17/04/2026 3:55 pm
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I am totally freaking out because I just dropped a massive amount of money on a preorder for the rtx 5090 but I have zero clue what ram I actually need to go with it. My brother told me if I get the wrong kind I will bottleneck the system and honestly I dont even know what that means but it sounds bad. I'm trying to get everything bought by Friday so I can build it over the weekend while I have time off work and I'm lowkey panicking.
Everything online talks about mhz and latency and cl numbers and it just looks like a different language to me. Is there a specific brand that is the best? I keep seeing stuff about gskill and corsair but I dont know if one is better for the 5090 specifically. I just want the fastest thing that makes sense.
- Budget is about $250 to $350 for the ram part
- Using it for 4k gaming and some heavy flight sims
- Located in Chicago so I can run to microcenter if I have to
- Need it to be compatible with the newest motherboards
Also do I need 64gb or is that overkill for just gaming? I really dont want to mess this up since its my first build ever and it cost so much already. Sorry if these are dumb questions I just have no idea where to start...
5 Answers
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17/04/2026 4:20 pm
Regarding what #2 said about 64gb, i'd be careful with that. Huge kits can cause stability headaches or long boot times on newer boards. I would suggest sticking with a solid 32gb kit to keep things stable and fast without the crashes.
- maybe Kingston Fury Renegade 32GB DDR5 6400MT/s CL32
- or Teamgroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 Just make sure to check your motherboard QVL list first.
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17/04/2026 5:20 pm
^ This. Also, I totally get that panic! When I built my last rig, I was literally sweating over the RAM choices for days. I actually went to that Chicago Micro Center too! It is like a playground, seriously. I was so close to dropping way too much money on premium brands just because the box looked cool, but a guy there told me that most of these kits use the same internal chips anyway. I ended up going with Patriot Viper Venom 64GB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 and saved a ton of cash compared to the super flashy brands. It has been absolutely amazing for my flight sim sessions! Honestly, you dont have to spend the full $350 just because you have it. If you see the PNY XLR8 Gaming MAKO 64GB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 there, its a total steal tho. Use that extra money for a better flight stick or something... its gonna be a killer build!
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17/04/2026 3:55 pm
Honestly, dont panic too much but unfortunately a lot of people buy slow 4800 or 5200MT/s kits and it totally bottlenecks the CPU. I had issues with high latency kits causing micro-stutters in flight sims, which sucks when you spent that much. Definitely avoid high CL numbers... anything over CL36 is a waste. With a 5090, 64GB actually isnt overkill for heavy sims, so just grab a high-speed kit.
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17/04/2026 4:20 pm
Jumping in here because i saw you mentioned heavy flight sims. Regarding what #1 said about not panicking, i actually have to politely disagree on the idea that 64gb might be overkill. For regular 4k gaming, sure, 32gb is usually fine, but if you are doing serious flight simming with high-res terrain and mods, that memory fills up incredibly fast. Since you already dropped huge money on a 5090 anyway, skimping on ram capacity would be a weird mistake imo. Quick tip: Stick to 6000MT/s at CL30. It is basically the gold standard for stability right now. If you try to go for the super high speed kits like 7200 or 8000mhz, you might run into weird crashing issues that are a total pain to fix if you arent used to messing with complex bios settings. You want this build to be smooth for the weekend, not a troubleshooting nightmare. Since you're near a Microcenter, i'd just grab the G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 64GB DDR5-6000 CL30-40-40-96 or maybe the Corsair Vengeance 64GB DDR5-6000 CL30. Both are super solid and will play nice with the latest motherboards. Just remember to enable the EXPO or XMP profile in the motherboard settings once you boot it up, otherwise it will run at basic slow speeds and you wont get what you actually paid for. You're gonna have an absolute beast of a machine once its done, so try to enjoy the process... it is a pretty big milestone for a first build.
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17/04/2026 4:30 pm
Re: "Regarding what #2 said about 64gb, i'd be..."
- I actually agree with #2 that you need 64gb for sims, but unfortunately i had issues with stability on my last build. It was not as good as expected at first.
- Only use 2 sticks total. 4 sticks of ddr5 is a total nightmare.
- Go with Crucial Pro Overclocking 64GB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36 if you want reliability over flashiness.
