If you are planning on installing a massive CPU cooler or just want a smaller PC build then you are going to need low-profile RAM in order to make building your PC easier. Fortunately, there are plenty of different options to choose from. In this article, I will go over some of the best low profile RAM kits that you can buy right now.
Best Low Profile RAM To Buy In 2021
Low profile RAM kits are available in different configurations depending on the latency, speed, and capacity. We have included different combinations so that there is something for everyone. We have also included different brands.
Do note that RGB increases the height of the memory modules and that is why we have gone with RAM that does not feature RGB lighting. If you are going for a small form factor build then chances are that you will not be able to see your RAM anyway. With that in mind, the following are some of the best low-profile RAM kits that we can recommend.
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 34mm – Best Overall
- TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 32mm – Best budget RAM
- HyperX Fury 34.1mm – DIY PC Building Staple
- Patriot Signature 31.25mm – Won’t Break The Bank
- Crucial Ballistix 39mm – For Those With A Need For Speed
- G.Skill Aegis 31.2mm – Lowest Profile
Corsair Vengeance LPX
Height: 34mm | Type: DDR4 | Capacity: 16GB (8GB x 2) | Speed: 3600MHz | CL: 18
- 34mm height
- Impressive performance
- DIY staple
- Tried and tested
- Defaults to 2133MHz
Corsair is known for making some great gaming products and the Corsair Vengeance LPX memory is no exception. This is a staple among PC builders and is without a doubt one of the best low-profile RAM kits that you can buy.
The memory has a sleek design and is made with overclocking in mind. Not to mention that the pricing is very reasonable as well. All this makes this one of the best options for DIY PC builders. The memory comes with compact heat spreaders that are only 34mm in height. This makes the kit ideal for small form factor builds.
While the Corsair Vengeance LPX is most commonly seen in Black, you can also get it in Red, White, and Blue. Our kit has a rated speed of 3600 MHz and a latency of CL18. This does not make it the fastest RAM in the world but it is pretty fast and will be enough for the average consumer and even prosumers. You can of course enable XMP in the BIOS and overclock the RAM to run much faster as compared to the stock speeds.
There are different configurations to choose from and you can get up to 256GB capacity kits and speeds up to 4000MHz. Corsair Vengeance LPX has been available for a while now and you can get it at a discounted price throughout the year. This is a tried and tested product that any experienced PC builder can vouch for.
TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z
Height: 32mm | Type: DDR4 | Capacity: 16GB (8GB x 2) | Speed: 3200MHz | CL: 16
- 32mm in height
- Great pricing
- Ideal for smaller PC builds
- Defaults to 2133MHz
TEAMGROUP T-Force is a relatively new brand and one of the selling points of the brand is the lower price point. The company makes some really impressive budget products. The Vulcan Z design is pretty basic but it still manages to look pretty cool. There are a couple of color options including Grey and Red. There is a limited edition Asus TUFF variant as well that you can pick if you have a TUFF motherboard and graphics card.
There is no RGB lighting or any LEDs which helps to keep the height low at just 32mm, so it is ideal for small PC builds. Our kit has a rated speed of 3200MHz but you do need to enable the XPM profile in the BIOS settings in order to hit that speed.
The latency is CL16 and you get 2 modules of 8GB for a total of 16GB of memory. Different configurations of the memory are available and you can get up to 64GB and 3600MHz speed.
Kingston HyperX Fury
Height: 34.1mm | Type: DDR4 | Capacity: 32GB (16GB x 2) | Speed: 3200MHz | CL: 16
- 34.1mm in height
- Really nice overclocking capabilities
- Sleek, clean design
- Defaults to 2133MHz
Kingston has been a major player in the memory and storage market for a while now and the HyperX Fury is one of the best low profile memory kits that you can buy.
Our kit has two 16GB modules with a total of 32GB of memory. The rated speed is 3200MHz and the latency is CL16. The design is very clean and the Black color is going to blend in well with the rest of your components. You can also get the modules in Red, White, and Blue.
Kingston HyperX Fury has been around for a while and it is a tried and tested product. You can get kits up to 64 GB and speeds up to 3600 MHz. You will need to enable the XMP profile in the BIOS settings in order to take advantage of the full speed. The height of the module is 34.1mm which is not the shortest on this list but it is still great for small form factor builds.
The Kingston HyperX Fury is one of the staples in the DIY PC building community and a great alternative to the Corsair Vengeance LPX.
