[SOLVED] Help with buying a proper RAM for a new system

[Nixx91]

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding ram memory, I am confused and I need help before I buy a new DDR4 ram for a new build.
Also on Asrock site I cant understand which ram I should and and what is going to work for sure.
When I buy RAM it will be hard to replace it with other if its not compactible.

Those are the new components which I already bought:
MOBO - AsRock AB350 Pro 4
CPU - Ryzen 7 2700x (Wraith Prism Stock)
GPU - Asus Strix GTX 1070 8g Gaming
PSU - Cooler Master Silent Pro 700w Bronze Modular
RAM - ???

Since the board have 4 DIMM slots I want next:

• 2 ram sticks, 8gb per stick (total 16gb)
• to work on highest possible speed (3000 if possible)
• that both sticks work in dual channel mode

If that's not possible, please suggest me what I can do and which ram should I get.
I don't mind if its going to be Kingstone, Gskill, Corsair or Patriot..or so...
Thanks!

 

[CountMike]

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding ram memory, I am confused and I need help before I buy a new DDR4 ram for a new build.
Also on Asrock site I cant understand which ram I should and and what is going to work for sure.
When I buy RAM it will be hard to replace it with other if its not compactible.

Those are the new components which I already bought:
MOBO - AsRock AB350 Pro 4
CPU - Ryzen 7 2700x (Wraith Prism Stock)
GPU - Asus Strix GTX 1070 8g Gaming
PSU - Cooler Master Silent Pro 700w Bronze Modular
RAM - ???

Since the board have 4 DIMM slots I want next:

• 2 ram sticks, 8gb per stick (total 16gb)
• to work on highest possible speed (3000 if possible)
• that both sticks work in dual channel mode

If that's not possible, please suggest me what I can do and which ram should I get.
I don't mind if its going to be Kingstone, Gskill, Corsair or Patriot..or so...
Thanks!

First have a look here http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350 Pro4/#MemoryPR
Obviously they can't and didn't list every available RAM But will give you an idea how far you can go.

 

[Snow_cherry12]

Hello everyone,

I have a question regarding ram memory, I am confused and I need help before I buy a new DDR4 ram for a new build.
Also on Asrock site I cant understand which ram I should and and what is going to work for sure.
When I buy RAM it will be hard to replace it with other if its not compactible.

Those are the new components which I already bought:
MOBO - AsRock AB350 Pro 4
CPU - Ryzen 7 2700x (Wraith Prism Stock)
GPU - Asus Strix GTX 1070 8g Gaming
PSU - Cooler Master Silent Pro 700w Bronze Modular
RAM - ???

Since the board have 4 DIMM slots I want next:

• 2 ram sticks, 8gb per stick (total 16gb)
• to work on highest possible speed (3000 if possible)
• that both sticks work in dual channel mode

If that's not possible, please suggest me what I can do and which ram should I get.
I don't mind if its going to be Kingstone, Gskill, Corsair or Patriot..or so...
Thanks!

TEAM STREAM ARGB 16GB DDR$ which has 3600MHz label and a perfect duo with Ryzen. Latency penalty is optimal and therefore smooth operation. Moreover, RGB lighting caught enough attention to enhance your gaming experience. Ensures your system as well. So, I think you may try it out.

 

[BogdanH]

The higher the RAM speeds, the more expensive they are. And your motherboard supports max 3200MHz in dual channel anyway. So, buying faster DIMM's is just a waste of money (and so is paying more just because of RGB).

 

[Nixx91]

The higher the RAM speeds, the more expensive they are. And your motherboard supports max 3200MHz in dual channel anyway. So, buying faster DIMM's is just a waste of money (and so is paying more just because of RGB).

Well...

First have a look here http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350 Pro4/#MemoryPR
Obviously they can't and didn't list every available RAM But will give you an idea how far you can go.

