[SOLVED] 1 or 2 sticks of RAM per channel on Ryzen?

[Hellomyself72]

I plan to buy 16GB (2x8GB) of RAM. I will use an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X on either an MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX or an MSI MEG X570 ACE.. What if I wanted to upgrade to 32GB down the road? I've heard people saying that occupying all 4 DIMM slots on Ryzen will cause RAM issues. Is this true? I'm concerned an upgrade to 32GB will cause severe issues. Will problems start if I upgrade to 32GB?




EDIT: I don't know if this matters, but I will have DDR4 3600 CL16. Would 4x8GB only work reliably if it's 3200MHz and below?


EDIT #2: I am still clueless. I guess I'll mark this as answered and leave this problem alone.



EDIT #5319: I found a 32GB kit of the RAM I want (DDR4 3600MHz CL16 Trident Z Neo). Should I buy this instead and have the extra capacity now? And will it work reliably?

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232862

 

[CountMike]

I plan to buy 16GB (2x8GB) of RAM. I will use an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X on either an MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX or an MSI MEG X570 ACE.. What if I wanted to upgrade to 32GB down the road? I've heard people saying that occupying all 4 DIMM slots on Ryzen will cause RAM issues. Is this true? I'm concerned an upgrade to 32GB will cause severe issues. Will problems start if I upgrade to 32GB?

It would be better to use one 16GB stick now if you are going to upgrade soon. At speed above 3200MHz it's sometimes difficult to get RAM to work properly when both memory channels are used.

 

[cherry blossoms]

Memory is always best bought in matched sets bought in matched set packaging. The same model number from a manufacturer may contain lot to lot variances that cause problems with memory sticks playing nice together. Matched sticks were from the same lot and should contain the same electrical characteristics.

Running in dual channel mode will give you performance benefits in some programs/games.

As CountMike has indicated, running more memory sticks is more work on the controller, and thus generally lower frequencies obtainable in a 4x vs a 2x configuration.

 

[Hellomyself72]

Memory is always best bought in matched sets bought in matched set packaging. The same model number from a manufacturer may contain lot to lot variances that cause problems with memory sticks playing nice together. Matched sticks were from the same lot and should contain the same electrical characteristics.

Running in dual channel mode will give you performance benefits in some programs/games.

As CountMike has indicated, running more memory sticks is more work on the controller, and thus generally lower frequencies obtainable in a 4x vs a 2x configuration.

Oh. I was planning to buy the same kit (if available) if I were to upgrade.

 

[CountMike]

Oh. I was planning to buy the same kit (if available) if I were to upgrade.

It doesn't matter if there are 2 separate kits or just 2 separate sticks, they could cause same problems in same way. That's why there are matched kits of 2 or 4 sticks. There could be less problems if you can get exact same sticks or kits but there are no guarantees they would work together properly.

 

[cherry blossoms]

Memory bought later (even if same model number) may not have the same electrical characteristics due to lot to lot manufacturing variations. Planning on buying the same model number later may or may not work. This is why when RMAing a kit, the maker wants the WHOLE kit back, not just the bad module.

I would certainly buy a 2x8GB kit if planning on 16GB system memory instead of a 1x16 config due to performance benefits in dual channel mode. ADDING another 2x8 kit later may or may not work. If going 32GB, a matched 4x8 or 2x16 kit recommended. Check your motherboard QVL.

 

[sizzling]

Have a look at the odd man out section https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...y-ram-and-xmp-profile-configurations.3398926/

 

[Hellomyself72]

People who have answered, I thank you for your help. But I have edited the original post with a small update.

 

[CountMike]

I plan to buy 16GB (2x8GB) of RAM. I will use an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X on either an MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX or an MSI MEG X570 ACE.. What if I wanted to upgrade to 32GB down the road? I've heard people saying that occupying all 4 DIMM slots on Ryzen will cause RAM issues. Is this true? I'm concerned an upgrade to 32GB will cause severe issues. Will problems start if I upgrade to 32GB?




EDIT: I don't know if this matters, but I will have DDR4 3600 CL16. Would 4x8GB only work reliably if it's 3200MHz and below?


EDIT #2: I am still clueless. I guess I'll mark this as answered and leave this problem alone.



EDIT #5319: I found a 32GB kit of the RAM I want (DDR4 3600MHz CL16 Trident Z Neo). Should I buy this instead and have the extra capacity now? And will it work reliably?

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232862

Better to buy 2x16GB if you want trouble free speed over 3200MHz.

 

[Hellomyself72]

Better to buy 2x16GB if you want trouble free speed over 3200MHz.

Alright. I'll see if I can find one. Thanks.

 

[Juan_Bijero]

Just make sure that you look up the QVL for you specific motherboard! If you are concerned about gaming then the extra 16GB probably isn't going to help much. Better to spend on an Intel processor and mobo. The i5 10600K can be overclocked to 5.1 Ghz and is killer for gaming. With the Ryzen processors, gaming performance will suffer as those processors do not currently have the single thread performance of the Intel processors. I am not ragging on AMD or Ryzen as I currently run a Ryzen 7 3700X in my rig.

 

[Hellomyself72]

Just make sure that you look up the QVL for you specific motherboard! If you are concerned about gaming then the extra 16GB probably isn't going to help much. Better to spend on an Intel processor and mobo. The i5 10600K can be overclocked to 5.1 Ghz and is killer for gaming. With the Ryzen processors, gaming performance will suffer as those processors do not currently have the single thread performance of the Intel processors. I am not ragging on AMD or Ryzen as I currently run a Ryzen 7 3700X in my rig.

I will also do productive things with the build. I still am deciding between 16 and 32GB.

 

[Juan_Bijero]

I will also do productive things with the build. I still am deciding between 16 and 32GB.

Then Ryzen is the one to beat!

 

[Hellomyself72]

Just make sure that you look up the QVL for you specific motherboard! If you are concerned about gaming then the extra 16GB probably isn't going to help much. Better to spend on an Intel processor and mobo. The i5 10600K can be overclocked to 5.1 Ghz and is killer for gaming. With the Ryzen processors, gaming performance will suffer as those processors do not currently have the single thread performance of the Intel processors. I am not ragging on AMD or Ryzen as I currently run a Ryzen 7 3700X in my rig.

I have checked the QVL for the motherboard I plan to use. The memory I want (F4-3600C16Q-32GTZN) hasn't been tested. MSI has tested 2 kits, both with model name F4-3600C16Q-32GTZNC and one uses SK hynix c and the other SK hynix J. I also will add they haven't tested the 16GB kit of the memory I want, although I am fairly certain the 2x8GB version of the kit will work without problems.