Patriot Signature
Height: 31.25mm | Type: DDR4 | Capacity: 16GB (8GB x 2) | Speed: 2666MHz | CL: 18
- 31.25mm height
- Basic budget-friendly RAM
- Not very fast
The Patriot Signature modules are your standard memory DIMMs. There are no heatsinks which are why we do not recommend any kind of overclocking. Our kit is not particularly fast and is only rated at 2666MHz, which is pretty slow as compared to some other kits on this list.
If you are interested in some standard memory that is going to get the job done and is not going to break the bank then this is an option worth considering and looking into. There are a couple of different configurations that you can go with. You can choose up to 64GB capacity kits and speeds up to 3200 MHz. The memory modules are only 31.25mm in height which makes them ideal for small form factor PC builds.
Crucial Ballistix
Height: 39mm | Type: DDR4 | Capacity: 16GB (8GB x 2) | Speed: 3600MHz | CL: 16
- Nice overclocking capabilities
- Clean design
- Defaults to 2133MHz
- 39mm height
Crucial is another major name in the memory market and the Crucial Ballistix memory kits are tried and tested. Our kit has a rated speed of 3600MHz and a latency of CL16 but there are all kinds of configurations for you to choose from. You can get kits up to 64GB capacity and speeds of up to 5100MHz, which makes this one of the fastest RAM kits that you can buy right now.
The design of the modules is very clean and they are only 39mm in height which means that beefy CPU coolers are not going to be a problem and you can use this kit in small PC builds. Other than stealthy Black, these memory modules are also available in Red and White heat spreaders.
The default speed is 2133MHz but you can easily change that by enabling the XMP profile in the BIOS settings in order to take full advantage of the high speed that the RAM has to offer. You can also overclock the RAM manually in order to get slightly more performance out of the box.
G.Skill Aegis
Height: 31.2 mm | Type: DDR4 | Capacity: 16GB (8GB x 2) | Speed: 3200MHz | CL: 16
- 31.2mm in height
- Decent performance out of the box
- Unstable when overclocked too much
G.Skill is known for making high-performance RAM and the G.Skill Aegis is a budget-friendly low profile option. There is no heat spreader on the kit and what you see in the images is actually a sticker but the performance is still decent keeping in mind the pricing.
Our kit has a rated speed of 3200MHz and a latency of CL16. You will need to turn on the XMP profile in order to take advantage of the full speed. As this is a budget-friendly option, you will not be able to overclock it a lot. The RAM is very sensitive to voltage and you will notice instability if you overclock it too much. It does work absolutely fine out of the box at stock speeds.
As there is no heat spreader on the modules, the height is very low at just 31.2. This makes it ideal for bigger coolers and small form factor PC builds.
These are some of the best low profile RAM kits that we can recommend. If you are interested in RGB lighting then you can check out our RAM recommendations for the Intel i5 11600K.
Frequently Asked Questions About Low-Profile RAM
The following are the answers to some frequently asked questions related to low profile RAM:
If you are interested in installing a big, beefy air cooler for your CPU then RAM clearance can be an issue, that is where low profile RAM comes in. The lower height of the modules helps in installing CPU coolers. It can also come in handy if you are interested in building a small form factor PC. In ITX cases, you do not have a lot of room and you need to cram all your parts into a limited amount of space. Low profile RAM kits are ideal for such builds.
Functionally speaking, both low profile and regular RAM work in the same way and are available in similar capacities and speed. The only major difference is in the height. In order to keep the height as short as possible RGB is often not included. Adding RGB lights increases the height of the modules. If RGB is your thing then you can check out our RAM recommendations for the Ryzen 9 5900X, which includes some RGB RAM kits.
You can buy RAM with different speeds ranging from 2666MHz all the way to higher than 7000MHz. If you are interested in gaming then anything between 3200-3600MHz is going to be the sweet spot for you. While modern CPUs do take advantage of high-speed memory, the performance gains that you get from RAM faster than 3600MHz is not going to be worth it compared to the additional cost.
For gaming, we recommend 16GB of RAM. That is the sweet spot that everyone is going to recommend. If you need more RAM down the line then you can always add more or upgrade to higher capacity modules. If you do some content creation on the side and need additional performance then you should go with 32GB of RAM. Anything more than that is going to be overkill.
These are desktop RAM kits and typically cannot be installed on laptops. Laptops generally use SO-DIMMs but there are a few exceptions. Check your laptop model to make sure what kind of RAM is installed inside. If your laptop does use desktop memory then you can use these low profile memory kits for your laptop. You will also need to check if your laptop has soldered on memory. If that is the case then the memory cannot be upgraded and you are stuck with what you have.
You will need to enable the XMP profile in the BIOS settings in order to hit the rated speeds mentioned on the packaging
