix.
Whilst this CPU isn’t the strongest option for workstation or productivity tasks, gaming is an absolute breeze for this processor, and we can expect performance to last in modern games for a significant amount of time. But with any CPU release, one of the big questions you should ask yourself, is what RAM do you need to pair up with your shiny new processor?
Can the 7800X3D function with a low latency kit of DDR5 RAM, or are consumers better off picking out a higher-end kit to provide some longevity and better performance? We’ll be answering these very questions with a roundup of the best RAM kits to pair up with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
Suggested Article: Best CPU Coolers for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Our Recommendations
1. Kingston Fury BEAST Black DDR5
👑 The best budget DDR5 kit.
Introduction
First up in our roundup is Kingston‘s Fury BEAST, which is a 16GB kit utilising the DDR5 spec. This more minimalist style kit is one of the best priced options currently on the market, sitting below $100 which is quite a rarity for DDR5 in general. This makes it ideal for consumers on a more restrictive budget, especially if you’re just looking for an entry point onto the AM5 platform.
The Fury BEAST kit is a higher latency option, which is the biggest caveat to picking up this kit. This does mean that performance will be rather similar to DDR4 in most cases, but the lower price will be a big decider for the majority of consumers. Although performance isn’t incredible, this kit serves as a great entry point, or a stop-gap for those that plan on picking up a beefier kit later down the line.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | Kingston Fury BEAST Black |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Speed | 5600MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL40 |
| Capacity | 16GB (2x8GB) |
| Colour | Black |
| RGB | No |
Things We Like
Solid price point: DDR5 is pretty reasonably priced at the moment contrasting to prices we saw last year, but a sub-$100 price tag is pretty rare. The Fury BEAST comes in at around $70, which is an excellent price for those on a restrictive budget.
Serves as an entry point: The biggest benefit of picking up this kit, is that it serves as a great entry for those looking to build a Ryzen 7000 system. If you’re not happy with the performance metrics, you could always grab a better kit in the future.
Things We Don’t Like
Performance isn’t incredible: Due to this being a cheaper kit, the latency is pretty high, and the clock speed is quite low. Although the 7800X3D isn’t really a ‘workhorse’ CPU, if you plan on doing some productivity tasks, you’ll want to pick up a kit with improved specs.
Doesn’t offer much for aesthetic: If you’re the kind of consumers that cares about flair, or you’re building a PC with a particular style in mind, this kit might not be the best option. The all-black aesthetic will blend in relatively well, but there’s no fancy lighting or additional flair that comes with these DIMMs.
Summary
Kingston’s Fury BEAST is one of the cheapest and most budget-friendly kits on the DDR5 market right now, sitting well below the $100 mark. This isn’t the flashiest or highest performance option that we’ve seen, but it serves as a great entry point for those looking to build a Ryzen 7000 system on the cheap.
Design: 3.8/5
Speed: 3.9/5
Latency: 3.9/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Pros
- Great price point.
- Serves as a solid entry point for Ryzen 7000.
- Perfect for budget systems.
Cons
- Relatively weak performance.
- Doesn’t offer much for aesthetic or flair.
Where to Buy
Buy the Kingston Fury BEAST DDR5 Black Kit on:
2. Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 White
👑 The best 32GB kit.
Introduction
Next up in our roundup is Corsair‘s Vengeance RGB DDR5! We’ve given this kit the award of the ‘best 32GB‘ option, because it offers a nice balance of specs, whilst still maintaining a relatively low price across the board. This kit does breach the $100 mark, but not by a lot. Ultimately you are spending more here contrasting to DDR5, but the improvements in performance will be worth it in certain instances.
AMD CPUs have always benefitted from high speed memory, so having faster clock speeds, and tighter response times with a lower latency will improve responsiveness in general, and in a multitude of applications. Not only this, but each DIMM features ten-zone RGB lighting, allowing you to spice up your build with customisable lighting effects and colours. All of which can be done within Corsair’s industry-leading iCUE software.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | Corsair Vengeance RGB White |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Speed | 5600MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL36 |
| Capacity | 32GB (2x16GB) |
| Colour | White |
| RGB | Yes |
Things We Like
Reasonably priced: Although this isn’t the cheapest kit on the market, I’d argue that it sits at a pretty reasonable price point considering the performance metrics and design.
Solid performance: The Corsair Vengeance DDR5 kit doesn’t have the quickest speeds we’ve seen, but it offers relatively solid performance for gaming. The tighter response times makes this kit perfect for modern games.
Things We Don’t Like
Not ideal for workstation applications: The Vengeance DDR5 kit offers decent performance when it comes to gaming, but the lower latency and slower speeds compared to other options will hinder this RAM kit when pushed harder with more intense loads.
iCUE requires a lot of fiddling: In my experience, although Corsair iCUE is very intuitive to use, the constant need for updates tends to break lighting and colour configurations. If you’ve setup any custom configs we’d recommend saving them to ensure you don’t load them after an inevitable patch or update.
Summary
Corsair’s Vengeance RGB kit is an excellent option for those playing modern games, that want to add some extra flair to their system. This set of DIMMs sits at a relatively reasonable price point and offers some longevity for those wanting to keep their system relevant for the next few years.
Design: 4.3/5
Speed: 3.9/5
Latency: 4.1/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Pros
- Awesome RGB design.
- Solid gaming performance.
- Offers longevity for modern games.
Cons
- Won’t be great for workstation applications.
- Pricier than other kits.
Where to Buy
Buy the Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 White Kit on:
3. G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO
👑 The best value EXPO kit.
Introduction
For our third selection we’ve picked out G.Skill’s Trident Z5 Neo EXPO kit, a set of DIMMs that offers excellent clock speeds and latency across the board. G.Skill has been a mainstay in the memory space for quite some time offering some of the best kits that we’ve ever had our hands on, designed to withstand high intensity workloads, or plenty of overclocking.
Enthusiasts will remember G.Skills Trident Z Royal DDR4 kits that could be overclocked to 4000MHz, which is insane, considering the standard nowadays is around 3600MHz at the top-end. Regardless, this EXPO kit pretty much follows suit with G.Skill’s older options with performance optimised and geared towards the high-end side of PC building for workstations or high performance gaming alike.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Speed | 6000MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL30 |
| Capacity | 32GB (2x16GB) |
| Colour | Black |
| RGB | No |
Things We Like
Designed for top-end systems: This kit offers tight response times and high clock speeds designed to handle productivity workloads. If you plan on pushing your system harder with some complicated workloads, this kit will be able to offer some extra performance.
Easy to overclock: AMD’s EXPO memory kits offer a simple ‘one-click’ memory profile to improve latency and clock speed. All you need to do is go into your BIOS and enable the EXPO profile, and you’ll see extra performance in a variety of applications.
Things We Don’t Like
Very expensive: High performance, along with picking a brand comes with a premium. Due to the metrics of this kit, along with G.Skill’s renowned reputation, consumers can expect to pay a hefty price for this particular kit.
Not the best performing kit on the market: If you plan on building the best DDR5 system money can buy, this isn’t the best kit to choose. G.Skill does offer a range of CL28 RAM that can improve performance even further with tighter response times.
Summary
G.Skill’s Trident Z5 Neo is one of the best kits on the market if you’re looking to push your system to the max with complicated workloads or high-end gaming. It is a rather pricey kit contrasting to higher latency options that we’ve seen, but is definitely worth taking a look at if you’re considering longevity or looking for some of the best performance money can buy.
Design: 4/5
Speed: 4.5/5
Latency: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Pros
- Awesome gaming and workstation performance.
- Easy to setup EXPO profile.
- 32GB will last a long time.
Cons
- Doesn’t offer much on the design front.
- Very expensive.
Where to Buy
Buy the G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO Kit on:
4. Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO
👑 The best high performance EXPO kit.
Introduction
Our final selection of this roundup is the second EXPO kit to feature in this buyers guide, offering excellent speeds, and improved response times all with a one-click XMP profile. AMD EXPO memory kits are purposefully designed to benefit the new Ryzen CPUs by reducing latencies with a very simple XMP profile. These profiles are both extremely easy to utilise, and give you extra benefits with a click of a button.
This particular kit offers a clock speed of 6000MHz with a latency of CL30, which is one of the best latency speeds for DDR5. We’ve seen rumours of CL28 and CL26 kits, but CL30 seems to be the fastest mainstream option you can buy. This effectively means that the Corsair Vengeance EXPO kit is one of the best set of DIMMs to pick up if you plan on pushing your system harder with some more intense workloads.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Speed | 6000MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL30 |
| Capacity | 32GB (2x16GB) |
| Colour | Black |
| RGB | Yes |
Things We Like
Top-end performance: The Corsair Vengeance EXPO kit is one of the best options money can buy, offering excellent performance for a top-end system. If you need high-end RAM for a workstation-based system, this kit will be a go-to option for many consumers.
Great RGB lighting: Much like the previous Corsair Vengeance kit, this set of EXPO DIMMs also offers ten-zone RGB lighting which can be configured and customised within Corsair’s iCUE software.
Things We Don’t Like
Rather expensive: As we start to look at lower latency kits with higher clock speeds, pricing starts to jump up by a fair margin. This Corsair Vengeance EXPO kit is not a cheap option, and consumers will need to spend around $150 or more to secure this RAM.
Only worth it for workstations: As a general rule, DDR5 is a fair bit faster than DDR4 even at the lower-end. These top-end high performance kits are only worth it if you’re planning on pushing your PC with intense workstation applications, most cheaper kits will be perfectly fine for gaming.
