[SOLVED] Having trouble choosing RAM for my 3950x / x570 build

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

Originally I wanted 64 GB RAM and to have it all be lightning fast but apparently that is difficult to do?

I am mostly debating whether to get more memory 64 GB at the expense of speed, or faster 32 GB at, well, the expense of slightly less RAM.

Is there any serious reason to go with two sticks rather than four? I like how four looks better than two, but from what I hear, two is easier to get working? I'm not quite sure. Would be nice to have four.

The 64 GB options I was considering:
64 GB (4 x 16) 3600 16-16-16-36 https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-64gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232864
64 GB (4 x 16) 3200 14-14-14-34 https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-64gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232851

The 32 GB options:
32 GB (4 x 8) 3600 14-15-15-35 https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232857
32 GB (4 x 8) 3200 14-14-14-34 https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232850

Can anyone help me make sense of these options and how they compare in real-usage terms?

 

[Bad_Company]

What is you use case and need 64 Gb of ram ? No quad channel anyway , and higher speeds with tighter timings will be easier to achieve on 2 dimms. 3600 with cl 14 is pretty good. Apart from the fact that its out of stock though , its also double the price of the 3200.

The most important thing is what you intend to use your computer for.

 

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

What is you use case and need 64 Gb of ram ? No quad channel anyway , and higher speeds with tighter timings will be easier to achieve on 2 dimms. 3600 with cl 14 is pretty good. Apart from the fact that its out of stock though , its also double the price of the 3200.

The most important thing is what you intend to use your computer for.

What do you mean by "no quad channel anyway"?

And is there any major difference when you say "easier to achieve"? If a given speed is achieved on 4 dimms vs. 2, is there any difference?

I intend to use the computer for:

-Gaming
-Programming (various IDEs, some programs resource heavy like Android, others more heavy number-crunchy like Mathematica, also Python, C++, Java, R, SQL, some web stuff, etc)
-Virtual machines
-Streaming
-Photoshop
-Video editing
-3d modeling
-...lots of Chrome tabs

A lot of these things done at the same time, lots of programs open, etc.

 

[Bad_Company]

am4 does not support quad channel. So you will be running the 4 dimms in dual.

And is there any major difference when you say "easier to achieve"? If a given speed is achieved on 4 dimms vs. 2, is there any difference?

If a given speed is achieved on both 4 and 2 dimms, you will be able to run tighter stable timings on the 2 dimm kit. Both out of the box and in case you are interested in fiddling with ram timings and overclocking them.

Technically the fastest of the four choices will be the 3600 cl 14 32 gb kit.
Anyway, apart from synthetics, the real life performance difference will be at best negligible.
Plus i feel how 4 dimms definitely look sexy compared to 2.

 

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

Wait really? I thought AM4 was supposed to be their latest socket? What does support quad channel? Does this mean I am losing out on a significant amount of speed?

(But yes I agree that four looks better than two which is why I was asking about it, if I can get some particular speed/timing X to work on four dimms, will I notice any difference compared to getting it to work on two dimms?)

 

[Bad_Company]

am4 lacks the necessary number of socket pins if im not mistaken. More pci lanes and quad channel support on thread ripper and epyc.

In theory you should be able to achieve the stock kit's frequencies and timing even with 4 dimms. Memory compatibility has come a long way. If you get a good dual kit ( highest available speed with lowest available cas ) and oc it a little bit you will definitely have the best performing choice of the above. That might translate to 200 hundred cinebench points or even a little more. But i cant quantify that on everyday use , gaming and rendering performance difference.

From my personal experience with my 2x16 3466 c16 trident z kit, running the kit @3400 c 16 and 3466 c14 with even custom set tighter secondary and tertiary timings, on everyday gaming sessions the difference is not visible. So bottom line, as long as you dont get a shitty kit like 2600 cl 16, real life performance difference is negligible. Hope i helped even slightly.

 

[SgtScream]

Because you're going with 16 core and 32 threads I absolutly would NOT recommend anything lower than 3600mhz. The 3600mhz kit at 2 cas latency higher will out perform the 3200mhz kit hands down and when you have a high core count processor like that, you want to take AMD's recommendation and go with the 3600mhz kit.

