Which DDR5 kit should you buy?
Pick capacity first, speed second. For most new builds that means 32GB as two 16GB sticks, which starts at £394.97 at Laptops Direct this week. A 16GB kit starts at £179.99, and 64GB, for editing, virtual machines or local AI models, at £713.99. Buy a matched kit, not two separate sticks.
On AMD Ryzen 7000 and 9000, DDR5 6000 CL30 is the favoured kit. It is above AMD's guaranteed speed and relies on EXPO. On Intel Core Ultra 200S, which officially supports up to DDR5 6400, kits between 6000 and 6400 are the usual range. See the DDR5 6000 CL30 list for those kits alone.
Speed or latency?
Both, and the table shows both. DDR5 starts at 4800 MT/s. The CL number looks higher than on DDR4, but the clock is faster, so compare true latency in nanoseconds: CL times 2000, divided by the data rate. DDR5 6000 CL30 comes to 10 ns, the same as DDR4 3200 CL16. Between two kits of equal latency, the faster one has more bandwidth.
Do not pay for speed your platform will not use. A kit rated far above what your board runs stable is paying for the number on the box.
Prices and VAT
Prices include VAT. Delivery is extra, so compare totals at checkout, especially for cheap kits where postage is a larger share.
A new DDR5 kit often starts at a slow default speed. Enable XMP (Intel) or EXPO (AMD) in the BIOS to reach the rated speed. Both are overclocking profiles and outside the official spec.