Well yeah i saw the list, most of ram memory chips from the list i cant get because they are not available in my country (i mean the ones 2x8 on 3200mhz) thats why i asked you guys what else can i get what should work in dual channel mode and reach 3200mhz with the sticks?
Or let me as like this, if i take any two sticsk of ram 3200 2x8gb (kit of two) is going to work fine?
What i found for a decent money and it should looks good is G.SKILL 16GB Trident Z RGB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 KIT F4-3200C16D-16GTZR (for 85e)? Will that one work fine?

 

[BogdanH]

Yes, to make use of dual channel, you need at least two "identical" sticks, which are usually sold as "kit". To make dual channel actually work, you need to use right memory slots (see motherboard manual).

 

[Archaic59]

Well...


Well yeah i saw the list, most of ram memory chips from the list i cant get because they are not available in my country (i mean the ones 2x8 on 3200mhz) thats why i asked you guys what else can i get what should work in dual channel mode and reach 3200mhz with the sticks?
Or let me as like this, if i take any two sticsk of ram 3200 2x8gb (kit of two) is going to work fine?
What i found for a decent money and it should looks good is G.SKILL 16GB Trident Z RGB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 KIT F4-3200C16D-16GTZR (for 85e)? Will that one work fine?

Here's the kits from G.Skill listed to work with your motherboard.
https://www.gskill.com/configurator...h2=Capacity§16GB (8GBx2),Tested_Speed§3200MHz

 

[Karadjgne]

Bah, some misinformation here.

Motherboard has nothing to do with ram, cpu is everything. It's a Ryzen 2700x, best possible speeds for a novice is 3200MHz.

Channels are a motherboard setup, not a ram setup, all ram is single, dual, quad channel capable, it only matters which slots are used and by what spec ram. Ryzen do NOT like using 4 sticks, they'll be limited to 2133MHz or possibly 2400MHz if you get lucky. Slots A2 and B2 are the primary slots and full speed capable, A1 and B1 are the secondary slots and restricted in speed.

QVL is a joke. Just in the gskill Trident-Z lineup is over 3000 individual model numbers. Add that to all the other models gskill has, multiply that by the amount of models and vendors and you'll end up with a QVL (if complete) that numbers in the millions of different sticks. Obviously nobody is going to compile such, for every board in their lineup, so the QVL is nothing more than a few selected sticks, some prototype donations etc.

There's only a handful of ram OEMs, they manufacture bare ram for everyone, just slap a different heatsink on it with a different paint job. You'll find the exact same sk hynix ram chips in Corsair, Kingston, Patriot, Adata and a bunch of others, depending on the model. Same with Samsung.

So while you may not get an exact model match up, chances are very good its exactly the same ram as another, with a different name or model number.

Crucial.com, Kingston.com, gskill all have compatability testers. 3200MHz, 2x8Gb Cas 14 is as good as it gets, but can be pricey. Cas 16 is the most common.

With the Trident-Z, don't use the GTZR, that's been tested primarily with Intel cpu's. You'll want the models ending in X (GTZRX) as those are tested primarily with Ryzens. Gskill makes that easy. Or use the FlareX versions.

Make sure that B350 is either a later edition, or you have means to update the bios. The original series B350 chipsets only included the 1000 series cpus, not the 2000 series cpus, as they weren't released yet. It's possible that motherboard has been sitting on a shelf for a good long time now.

 

[CountMike]

Bah, some misinformation here.

Motherboard has nothing to do with ram, cpu is everything. It's a Ryzen 2700x, best possible speeds for a novice is 3200MHz.

Channels are a motherboard setup, not a ram setup, all ram is single, dual, quad channel capable, it only matters which slots are used and by what spec ram. Ryzen do NOT like using 4 sticks, they'll be limited to 2133MHz or possibly 2400MHz if you get lucky. Slots A2 and B2 are the primary slots and full speed capable, A1 and B1 are the secondary slots and restricted in speed.

QVL is a joke. Just in the gskill Trident-Z lineup is over 3000 individual model numbers. Add that to all the other models gskill has, multiply that by the amount of models and vendors and you'll end up with a QVL (if complete) that numbers in the millions of different sticks. Obviously nobody is going to compile such, for every board in their lineup, so the QVL is nothing more than a few selected sticks, some prototype donations etc.

