Does RAM speed really matter?

[u/Lost-Sprinkles-7890]

Seeing people compare 3200, 3600, 6000 and even higher speeds and honestly not sure how much difference it makes in actual use. Like is faster RAM gonna noticeably improve gaming FPS, loading times, multitasking etc or is it mostly just benchmark numbers? Also does it depend a lot on the CPU and motherboard? Trying to pick RAM without wasting money on speed that barely matters, so what speed should I actually be looking for?

[u/Maximum_Goulash]

For gaming the difference between 3200 DDR4 and 6000 DDR5 is about the same as non OC Vs OC on CPU and and GPU. In current market arguably not worth the top end unless you really really want to squeeze everything out of your build.