 

[SgtScream]

Because you have such a high core count cpu running in dual channel, it only makes sense to go with higher bandwidth at a slightly higher cas latency.

 

[Bad_Company]

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3508-ryzen-3000-memory-benchmark-best-ram-fclk-uclock-mclock

This can only prove helpful, take a look.

 

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

Is there "better" RAM for my intended build or is the stuff I have selected pretty much the best I can get?

Do you think the 4x8 32 GB 3600 MHz 14-15-15-35 would be the best pick?

 

[SgtScream]

Is there "better" RAM for my intended build or is the stuff I have selected pretty much the best I can get?

Do you think the 4x8 32 GB 3600 MHz 14-15-15-35 would be the best pick?

What make and model is it?

 

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

What make and model is it?

Sorry, was referring to the ones I had linked in the first post. Repasting:

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232857

 

[SgtScream]

Damn I didn't know G.Skill had 3600 kit timings that fast. G.Skill is my first go to for memory. They have great warranty support and even have an account on this forum. I'd go for it.

 

[Bad_Company]

In theory there are better, g skill has announced 3800 cl 14 trident z neo . Will it be worth your kidney ? Not really.

https://www.gskill.com/community/15...Memory-Kit-for-AMD-Ryzen-3000-&-X570-Platform

All of your choices above are almost equivalent with each other and all pretty good choices. You cant go wrong with any of them.

 

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

But at 3800 doesn't that do something to the infinity fabric something-or-other that cuts its speed in half when you try to go up over 3733 or something like that?

 

[SgtScream]

Yeah you reach the law of diminishing returns after 3600mhz due to the infinity fabric.

 

[SgtScream]

Was there a reason why you're going 4 x 4 as opposed to 2 x 16?

 

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

4x8, but yeah, I like how four dimms look aesthetically. Kind of a silly reason I know, but I think four looks better than two. I don't know if that will severely limit me somewhere. I still don't fully understand what I am giving up by using four. I mean if I can hit 3600 CL 14 on four dimms, is something else strained more or not as fast/etc compared to 3600 CL 14 on two dimms?

I don't want to wreck infinity fabric stuff so I am assuming 3600 is the highest I should probably go and then if I am trying to overclock, shoot for tighter timings (if that's even worth doing or possible)? Or is that not how it works?

 

[SgtScream]

First and second gen Ryzen you'd be better off with two modules. For Ryzen 3rd gen I honestly think you won't have any problems with a kit of 4. The memory timings on the kit you selected is what it's rated for. I'd just enable A-XMP, as well as PBO on the processor and call it a day. Just make sure you have adequate cooling for the processor.

 

[MoreMoneyThanSense]

I plan to use watercooling for the system.

Given my use cases mentioned in a the third post, do you think 32 GB will be enough or should I maybe consider 64 GB?

 

[SgtScream]

FYI you can get a 2 x 16gb kit that comes with two extra dummy modules that do absolutely nothing except populate all 4 dimms for aesthetic purposes. I can't remember which manufacturer that was for or even if G. Skill does this, but just FYI. What do you plan to use the system for?

 

[Bad_Company]

No one can say for sure that the quad kit will be stable @ 3600 c14. Theoretically the advertised 3600 c16 should be completely stable. You might want to check what overclocks people have achieved with this kit and your cpu. But i think you are stretching it and worrying for no reason for a 2-3% possible performance difference.

unfortunately trident z has no dummy modules :/ i haven't seen any on the market. If you have any info on trident z dummy please send a link, it will be apreciated. I would also like two have two more dimms, my pc needs more rgb !

edit : it was gigabyte that launched the aorus dummy kits

 

[SgtScream]

Looks like Corsair sells the "light enhancement kit" but I seriously doubt any of their kits can out perform g.skill.

 

[Bad_Company]

Thats just personal but tridents are the best looking rgb rams. Corsair vengeance is big meh for me.

 

[SgtScream]

The only corsair kit I see on PC Part Picker that comes close to gskill is a LPX kit:

PCPartPicker Part List
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory ($192.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $192.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-25 15:42 EDT-0400