There's only a handful of ram OEMs, they manufacture bare ram for everyone, just slap a different heatsink on it with a different paint job. You'll find the exact same sk hynix ram chips in Corsair, Kingston, Patriot, Adata and a bunch of others, depending on the model. Same with Samsung.

So while you may not get an exact model match up, chances are very good its exactly the same ram as another, with a different name or model number.

Crucial.com, Kingston.com, gskill all have compatability testers. 3200MHz, 2x8Gb Cas 14 is as good as it gets, but can be pricey. Cas 16 is the most common.

With the Trident-Z, don't use the GTZR, that's been tested primarily with Intel cpu's. You'll want the models ending in X (GTZRX) as those are tested primarily with Ryzens. Gskill makes that easy. Or use the FlareX versions.

Make sure that B350 is either a later edition, or you have means to update the bios. The original series B350 chipsets only included the 1000 series cpus, not the 2000 series cpus, as they weren't released yet. It's possible that motherboard has been sitting on a shelf for a good long time now.

In this case, MB has something to do with RAM compatibility at least at speeds higher than 2833MHz.
Memory topology on 300 chipset series MBs is all wrong and only best RAM, preferably with Samsung b-die chips can reliably overcome that limit.
R5 2700x on a good 400 series MB can work at up to 3800-4000MHz RAM, I had my up to OC-ed to 3800 MHz (although at Cl 23) on this same machine before switching to 3700x). Memory worked normal at 3600 Cl 16.
Every non- APU Ryzen has unlocked IMC and memory can be overclocked over IMC's natural max frequency which can't be done if BIOS doesn't allow over some value.
So yes, MB and it's BIOS has everything to do with it.

 

[MeanMachine41]

That the MB has nothing to do with RAM and the QVL is a joke is NONSENSE.
Some MB QVLs are extensive and the best MB manufacturers continually update when new ram kits enter the market.
There may be thousands of RAM kits however it's always best to select from the MB QVL to ensure they are tested otherwise you take a chance which can be very frustrating if you lack the experience in Bios DRAM timing control.

 

[Karadjgne]

Extensive? That's somewhat of an exaggeration considering the pool of ram available. They might cover about 1%, if that much. There's not 'thousands' there's 'Millions' of different numbers. A Corsair LPX has 4 different CL. Each of those 4 different CL has 3 different kit possibilities. Multiply that by the 2133, 2400, 2666, 2933, 3000, 3200, 3433, 3600, 3733, 3800 etc and you get thousands of different model numbers and the QVL tested 10.

Add that to the rest of Corsair's lineup, gskill, Kingston, Patriot, oloy, team, Samsung etc etc.

Realistically there's no difference between a gskill stick with code GTRZ and GTRZX except what it was tested by gskill on but you'll only see 1 listed as tested in a QVL.

And that only applies to that exact motherboard used. It says any one particular stick/kit was tested and worked. There's Zero guarantee that if you have the exact same model number and exact same motherboard, that it will work. It worked for them, doesn't necessarily mean that it'll work for you.

2000 series cpus infinity fabric had a hard limit of 3433MHz. After that limit, the IF switched from a 1:1 ratio to a 2:1 ratio. Yes the ram would work but be somewhat slower. 3200/16 ends up somewhat faster than 3600/16 as a consequence. Unless you know how to setup the ram and IF to bypass that, which isn't for novices.

It's the cpu that has everything to do with ram speeds, not the motherboard. When you see a list on a mobo sale website, Sata the mobo is compatible with speeds upto 3200MHz (B450 for instance) that's not a hard limit. That's an assumed limit based on what was available to be tested at that time. You won't see a B450 listed as 4000MHz compatible because at the time that board was released and initial testing done, 4000 didn't exist. Just as you can stick a 3000 series cpu on a B450 and run 3600 all day long, which is neither in the QVL nor the initial listing.

