Question First time upgrading RAM

Mar 18, 2019
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Hello, So i'm currently in the process of upgrading my gaming PC. I''ve purchased a
"ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING AM4 AMD B450 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard" and i'm looking for advice on what exactly I should be looking at for RAM.
The CPU being AMD's RYZEN 7 2700X


I'm honestly just a bit confused/oversatured with what I should be looking at with DDR4.

I've found the QVL here
( https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...-QVL-For-AMD-Ryzen-2000-Series-Processors.pdf )


I'm looking for suggestions/examples of DDR4 - 3200 or 3000 kits, I'd enjoy 32GB of course, but mostly looking at 16GB for saving money.


A couple general questions I have are..

1- Do i've the right references for capitable memory? do they really matter? is it safe to buy RAM outside of the QVL?

2 - The QVL states a few kits are above 3200, but MB suggests that the highest supported is 3200, Is that suggested to be overclocked?

3 - Ryzen 7 and such, only support Dual-Channel RAM, Does this mean it's impossible to have 4 sticks, or is it possible to upgrade in a different way?

4 - I've been told between different opinions, that DDR4 - 3200 & 3000 make little/huge differences in preformance. Is that true at all?

What else should I know about DDR4 or higher speed memeory? for reference, my current system is on DDR3- 1866.
 
  1. That does look like the right list, however, ram compatibility has improved with the 2700x over 1st generation CPUs. As long as the ram is at or above 3000mhz and dual channel, it should work and offer good performance. Ryzen honestly doesn't handle ram much above 3200, but you wouldn't see a ton more performance if you had say a 4000 kit.
  2. 3200 kits running at 3200 are technically overclocked, so you can run any speed above 3200, but it will also be "Overclocked". Ram even a 3200 or 3000 kit will run at 2133mhz until it is set to rated speed in bios. This is technically overclocking.
  3. You can have 4 sticks that will be recognized as full capacity and speed, but the sticks will only run at the speed of 2 sticks and you wont gain speed over 2 sticks.
  4. 3200 is faster over 3000, so I would only get 3000 if there is a good price jump from 3000 to 3200.
  5. cas latency is only something to consider if rated speeds are the same.
 
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