[SOLVED] 2666MHz or 2400MHz?

Avik Basu

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Looking at upgrade options and came across an article that suggested getting 2x8GB DDR4 2400MHz, not directly but they provided a link that took me to an online retailer page of that specific RAM. I checked the specs of the motherboard mentioned in the article and it supports up to 2666MHz. So I looked through other RAMs on the site. I wanted to get one 16GB stick but they sell them mostly in 2400MHz or 3000MHz and above. Then I searched if 2666MHz is good for gaming and came across a forum where one person said that 2666MHz is mediocre and outdated.

So my question is, is 2666MHz worth picking one from the limited option available or will 2400MHz do the job? Keep in mind that I'm not currently looking to upgrade the GPU. I plan to do that next year. The purpose of this PC would primarily be gaming with web browsing and watching videos. No other intense usage. Also, feel free to recommend any other good motherboard at the same price range that might support 3000MHz. It's cheaper than the other two so if possible I'd like to get the 3000MHz.

For those who didn't the article the motherboard mentioned in it is Asus ROG Strix B365-G and the CPU is Intel Core i5 9400F and my current GPU is Asus 760 Geforce GTX 760 2GB. I recently started using a Corsair TX650M PSU.
 
Solution
  1. 2400 vs 2666 Mhz --> almost no difference. For Ryzen, get better >3000 as long as your money can afford.
  2. 2x8 vs 1x16. Speed for now: 2x8, future: 1x16 as you can add a second 16.
  3. Ryzen is the better bang for bucks compared to Intel by far, especially the 3xxx. The 3xxx platform is not that picky about RAM anymore. Instead of I5 9400F, I would rather go 3600 or 3600x

Avik Basu

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for Intel, doesn't matter too much, but get faster if you can. For Ryzen, 2400 is a no no. What is your budget and country? Your GPu will be the limiting factor anyway. You will not see any obvious diff between 2400 and 2666.

I know that the GPU is gonna hold me back but I wanna wait until next year to see if I can get an RTX one at a lesser price. Otherwise, I could've gotten a 1660ti now. I'm going with the Intel CPU. I feel like there are some limitations to Ryzen that might cost me more than I can afford. Also, the article said the 9400F is as good as Zen 1 or 2. I'm from India and we use Rupees, which is INR, the currency code. My budget is about 30k INR, excluding the GPU.

Do you have these same parts? If not, what are your CPU and motherboard?

Assuming you have the CPU and mobo listed above, your best option is to get 2x8 GB 2666 MHz DDR4.

I want to get the same CPU and mobo. It'll basically be a new PC with some parts from the old one. Why is 2x8GB better than one 16GB?
 

Avik Basu

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have you bought anything yet? If not, what is the total budget on the build? To me, Ryzen 3600 > I5-9400F from almost all aspects.

That was the total budget. I'm just getting a mobo, a CPU, RAM and a case. I already have a new PSU, an HDD and a GPU.

A 2x8 GB kit will run in Dual Channel mode and a single 16 GB stick will only run in Single Channel mode.
In theory the 2x8 GB kit will be twice as fast, in practice it isn't quite twice as fast but it is close to that.

If it's a matter of Dual Channel then I was planning on getting another 16GB later. Right now I just wanted to get a new system to stand up. I know performance-wise it won't make too much of a difference right now in gaming with my current GPU. But I suppose I might be able to stretch my budget a bit more and get another 16GB stick. And since there are only two brands of DDR4 2666MHz available, which one is better, Adata or Kingston. I'm going for a glass panel case so I feel like the Adata RGB ones would look better but the Kingstone one is cheaper.


I'm not saying that Ryzen is inferior to Intel. I have checked and most people would recommend Ryzen for gaming these days. I was kinda leaning towards Ryzen myself. But I was talking about putting everything together. Like vapour mentioned earlier and I have read in some articles about Ryzen being pretty strict about what memory you put in. Then there are a few other nitpicking here and there. I guess having used Intel since my first PC I'm kinda attached to towards it so I'm also a bit hesitant to switch. I've also read that the 9400F is a good gaming CPU if not the best. So that's why I'm looking at it.
 