 

[Nixx91]

Bah, some misinformation here.

Motherboard has nothing to do with ram, cpu is everything. It's a Ryzen 2700x, best possible speeds for a novice is 3200MHz.

Channels are a motherboard setup, not a ram setup, all ram is single, dual, quad channel capable, it only matters which slots are used and by what spec ram. Ryzen do NOT like using 4 sticks, they'll be limited to 2133MHz or possibly 2400MHz if you get lucky. Slots A2 and B2 are the primary slots and full speed capable, A1 and B1 are the secondary slots and restricted in speed.

QVL is a joke. Just in the gskill Trident-Z lineup is over 3000 individual model numbers. Add that to all the other models gskill has, multiply that by the amount of models and vendors and you'll end up with a QVL (if complete) that numbers in the millions of different sticks. Obviously nobody is going to compile such, for every board in their lineup, so the QVL is nothing more than a few selected sticks, some prototype donations etc.

There's only a handful of ram OEMs, they manufacture bare ram for everyone, just slap a different heatsink on it with a different paint job. You'll find the exact same sk hynix ram chips in Corsair, Kingston, Patriot, Adata and a bunch of others, depending on the model. Same with Samsung.

So while you may not get an exact model match up, chances are very good its exactly the same ram as another, with a different name or model number.

Crucial.com, Kingston.com, gskill all have compatability testers. 3200MHz, 2x8Gb Cas 14 is as good as it gets, but can be pricey. Cas 16 is the most common.

With the Trident-Z, don't use the GTZR, that's been tested primarily with Intel cpu's. You'll want the models ending in X (GTZRX) as those are tested primarily with Ryzens. Gskill makes that easy. Or use the FlareX versions.

Make sure that B350 is either a later edition, or you have means to update the bios. The original series B350 chipsets only included the 1000 series cpus, not the 2000 series cpus, as they weren't released yet. It's possible that motherboard has been sitting on a shelf for a good long time now.

Funny thing is, I can find GTZR version on QVL list for my MOBO and there is no GTZRX version on QVL.
Also I had to order GTZR because the store doesn't have GTZRX version available at the moment, its possible to order but I have to wait like 2 weeks or more :S

I hope its gonna work same as GTZRX, if not then I will send it back and order GTZRX :S

 

[Karadjgne]

Exactly. They mostly are the same physical sticks, same speeds, ratings etc, but the models ending in X have been tested for use specifically with Ryzens. But gskill doesn't get to tell msi or asus or Gigabyte exactly which models to use in the QVL.

To complicate things, the Samsung B-die used in the Trident's with better CL, is the exact same as used in the RipJaws V, Patriot Elite, Adata XPR and several others. Only difference is the set values in the eprom and the heatsink design. Otherwise the real guts are all the same.

The biggest problem with most ram is the Vendor themselves. You can buy a stick of ram and the chiplets can be from SkHynix, Micron, Samsung or several others. Get an identical stick from a different batch and have completely different chiplets. It all depends on who had the best price on the contract.

Which is why the QVL really is a joke, because that stick tested might have had Micron chiplets, and the exact same model number you just bought might have SkHynix chiplets. And might not work at all.

Only thing decent about an 'extensive' QVL is the fact it shows a whole bunch of 'tested' ram as working, so the chances of any ram you buy, working, are increased. But there is only One guarantee about ram, there are no guarantees. It's pot-luck. Using the QVL as a tool just stacks the deck in your favor.

This video shows exactly what I mean.

View: https://youtu.be/RmI5-vgfRmA

 

[Nixx91]

Exactly. They mostly are the same physical sticks, same speeds, ratings etc, but the models ending in X have been tested for use specifically with Ryzens. But gskill doesn't get to tell msi or asus or Gigabyte exactly which models to use in the QVL.

To complicate things, the Samsung B-die used in the Trident's with better CL, is the exact same as used in the RipJaws V, Patriot Elite, Adata XPR and several others. Only difference is the set values in the eprom and the heatsink design. Otherwise the real guts are all the same.

