Question 4x16GB or 2x32GB DDR3200 RAM for AMD Ryzen 9 5950X ?

[DaBoulder]

Hello everyone!

Im in a tricky situation right now and i wanna ask you guys for some advice.

Because of my job and the lack of time i choose to buy a custom build pc from a well known pcbuilding company where i live.

I choose:
Ryzen 9 5950X (stock)
Asus TUF X570-Plus Wifi
4x 16 GB DDR4-3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro Rev.S
RTX 3090
2TB Samsung 980 Pro
1000W beQuiet! straight Power 11 PSU

So to make a long story short: The company had to lower the the ramspeed to 3333mhz for stability reasons..
but i found out first hand that this setting still proved to be unstable in games.
Games just would randomly crash to desktop givin me a gemespecific error message.

So i called the company and the service employee agreed to let me reduce the speed in the DOCP profile to 3200 mhz.
And now.. no game has crashed so far. Ive even got slightly better values in crystal disk mark.
The service-guy now sent me a kit of 2X 32 GB DDR4-3200 for testing.

He said the 4 dimms could still be unstable.
From gamersnexus ive heard that the Ryen 5000-series CPUS could benefit from 4x dimm-configs performance wise (if theyre stable of course).

So what would you guys do?

My current decision is to test the 4xdimm configuration some more for stability. And only if i still run into trouble i would try the other kit.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I would first make sure that the BIOS on the motherboard is up to date. Then make sure that the OS is to the latest. Then jump back into the BIOS, manually set the advertised frequency, timings and voltage(albeit a little more, like 1.4v) and then see if the settings stick.

Speaking of which, what BIOS version are you currently on?

 

[DaBoulder]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I would first make sure that the BIOS on the motherboard is up to date. Then make sure that the OS is to the latest. Then jump back into the BIOS, manually set the advertised frequency, timings and voltage(albeit a little more, like 1.4v) and then see if the settings stick.

Speaking of which, what BIOS version are you currently on?

Hey thanks for your reply! The bios and the OS are all set to the newest versions available (that was included as service when i bought the system).

Due to legal reasons im not allowed to increase the voltage. Otherwise my warranty immediately expires (for the whole build). So thats no option for me.

So im stuck with the decision to keep the 4x 16 GB DDR4 - 3600 @ 3200 or otherwise switch to 2X 32GB DDR4 3200.

Also im not that eager to get the 3600 @ all cost. I just want a balanced and stable system for gaming.

 

[BogdanH]

Performance difference between 2 vs 4 stick exists, but is kinda "academic". And unless you really have a good reason, that shouldn't influence your decision much.

Let me think (imagining I'm in your shoes)...

1. Stability is crucial -it always is.
2. four sticks advertised as 3600 are (in your board) only usable at 3200MHz
3. seller is offering to give 2x32GB stick which are rated (again) for 3200MHz -isn't you PC supposed to work at 3600MHz?

Ok, same as you, I probably wouldn't insist on 3600MHz (if you're otherwise happy with PC). But I would expect from seller some compensation (PC doesn't work as advertised).

2 vs 4 sticks .. I kinda prefer 2 sticks. I may be wrong, but I expect better stability with two (is easier for motherboard to match/accept timings). Let me explain: if you decide to overclock RAM, it's harder to do that with 4 sticks than with two. I know you're not into overclocking RAM -it's only for explaining why two is better than four.

At the end, why don't you ask seller to give you 2x32GB 3600 RAM? You did pay for performance, why not have it? And I'm quite sure, with two stick it will work at 3600MHz.

Just sharing my opinion

 

[DaBoulder]

Performance difference between 2 vs 4 stick exists, but is kinda "academic". And unless you really have a good reason, that shouldn't influence your decision much.

Let me think (imagining I'm in your shoes)...

1. Stability is crucial -it always is.
2. four sticks advertised as 3600 are (in your board) only usable at 3200MHz
3. seller is offering to give 2x32GB stick which are rated (again) for 3200MHz -isn't you PC supposed to work at 3600MHz?

Ok, same as you, I probably wouldn't insist on 3600MHz (if you're otherwise happy with PC). But I would expect from seller some compensation (PC doesn't work as advertised).