  1. 2400 vs 2666 Mhz --> almost no difference. For Ryzen, get better >3000 as long as your money can afford.
  2. 2x8 vs 1x16. Speed for now: 2x8, future: 1x16 as you can add a second 16.
  3. Ryzen is the better bang for bucks compared to Intel by far, especially the 3xxx. The 3xxx platform is not that picky about RAM anymore. Instead of I5 9400F, I would rather go 3600 or 3600x
 
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Avik Basu

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Alright guys, got a new setup list. Tell me if it's any good.

Ryzen 5 3600
Gigabyte B450M DS3H
G.Skill Ripjaws V 2x16GB 3000MHz

It seems along with you guys most of the lists are recommending the Ryzen 5 3600 and since I'm not getting anything of the additional stuff from those lists I can actually afford it. Even though I had to go much further in my budget than I had intended to I decided it's best to get 2x16GB RAM now than suffer later since I've heard RAMs have a tendency to not work well with an age gap between each other. Also if I'm switching to Ryzen then it's best not to take any risk for my first AMD setup.
 

TJ Hooker

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If this is just for gaming, I'm not sure 32GB of RAM is really necessary even if you're trying to 'future proof'. It was only somewhat recently we got to the point where 8GB wasn't enough, and I think by the time you need >16GB for gaming it'll be time for an upgrade to a new CPU/mobo (and probably DDR5).

As an aside, I want to mention that the extent to which Ryzen is memory speed dependent compared to Intel is often exaggerated. Intel CPUs can often benefit as much from fast RAM as Ryzen can.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ram-speed-x470-pinnacle-ridge,6064-6.html
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-ram-speed,5951-6.html
 
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DMAN999

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I agree that a 2x8 GB kit (16GB) is almost certainly enough for the next 5 to 7 years unless you are doing some seriously Memory Intensive work on your PC like 4K video editing or 3D Modeling, etc.
I have 16 GBs and I have not seen my memory usage get above 35-40% and that was while web browsing and streaming a 1080p movie via PLEX and encoding a video all at the same time.

I haven't checked it while gaming but I'd be surprised if it exceeded 50%.
 
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Avik Basu

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If this is just for gaming, I'm not sure 32GB of RAM is really necessary even if you're trying to 'future proof'. It was only somewhat recently we got to the point where 8GB wasn't enough, and I think by the time you need >16GB for gaming it'll be time for an upgrade to a new CPU/mobo (and probably DDR5).

I am trying to future but I know you're right that I don't need 32GB just for gaming. I would have gone for 3x8GB but that could have complications of its own.

I agree that a 2x8 GB kit (16GB) is almost certainly enough for the next 5 to 7 years unless you are doing some seriously Memory Intensive work on your PC like 4K video editing or 3D Modeling, etc.
I have 16 GBs and I have not seen my memory usage get above 35-40% and that was while web browsing and streaming a 1080p movie via PLEX and encoding a video all at the same time.

I haven't checked it while gaming but I'd be surprised if it exceeded 50%.

My PC would be primarily for gaming and that too at 1080p max. I don't do anything else that would require this sort of setup. The thing is I have always been a few steps behind running games at their best so this time I wanted to make sure that doesn't happen again. That's why I'm waiting for another year to get a new RTX GPU. I checked some upcoming AAA games and it seems the recommended RAM is indeed 16GB. So if you guys think that 2x8GB will do the job then I'll gladly go for it. I have no problem with saving money.

But how do the CPU and motherboard look? Are they a good choice? I mean I know most of you will say that the CPU is good but what about the mobo?
 

DMAN999

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In layman's terms, please. What do you mean MT/s speed? How do I check that?
MT/sec
(MegaTransfers per SECond) A measurement of bus and channel speed in millions of "effective" cycles per second. Also written as "MT/s," it is a rating of the actual, delivered speed rather than the frequency of the clock. For example, if timing is derived from both the rising and falling edges of the cycle rather than one complete cycle, a 400 MHz clock yields 800 MT/sec.