The biggest problem with most ram is the Vendor themselves. You can buy a stick of ram and the chiplets can be from SkHynix, Micron, Samsung or several others. Get an identical stick from a different batch and have completely different chiplets. It all depends on who had the best price on the contract.

Which is why the QVL really is a joke, because that stick tested might have had Micron chiplets, and the exact same model number you just bought might have SkHynix chiplets. And might not work at all.

Only thing decent about an 'extensive' QVL is the fact it shows a whole bunch of 'tested' ram as working, so the chances of any ram you buy, working, are increased. But there is only One guarantee about ram, there are no guarantees. It's pot-luck. Using the QVL as a tool just stacks the deck in your favor.

This video shows exactly what I mean.

View: https://youtu.be/RmI5-vgfRmA

RAM is coming tomorrow, we will see what will happen I will post results here after I put it the MOBO

Thanks for help, I do understand what you mean, weird thing is, never until now I didn't had any kind of problems with any ram, my Z77 and Z68 with i7 2700K were able to accept whatever I put in mobo xD

 

[Karadjgne]

Intel. They have a monolithic die, only 1 chip under the IHS. So cores are basically hardwired together and need no real way of communication. 2000 series and 3000 series have multiple die, 2-6 chiplets spread out under the IHS, done to spread out the heat, not having 12+ threads all stacked up against each other. But that necessitates a need for communication, which is handled by the Infinity Fabric API. The IF is governed (in part) by the speeds of the ram, a 1:1 ratio for best stability, heat generation, voltage regulation etc. Nice and simple. It's the reason why Ryzen do not like odd numbered Cas values, things get wonky when dealing with partial numbers.

Same goes for Dual Rank ram, which in an 8Gb stick is really 2x4Gb runs, where data is run to the first, then second run, back to first. Creates extra work for the memory controller, putting strain on the communications.

Amd likes a nice, straight line. Dual channel, single rank, even Cas, 1:1 ratio speeds. The more you deviate from the line, the greater the chances of hiccups.

 

[Nixx91]

I want to thank to everyone for info and support! Finally I am done with my new build, at the end I had to take GTZR version. I have puted the ram sticks to 2rd and 4th slot.
At first bios boot I turned on XMP profile1 and switched to 3200mhz (dual mode) and woolaaa it does boots and works perfectly fine.
(Also I can confirm that my Gskill has Samsung B-die chips, at least I am getting that readings from cpu-z)
I can say that I am pretty satisfied with the AsRock mid-range MOBO.
CPU is boosting in benchmarks and some games up to 4200mhz, no custom overlocks, precision boost overdrive on "auto" (COD WARZONE ultra max settings - 75-85fps)
When I get home I will post temps reading from IDLE and FULL LOAD!

Those are the prices in Serbia atm regarding components:

(used 2 years old) AsRock AB350 Pro 4 - 45eur
(brand new) Ryzen 7 2700x (Wraith Prism Stock) - 165eur
(used 1 year old) Asus Strix GTX 1070 8g Gaming - 180eur
(used 1 year old) Cooler Master Silent Pro 700w Bronze Modular - 40e
(brand new) G.SKILL 16GB Trident Z RGB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 KIT F4-3200C16D-16GTZR - 89e
(brand new) Kingstone SSD 240gb - 40e
(brand new) Toshiba HDD 1tb - 40e
TOTAL: 599e

Those are the prices of the components which I sold from old PC:
(5 years old) Chieftec Navitas 1000w Gold - 70e
(7 years old) i7 2700K - 105e
(7 years old) Kingstone HyperX Genesis 4x4gb 1600mhz - 60e
(7 years old) MSI Z68A G43 (G3) - 70e
(7 years old) Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO cooler - 25e
(7 years old) WD HDD 500gb - 15e
(4 years old) Gigabyte R9 390 8gb 512bit G1 Gaming - 130e
TOTAL: 475e

All I can say is that intel is still overpriced...

 

[Nixx91]

Here are the temps if thats ok, i hope its not offtopic: