Introduction
When putting together any PC build, there are a set of prerequisite components that you need to pick up to ensure that your system can function. Many consumers tend to start off with the CPU or Graphics Card to provide some idea of performance metrics, or to garner what kind of price the build might cost. This is an excellent place to start, but for many first-time builders you may forget about RAM.
RAM or memory, is one of the pivotal parts that will affect performance across your build whether you’re gaming, or if you’re pushing your system with more intense workloads. For those that aren’t entirely familiar with RAM, you’re faced with the choice between DDR5 and DDR4, a myriad of different latencies, speeds, capacities, and more.
In order to alleviate some of this confusion, we’re rounding up the best RAM to pair up with Intel’s Core i7 13700K. We’ve written a series of buyers guides with the best memory pairings for a range of CPUs to help consumers find the best value for money kits. We’ve taken a look at a range of options with DDR4 and DDR5 inclusions.
Suggested Article: Intel Core i7 13700K Review – Intel’s Hidden Performance Gem
Our Recommendations
1. Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro White DDR4
👑 The best budget kit.
Introduction
First up in our roundup is Corsair‘s Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 kit. We’ve utilised this particular kit in a number of builds in the past. Normally this kit would be reserved for particularly high-end systems, but because DDR4 RAM is so cheap right now, these DIMMs are worth picking up if you’re being a bit more restrictive with your component choices when it comes to price.
The Vengeance RGB Pro kit offers 16GB of capacity making it ideal for gaming, but not great for workstation systems, we’d recommend more RAM if you’re running a lot of VMs, or higher intensity workloads. The RGB PRO set of DIMMs also offers some night lighting options with multi-zone RGB, which can be customised using Corsair’s iCUE software.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | Product Name |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR4 |
| Speed | 3200MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL16 |
| Capacity | 16GB (2x8GB) |
| Colour | Black |
| RGB | Yes |
Things We Like
Solid RGB lighting: Corsair are one of the industry leading manufacturers when it comes to RGB lighting. Consumers can easily customise colour options and RGB effects using Corsair’s iCUE software, which can sync up lighting with other Corsair products.
Great pricing: DDR4 and DDR5 RAM is extremely cheap right now, which means you can pick up fancy kits, like this set of RGB Pro DIMMs, for very little. If you’re looking for higher-end kits on the cheap, these Corsair RGB Pro DIMMs are coming in at a very reasonable price point.
Things We Don’t Like
Not great for workstations: This isn’t a sleight against the kit itself but more the capacity. If you’re building a workstation system, you’ll want to pick up a higher capacity kit to handle more intense productivity workloads. This 16GB kit is more geared towards gaming as opposed to workstations.
DDR4 RAM will become deprecated: Although I don’t entirely believe in future proofing, with the higher demand we’ve seen recently to play triple A games, it might be worth jumping on the DDR5 train sooner rather than later to avoid missing out on better performance in your favourite games.
Summary
Corsair‘s Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB kit comes in at an incredible price point, making it ideal if you’re just looking to play games, or if you just need some cheaper RAM. It does have its limitations when it comes to workstation capability, but the performance and RGB is difficult to argue with at this price point, especially if you’re looking for a fancier DDR4 kit.
Design: 4/5
Speed: 3.8/5
Latency: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4.2/5
Pros
- Solid gaming performance.
- Excellent RGB lighting.
- Extremely cheap.
Cons
- Not great for workstation systems.
- DDR4 will become deprecated over time.
Where to Buy
Buy the Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro Kit on:
2. Kingston Fury BEAST Black DDR5
👑 The best budget DDR5 kit.
Introduction
Next up in our roundup is the first appearance of a DDR5 kit from Kingston, the Fury BEAST 16GB set of DIMMs. This rather plain looking kit is one of the best priced DDR5 options on the market right now sitting well below $100, making it perfect for those on a more price restrictive budget. This kit does offer a significant improvement to the clock speed, providing 5600MHz as opposed to the 3200MHz that we saw with the above Corsair kit.