2 vs 4 sticks .. I kinda prefer 2 sticks. I may be wrong, but I expect better stability with two (is easier for motherboard to match/accept timings). Let me explain: if you decide to overclock RAM, it's harder to do that with 4 sticks than with two. I know you're not into overclocking RAM -it's only for explaining why two is better than four.

At the end, why don't you ask seller to give you 2x32GB 3600 RAM? You did pay for performance, why not have it? And I'm quite sure, with two stick it will work at 3600MHz.

Just sharing my opinion

Thanks! Actually the seller offered me some compensation if i end up using the 2X32 GB because this kit would be cheaper.
Also the combination that ive build is no longer available in the sellers pc configuration tool XD

Its really weird but almost all prebuilds i can find on the net dont use higher clocks as 3200Mhz for 64GB builds with the 5950X.

Il try the 2x32 GB i think .. When they work as intended (stable) i will sent the 4x16 back and ask for a compensation for the trouble ive got.

 

[BogdanH]

Yes, that's what I would do. Btw. congrats for you PC purchase. Just curious what CPU cooler you have?

 

[DaBoulder]

Yes, that's what I would do. Btw. congrats for you PC purchase. Just curious what CPU cooler you have?

Thanks man! It was expensive as hell but ive been savin money for this for half a decade.

The New kit has just arrived and it even contains some dummyrams which only contain led-modules so that the whole rambank looks full XD
I didnt even know something like this exists.

For the CPU- Cooler i choose a Corsair iCUE H150i RGB PRO XT with 3x Corsair LL 120.
Interestingly its build in the front of the case (iCue 465X RGB black) so the cooler only gets cool air from the outside.

Temps are okay i think with a max of 77 c (while playin cyberpunk 2077).. but this CPU really is a beast. No comparison to my old I7 4770K XD

 

[BogdanH]

Temps are okay i think with a max of 77 c (while playin cyberpunk 2077)..

Yes, at long time full load even up to 80-82 is totally fine -I say that because you can expect 2-3°C increase on hot summer days.

..but this CPU really is a beast.

hehehe .. yes, gives a nice feeling of money well spent

 

[DaBoulder]

Yes, at long time full load even up to 80-82 is totally fine -I say that because you can expect 2-3°C increase on hot summer days.


hehehe .. yes, gives a nice feeling of money well spent

So after 6 days of playin games and benchmarking the 4x dimm configuration suddenly gave me a BSOD (win 10) bluescreen with "memory_management" as errorcode. From my research this could possibly hint to either wrong ram-timings or insufficient voltage.
Ironically this happened while surfing the net with firefox and no stress on the system whatsoever. Really strange.

So i swapped to the 2x32 Kit with 3200 and i keep on testing.

The systemseller - employee told me that they have multiple issues with the new ryzen series and Am4 mainboards and ramconfigurations.
Their Ryzen 5000 systems get RMA'd very often these days.

AMD seems to be in some trouble.

I hope my system performs stable now... otherwise the whole thing needs to get back to the seller.

 

[DSzymborski]

So after 6 days of playin games and benchmarking the 4x dimm configuration suddenly gave me a BSOD (win 10) bluescreen with "memory_management" as errorcode. From my research this could possibly hint to either wrong ram-timings or insufficient voltage.
Ironically this happened while surfing the net with firefox and no stress on the system whatsoever. Really strange.

So i swapped to the 2x32 Kit with 3200 and i keep on testing.

The systemseller - employee told me that they have multiple issues with the new ryzen series and Am4 mainboards and ramconfigurations.
Their Ryzen 5000 systems get RMA'd very often these days.

AMD seems to be in some trouble.

I hope my system performs stable now... otherwise the whole thing needs to get back to the seller.

Honestly, if increasing voltage slightly on RAM invalidates the entire warranty, I'd be extremely unwilling to do business with this company at all. The warranty exclusions for the very few companies I would trust configuring this sort of high-end rig generally specify whole part changes or damages caused by the use, not any change in configuration. I'd certainly question how much of their problem is on their end, not AMD's, given that this isn't DDR4-4000 RAM they're trying to run. Given how constrained you are in being able to make basic adjustments on your PC, if the 2x32 sticks are stable, I wouldn't worry about the mostly benchmark difference between that and four sticks.

