[SOLVED] How do I identify a RAM kit part number from the individual sticks? