Depending on the type of memory connected to the motherboard with the Intel 600 series chipset, this informs the Intel Core 12 which of the two IMCs to use to connect to the RAM. However, the controversy between using one type of RAM or another stems from the fact that while DDR5 offers higher bandwidth, it has higher latency at the same time. This is important because a processor is often more sensitive to latency than to bandwidth for performance.
In any case, it should be noted that there are applications that depend on bandwidth for better performance. Although for the vast majority of you reading this you will surely be wondering how the Intel Core 12 performs in DDR4 or DDR5 when playing games.
Intel Core 12 performance in DDR4 and DDR5
Games are the type of application that is used the most frequently and consumes the most resources of the PC they are running on, so they are the best way to test the performance of a hardware because it is not. synthetic references that measure specific parts, but are real applications for everyday use.
For this, the performance information of i9-12900K was taken using different types of DDR4 and DDR5 running various games in Full HD resolution:
- DDR4-3200 with latencies 14-18-118-26 and speed 1.
- DDR4-3600 with latencies 16-20-20-34 and speed 1.
- DDR4-4000 with latencies 19-23-23-42 and speed 2.
- DDR4-4400 with latencies 19-26-26-26 and speed 2.
- DDR5-6000 with latencies 36-36-36-76 and speed 2.
We have to take into account that the DDR5 used in the comparison has a slightly lower latency which can go up to 40-40-40-80, so we are interested in knowing what the relative performance is of using DDR4 instead of DDR5 on Intel Core 12.
Do not be fooled by the size of the bars, since the differences are really negligible, using DDR4-3200 for example reduces performance by 2%, although where it is affected the most is when talking about DDR4 which forces the memory controller into Gear 2 mode, where the loss of performance can be up to 5%
Data interpretation
Let’s not forget that in Gear 1 mode the memory controller is running at half the clock speed, which has the effect of increasing latency. In any case, we would have liked to see the performance of the DDR5-4800 which works in Gear 1 mode, since the DDR5-6000 in the comparison works in Gear 2.
Bottom line: Despite the fact that there is a depletion of DDR5, if you go for the cheapest DDR4 right now, you won’t notice a performance difference that is worth getting your hands on. Plus, many of you probably won’t want to pay the hidden tax that exists when adopting new technology like the new RAM standard.