That is just the speed of the RAM.
2933 MHz or 3000 Mhz 0r 3200 Mhz, etc.

Like which one?
Honestly that is a personal choice, you should read as many reviews as you can and find a Good motherboard that has the features you need/want that fits your Budget.
I personally always make sure I buy a Quality motherboard and PSU because they are the backbone of your PC and if they are lower qulity they will effect the performace of every other component in your PC.

But I can recommend my Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming
But it will need to have the BIOS updated to support the 3600 unless it says Ryzen 3000 Ready on the Box.
Or the MSI B450Tomahawk Max which will support the 3600 out of the Box.
 
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Avik Basu

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I did check out your motherboard and even though Asus is saying it's Ryzen 3000 ready on their page it's not mentioned on the retailer's page. So I'm not sure whether or not it's from a new batch that comes Ryzen 3000 ready. Ryzen 3000 is the 3rd gen, right? Also, the board comes with a Type C USB port which I have no use for. At least not right now. Would've preferred a normal USB 3.0 port instead. But I don't mind it if it's a board worth having. I've read that the components of Asus boards are really good.

How do you feel about the B450-E? Asus says this one is Ryzen 3000 ready too but it's not mentioned in the retailer page. I actually prefer this one because it comes with in-built Bluetooth and that would free up one of my USB ports. And it's only slightly more costly than B450-F. How hard is it to update BIOS? I've never done it and have read that it could be messy, especially if things go wrong. Of course, that was a long time ago.

Also, I came across a RAM/Ryzen compatibility list. Many RAM brands have a list of RAMs that are compatible Ryzen. I checked the model numbers of Corsair and G.Skill RAMs available to me with those lists and I didn't see them mentioned there. Will that be a problem?
 

DMAN999

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That ROG Strix B450-E is a slightly different version of my B450-F with Wifi added and support for faster RAM.

If you look in my signature you will see my RAM kit model number which works Great for me so I'm 99.9% sure it will work on that B450-E too.
I see they are available from the site you linked too:
https://www.vedantcomputers.com/g-s...-mhz-trident z-rgb-series-f4-3200c-16d-16gtzr

And the TridentZ Neo kits were designed specifically for use with Ryzen 3000 CPUs so they would almost certainly work.
https://www.vedantcomputers.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2830

As for updating the BIOS you would need to have an older AMD CPU (like an Athlon 200GE to do that) OR you could pay a local shop a small fee and have them update the BIOS for you.
 
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Avik Basu

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Ok, so this is the new setup :-

AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Asus ROG Strix B450-E
G.Skill 16GB (2x8) TridentZ 3200MHz (F4-3200C16D-16GTZR)
Corsair Carbide Series 175R RGB

I also included the case in the list in case someone notices any motherboard fitting issues.
 

Endre

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In layman's terms, please. What do you mean MT/s speed? How do I check that?

OK. I’ll explain.
When you see a memory being rated DDR4-2666 it doesn’t mean 2666MHz, it means 1333MHz x2 = 2666MT/s.
DDRAM meaning “double data random access memory”.
So if you look at your memory specs in programs like CPU-Z, you’ll see that the speed of a “DDR4-2666MHz” is actually only 1333MHz.
MT/s means Mega Transfer per Second.
😃
 

Avik Basu

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OK. I’ll explain.
When you see a memory being rated DDR4-2666 it doesn’t mean 2666MHz, it means 1333MHz x2 = 2666MT/s.
DDRAM meaning “double data random access memory”.
So if you look at your memory specs in programs like CPU-Z, you’ll see that the speed of a “DDR4-2666MHz” is actually only 1333MHz.
MT/s means Mega Transfer per Second.
😃

I see. So 3000 or, as I mentioned in the list above, 3200 should work with Ryzen, right?

Also, this is my current memory. Which part am I looking at to find the DDRAM? I didn't see any DDRAM, just DRAM.

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