Summary
Corsair‘s Vengeance EXPO kit is one of the best high performance options on the market offering a great clock speed with tight response times and latency. This is a pricier option contrasting to the rest of the market, but definitely worth a consideration if you’re planning on building a top-end PC with productivity applications in mind.
Design: 4.3/5
Speed: 4.5/5
Latency: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Pros
- Excellent gaming and workstation performance.
- Solid RGB lighting.
- Not the most expensive kit.
Cons
- Rather expensive.
- Only needed for workstations.
Where to Buy
Buy the Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO Kit on:
Is the Ryzen 7 7800X3D Any Good?
AMD’s Ryzen 7000 launch has been a bit of a ‘mixed bag’ you could argue. But within the poor value options, there are some diamonds in the rough so to speak that are actually worth picking up for a modern gaming system. Amongst them is the Ryzen 7 7800X3D which we’re expecting to be the last CPU to launch on this initial first platform.
Speaking of value and performance, where does the 7800X3D stand? Well, as we’ve alluded to, the 7800X3D is an absolute beast when it comes to gaming. Consumers can expect to be able to play all of their favourite triple A titles at max settings when paired up with the right graphics card. The 3D V-Cache that sits on top of the processor is responsible for the major uplift in gaming performance, as the CPU can process instructions much quicker through the cache as opposed to RAM. Considering the price of this CPU, it offers a very strong value proposition in the PC gaming space.
However, there are some pretty big caveats. The biggest is that you can’t overclock this CPU. Due to the temperature limitations of the 3D V-Cache, core multiplier overclocking has been disabled, but this also means that cooling should be much easier to sustain without an insane tower or radiator. Another major caveat is workstation performance. Although this CPU can handle workstation applications pretty well, the 3D V-Cache isn’t required by a multitude of productivity software, so there won’t be any major performance benefits. This means that there are better options that are equipped to handle even more complex workloads.
Do I Need a Low Latency Kit?
Ultimately, this depends. For gaming, the vast majority of CL40, or CL36 kits will be perfectly fine for modern games. This may change over time, especially as gaming performance demands increase. However, CL40 kits perform pretty similarly to DDR4 when its just for games. Ultimately, the biggest decider for gaming performance will be your CPU and GPU, so RAM doesn’t tend to have a significant impact even if you’re increasing the clock speed too. If anything, you have a bigger risk of facing instability problems when pushing your RAM to the end of it’s limit.
If we start to look at workstation performance, this is when lower latency kits start to become all the more important. Although the 7800X3D isn’t necessarily geared towards productivity tasks, it can hold it’s own pretty well. And if you’re looking to max out your performance, you’ll definitely need a low latency kit. Lower latencies effectively means that your RAM can deal with the instructions from your CPU in a much more effective manner, resulting in a performance uplift. But keep in mind, you’ll only see the benefit of this is your CPU gains an advantage from faster RAM.
Why You Can Trust Us
After taking a look at our recommendations of the best RAM to pair with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, you’re probably wondering what makes us qualified to choose components for your PC. Well, our team of geeks and enthusiasts put a plethora of hours into testing all of the components and products that we get into our office. We use a multitude of gaming and productivity benchmarks to gain a well-rounded and concrete understanding of the advantages and caveats of each product. For those interested in learning more about our team head over to the About Us section!
How We Tested RAM for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D
In order to test and evaluate the best RAM for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D there are a number of factors that we take into account, these are:
- Latency
- Clock Speed
- Design
- Value for Money
Conclusion
Best RAM for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D: Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO
The best RAM to pair up with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is Corsair‘s Vengeance RGB EXPO kit. This set of DIMMs strikes a fine balance between performance, aesthetic, and pricing. Consumers can expect tight response times due to the one-click EXPO profile, with a great clock speed that should provide an uplift in performance, compared to other kits. It is a pricier option, but the main benefit you gain is longevity and a solid set of frames in your favourite games. Not to mention that the RGB lighting looks awesome!
Read our full Ryzen 7000 coverage, or Buy the Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO kit on Amazon
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use DDR4 RAM with Ryzen 7000?
In short, no. Ryzen 7000 motherboards exclusively use DDR5 slots with no alternative DDR4 compatibility options. Make sure you pick up a kit of DDR5 RAM for your Ryzen 7000 build.
Is the 7800X3D Good for Workstation Applications?
Yes, and no. Although the 7800X3D can handle intense productivity software, CPUs with higher core and thread counts might be a better option, as the 3D V-Cache doesn’t really provide a performance bonus for these applications.
Is it Difficult to Overclock RAM?
EXPO overclocking or XMP profiles tend to be very simple to setup, and only tend to require a quick trip to your BIOS. Optimised manual overclocking will take time, effort, and expertise to setup.
How Much RAM Do I Need for Gaming?
Generally, 16GB of RAM will be perfectly fine for the majority of modern games. However, 32GB might become the new normal in the future, as this is the standard spec for the majority of DDR5 kits.