 

[BogdanH]

I kinda expected your 4 sticks would be fine at 3200MHz .. I mean, is not some insane clock nowadays. I somewhat agree with DSzymborski (above).. maybe those 4 sticks were not really a kit. But then, it can also be RAM quality.

When I buy RAM, besides XMP speed, I always also look at SPD (JEDEC) speed. SPD is a good indicator about actual RAM specifications. For example:
Brand A: XMP=3200, SMP=2133MHz
Brand B: XMP=3200, SMP=2666MHz
-I would always pick Brand B. Because I believe, it needs to be less overclocked to reach 3200 speed (and will thus work more stable). I could be wrong on that, but this way of thinking worked for me so far.

Anyway, I hope 2x32GB will work in your system as it should.

 

[DaBoulder]

@ DSzymborski

I know.. and i can understand your arguments regarding the voltage increase. But i heard much worse things from other companies. I think it was gamersnexus who reported that NZXT (as pc-seller not as manufacurer of pcparts) didnt even allow their customers to enable the xmp-profile at all because they considered it as "hardware-overcklocking" which was forbidden because of their contract conditions.

I talked to "my personal" service-employee again and he told me that if ram-timings or voltages should be a remaining problem for me, i had to talk to their chief technician. So all he could have done is set the DOCP-profile and lower the clocks till the kit was able to pass their burn-in-test-routines.

The problem is it could be anything. My mainboard for example is not the "cream of the crop" but i saw multiple good reviews for it and i didnt intend to overcklock so i thought it was a safe bet.

@ BogdanH

Yeah ive should have informed myself some more before i choose my parts. I blieved in their advertisement, that their configuration tool can guarantee a stable system. Funnily enoguh after my little issues here my ram- CPU-Mainboard configuration is no longer available in there XD

Yeah i hope it stays stable now. Its scary that it took 6 days of testing before this bsod occured. So even if isend the system back for rma.. how in the world should they reproduce this error?

But the technician promised me that there will be a solution. If nothing helps they would rebuild the whole system.

And by the way..thanks for all your replies guys!

 

[Deleted member 2838871]

So after 6 days of playin games and benchmarking the 4x dimm configuration suddenly gave me a BSOD (win 10) bluescreen with "memory_management" as errorcode.

The systemseller - employee told me that they have multiple issues with the new ryzen series and Am4 mainboards and ramconfigurations.
Their Ryzen 5000 systems get RMA'd very often these days.

AMD seems to be in some trouble.

I hope my system performs stable now... otherwise the whole thing needs to get back to the seller.

Honestly, if increasing voltage slightly on RAM invalidates the entire warranty, I'd be extremely unwilling to do business with this company at all.

I agree... seems bogus to me.

OP... did you do any research on this seller prior to purchase? Or did you just pull the trigger because they were the only one with stock?

 

[DaBoulder]

I agree... seems bogus to me.

OP... did you do any research on this seller prior to purchase? Or did you just pull the trigger because they were the only one with stock?

I did research and theyre kinda premium seller.. They gave me a warranty on the whole build for 4 years. In the last 20 years ive build every pc i had myself. But i never exceeded 2000 € for my builds. So this time i wanted to go "all out". But as i know that my hands would have shaken building a pc worth over 5000,- € .. i said to myself.. nah.. let someone else do the job for you and get yourself a warranty on the whole build. Availability was also a factor.for that decision of course. But to be honest the 3090 was the only card that was permanently availbale from the 3000 series anyway. The 3070 (some occasional stock) was too weak for my taste.

Like is said the employee said messing with ram-timings has to be discussed with their chief technician first.
And honestly i can understand the reason behind this. Many people who buy "prebuilds" or from a systemseller in general are usually not very skilled when it comes to tech-knowledge. So they dont want some noobs messing with the bios XD

My suspicion regarding ram-instability in this case : the regualr DOCP- profile timings differ from the "intended" ones shown in CPU-Z. Its weird.