Guides
9 min read
•
Updated: March 13, 2026
RAM Timings Explained: Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Subtimings for Gamers
Demystifying tCL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS, tREFI, and tRFC. Discover which memory timings actually boost 1% low frametimes in CPU-bound competitive games.
Why Subtimings Matter More Than Advertised Frequency
While marketing emphasizes megatransfers per second (MT/s), secondary timings like tRFC and tertiary timings like tREFI dictate how quickly memory banks can refresh and read data.
Dr. Keith Vance
Lead PC Hardware Benchmarking Analyst Lab Bench VerifiedAll benchmarks and crash reproductions are conducted in our controlled hardware lab across standardized AMD AM5 and Intel LGA1700 test benches using clean Windows 11 installs.
Hardware Editorial Transparency: Hardware benchmarked in this article was purchased at retail or provided by testing labs for review purposes with zero editorial influence. As an Amazon Associate, GameApp.info earns from qualifying purchases made through links on this page.