Although there’s a massive improvement in speed here due to the higher CL40 latency, this kit is likely to perform very similarly (or worse) than the majority of modern DDR4 kits. Whilst this is somewhat disappointing, because DDR5 DIMMs are entirely different to DDR4, consumers have the option of upgrading to higher performance kits that do provide some future proofing capability for when we saw modern games become harder to run.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | Product Name |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Speed | 5600MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL40 |
| Capacity | 16GB (2x8GB) |
| Colour | Black |
| RGB | No |
Things We Like
A more modern option: Although DDR5 isn’t a requirement by any means, we are starting to see these new kits become more saturated in the market at much more reasonable prices. If you’re looking to prepare yourself for modern games, picking up a kit like the Fury BEAST will be ideal!
Solid pricing: RAM is going through a bit of a pricing ‘golden age’ and consumers can expect to pick up this particular kit for well below the $100 mark. If you’re looking to pick up DDR5 memory for the lowest amount possible, this kit is perfect!
Things We Don’t Like
Only good for gaming: Due to the higher latency and capacity of the Fury BEAST DDR5 kit, we would only recommend picking up these DIMMs if you’re building a gaming system. The Fury BEAST DDR5 set of DIMMs will struggle with higher intensity workstation applications.
Doesn’t offer much for aesthetic: If you’re the kind of consumer prioritising RGB lighting or fancy flair to make your system look nicer, this kit won’t be ideal. The plain black look with no RGB doesn’t add much when it comes to overall aesthetic.
Summary
The Kingston Fury BEAST DDR5 kit is perfect for consumers on a restrictive budget looking to play modern games. Although this isn’t the best or most optimised DDR5 kit, it offers a stop-gap for consumers looking to build a PC on the cheap and then upgrade later on. We recommend this kit for consumers focused on picking up current generation components on the cheap.
Design: 3.8/5
Speed: 4.2/5
Latency: 3.7/5
Value for Money: 3.9/5
Pros
- Ideal for a modern system.
- Great gaming performance.
- Very cheap.
Cons
- Performance only ideal for gaming.
- Doesn’t offer much in terms of aesthetic.
Where to Buy
Buy the Kingston FURY Beast DDR5 Kit on:
3. Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB White DDR5
👑 The best RGB kit.
Introduction
For our third kit, we’ve picked out Corsair‘s Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5 kit. This is another option that we’ve taken a look at, and recommend a plethora of times for high-end systems, either for gaming or workstations. The Dominator Platinum kit is one of the best looking options on the market, offering a spectacle of RGB lights with an industrial theme that can be picked up for either black or white, dependent on your preferences.
The biggest benefit of this particular kit, is that it is more geared towards high performance systems. The lower latency and higher megatransfer speed provides more options for consumers looking to build a top-end gaming or productivity PC, whilst offering plenty of flair too. Although this is a pricier option, the Dominator Platinum kit is well worth the money if you’re a consumer building a PC that demands high performance RAM, with the option of some RGB lighting to ease the cost.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | Product Name |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Speed | 5600MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL36 |
| Capacity | 32GB (2x16GB) |
| Colour | White |
| RGB | Yes |
Things We Like
Excellent RGB lighting: The Dominator Platinum SKU of Corsair RAM is arguably one of the best looking kits on the market. These DIMMs utilise 12 individually addressable RGBs which can be fully configured using Corsair’s iCUE software, allowing you to change colours and lighting effects with ease.
Ideal for workstations: The high capacity and improved latency makes this kit ideal for workstation systems. If you’re looking to push your PC harder with some productivity workloads, we’d recommend picking up this CL36 32GB kit.
Things We Don’t Like
Very expensive: As one of the best looking and highest performance kits on the market, the Dominator Platinum DIMMs drive a rather significant price. If you’re on a budget, we’d recommend steering clear of this kit, as it is definitely not a cheap option.
Size may cause clearance issues: The Dominator Platinum DIMMs are some of the biggest that consumers can pick up. If you’re building a system with a plethora of large components, you may face installation issues due to the clearance with this kit.
