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Key Takeaways
- Dummy RAM is a memory stick with no actual chips, adding aesthetic RGB lighting and covering empty slots.
- It’s designed for those wanting to fill unsightly empty RAM slots but doesn’t enhance performance.
- It may not be cost-effective, as real RAM sticks are often priced similarly and are more practical options.
If you’re building a PC, chances are you’ve got a dual-channel memory kit with two RAM sticks. However, once you’re done, you’ll likely have empty RAM slots left. While the logical thing would be to use them to add more RAM, people have been using “dummy” RAM sticks instead.
What Is Dummy RAM?
As the name suggests, dummy RAM looks like real RAM but doesn’t have any memory chips inside. Instead, it’s just a memory stick that sits in the empty RAM slots on your motherboard and integrates into your CPU RGB lighting, if any.
Most modern motherboards have at least four RAM slots, and chances are you’ll only get something like a 2x16GB kit for 32GB of total RAM running in a dual-channel setup. This leaves at least two RAM slots empty in most people’s cases.
Now, I’m all for practicality, but empty RAM slots look unsightly, especially if you’re like me and spend weeks, if not months, looking up parts that match a certain theme and doing cable management to make your build as clean as possible. If all you’re left with is a few RAM slots making your build look ugly, dummy RAM can come in handy.
While they don’t enhance your PC’s memory count and performance, dummy RAM does have at least two functions. Firstly, they usually come with addressable RGB, meaning they can add that lacking RGB flair on empty RAM slots, and secondly, they act as protective covers for said empty slots, protecting them from dust and debris over time.
Dummy RAM is also marketed in the same manner. They’re often dubbed “RGB enhancement kits” or “RGB filler kits” and sold alongside real RAM. So if you can find them cheaply, they might not be that stupid an idea.
Why Not Buy Regular RAM?
One of the first questions that came to mind when I learned about dummy RAM was, “Why not just buy real RAM?” PC memory has become surprisingly cheap, and unless you want the latest and greatest specs with RGB, you can find a pretty good deal on them, especially considering dummy RAM might cost more in some cases.
Well, there are several things you’d want to consider here. The first is that it’s really hard to find RAM sticks that match your performance, capacity, and budget preferences.
Most people only need 32 GB of RAM, meaning a dual 16 GB RAM kit will be all you need. If you need 64 GB, two 32 GB sticks will do the trick. Running dual-channel RAM is generally the best way as well. So you just don’t need that many RAM sticks.
The per-GB cost of memory also goes down as you look at memory sticks with higher capacity, so in most cases, you’ll be better off buying fewer high-capacity sticks than more low-capacity sticks.
Additionally, you might want the option to upgrade later without having to discard all the memory you bought previously. For example, you’d want to buy two 8GB sticks for 16 GB dual channel memory, which can be upgraded to 32GB when you buy two more 8GB sticks for a qual-channel setup.
Chucking in as much RAM as possible in your PC might not always be the best idea, as faster RAM is often better than more RAM. Buying more regular RAM isn’t always the answer, but it still adds more RAM and, consequently, more performance to your PC.
Should You Put Dummy RAM in Your PC?
The price of the dummy RAM kit is a bit hard to justify, especially considering they start around $30—a price at which, for a little more, you can easily find actual RAM sticks.
Unless the aesthetic capabilities of dummy RAM please you enough to spend nearly as much as a set of real RAM sticks, I’d say you’re better off without them. Dummy RAM mostly acts as a decoration piece, and since most PC cases are closed, you’d likely not require any “protective cases” for your empty RAM slots.