Summary
Whilst Corsair’s Dominator Platinum kit is one of the more expensive options on the market right now, it is definitely worth it for consumers building a top-end multifaceted system. The lower latency and higher speed makes this kit perfect for those playing games with maxed out settings, alongside productivity applications. The awesome RGB and industrial design also makes this kit a worthwhile consideration, somewhat making the high price easier to swallow.
Design: 4.5/5
Speed: 4.4/5
Latency: 4.2/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Pros
- Excellent RGB lighting and design.
- Perfect for top-end systems.
- Lighting is easy to configure.
Cons
- Very very expensive.
- Size may cause clearance problems.
Where to Buy
Buy the Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR5 Kit on:
4. Kingston Fury RENEGADE DDR5 White RGB
👑 The best high performance kit.
Introduction
For our final recommendation in this roundup, we’ve picked out another set of DIMMs from Kingston, the Fury RENEGADE DDR5 RGB kit. This set of white DIMMs comes in a multitude of capacities, we’ve opted for the 32GB DIMMs, because this is the sweet spot, and frankly 64GB is both overkill, and insanely expensive.
Much like the previously mentioned Dominator Platinum kit, the Fury RENEGADE DIMMs offer excellent performance with a speed of 6000MHz and a latency of CL32, keeping timings nice and crisp. Alongside this, the white DIMMs make this kit perfect for an all-white build, while also providing some awesome RGB lighting for those that like some addition flair within their system.
Key Specs
| Key Specs | Product Name |
|---|---|
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Speed | 6000MHz |
| CAS Latency | CL32 |
| Capacity | 32GB (2x16GB) |
| Colour | White |
| RGB | Yes |
Things We Like
Exceptional performance: The Fury RENEGADE kit offers exceptional XMP speeds, with great latency too. If you’re looking to build a top-end workstation PC, this will be the kit to pickup for all of your productivity application needs.
Solid aesthetic: The all-white design, and RGB lighting offer an awesome aesthetic. This kit is one of the better looking options on the market and offers some nice aesthetic for those looking to build a PC with plenty of flair.
Things We Don’t Like
Very pricey: This top-end kit comes with a significant premium, making it one of the more expensive options on the market. We would only recommend picking up this kit if you’re looking to build a high-end system, and you’ve got plenty of extra cash for better components.
Summary
Kingston‘s Fury RENGEADE RGB kit is one of the best options on the market for a multifaceted system. It is pricier, contrasting to some other kits that we’ve looked at. However, the solid design and performance metrics makes this DDR5 kit a worthwhile consideration if you’re putting together a workstation system with solid gaming capability too.
Design: 4/5
Speed: 4.5/5
Latency: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Pros
- Excellent high-end gaming and workstation performance.
- Solid RGB lighting and design.
- Perfect for overclocking.
Cons
- Quite expensive.
- May cause clearance issues.
Where to Buy
Buy the Kingston Fury RENEGADE RGB DDR5 Kit on:
Is DDR5 Needed for the 13700K?
No, DDR5 is not needed for the Core i7 13700K as you choose from both of the most recent generations (DDR4 and DDR5). However, you may find yourself gravitating towards DDR5 on the basis of the way the market seems to be going. If we delve into this argument briefly, DDR4 vs DDR5 becomes quite complicated. As games are becoming ever-increasingly more demanding, picking up some more powerful but pricier DDR5 memory may become worth it.
DDR4 will slowly become deprecated, and as more modern titles release, we’ll see the older generation of RAM be pushed out of the market, due to weaker performance. This isn’t necessarily the case at the moment, but as we’ve seen with EA’s most recent Jedi Survivor title, even top-end components weren’t able to cope with the insane demands of this game. This game is obviously an anomaly, but games over the past five years have been let out of the oven a little bit too early resulting in poor optimisations and massive tech issues (with Cyberpunk 2077 and Days Done being the prime examples).
As I’ve said, this isn’t always the case, but there is a very clear indicator that having higher-end and more current-gen components is becoming more important to play modern games. Steering away from gaming, workstation systems are seeing this too. DDR5 does offer massive improvements with lower latency high speed kits, making these new kits pivotal in ensuring the best performance money can buy for higher intensity systems.
To briefly summarise, no, DDR5 is not a requirement for the 13700K, and consumers can choose between either generation of RAM, opening up options on the budget side of the market. But we would urge new consumers to consider picking up a DDR5 kit, as there are clear indicators that DDR4 will become obsolete within the near future.
Do I Need to Worry About Compatibility?
When choosing components for any system, consumers should always consider compatibility. Doing this will minimise installation issues, and the risk of running into bottlenecks or poor performance problems. When it comes to RAM there are only a couple of considerations to take note of, the main one is your motherboard.
DDR4 and DDR5 DIMMs are entirely different, so if you pick up a motherboard that supports either one of these generations of RAM, you’ll need to be aware that they are not cross-compatible. DDR4 DIMMs do not work in DDR5 motherboards, and vice versa. You’ll also need to ensure you pick up desktop RAM instead of SODIMMs which are for laptops, as the sizes are totally different.
The other major consideration is performance metrics. This sort of fits into compatibility, but different processors will benefit from varying speeds and RAM latencies. For the Core i7 13700K specifically consumers won’t need to worry massively about DDR4 speeds, and the majority of DDR4 DIMMs will max out at 3600MHz. However, DDR5 kits offer a myriad of speeds and latencies. Generally we’d recommend sticking to low latency (anything CL36 or below), and speeds 6000MHz and above. These kits will be perfect for gaming and workstation systems, but we understand that consumers on a budget will need to look at cheaper RAM that doesn’t meet these specs.
Why You Can Trust Us
After delving into our recommendations of the best RAM to pair up with the 13700K, you’re probably wondering why you should consider our thoughts when choosing components for your PC. Well, our team of hardware enthusiasts put a multitude of hours into testing all of the products and components that we can get our hands on. We use a range of productivity and gaming benchmarks to gain a well-rounded understanding of the pros and cons of each product. For those interesting in learning more about our editorial team, we recommend heading over to the About Us section.
How We Tested RAM for the Core i7 13700K
In order to test and evaluate the best RAM to pair up with the Core i7 13700K, there are a number of factors that we take into account, these are:
- Speed
- Latency
- Aesthetic
- Value for Money
Conclusion
Best RAM for the Core i7 13700K: Kingston Fury RENEGADE DDR5 White RGB Kit
Concluding this buyers guide, the best RAM kit to pair up with the 13700K is Kingston‘s Fury RENEGADE set of DDR5 DIMMs. Although this kit isn’t the cheapest option on the market, it offers a well-rounded aesthetic, high speeds and a low latency that makes it ideal for the 13700K. If you’ve got top-end gaming and high intensity workstation applications at the forefront of your mind, this kit will be perfect.
Read our full Intel Core i7 13700K review, or Kingston Fury Renegade Kit on Amazon
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need DDR5 RAM for Intel 13th-Gen?
No, consumers can choose between DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, opening up options for those on a budget, or those building something more high-end. But keep in mind that DDR4 will slowly become deprecated in the near future.
Can I Use DDR4 RAM with a DDR5 Motherboard?
In short, no. DDR4 and DDR5 are not cross-compatible with different motherboards as the DIMMs themselves are entirely different sizes. Make sure you pick up a DDR4 motherboard for your DDR4 motherboard, and the same applies for DDR5.
Do I Need DDR5 RAM for a Workstation System?
Ultimately, it depends. Although a high capacity DDR4 kit will suffice for a productivity-oriented system, DDR5 RAM will offer benefits due to the higher speeds that can be achieved with lower latency kits.
How Much RAM Do I Need for Gaming?
As a general rule of thumb, a 16GB kit will be perfectly fine for a gaming PC. But we may see 32GB become the norm as DDR5 turns into the go-to option due to the higher saturation of these larger capacity kits.
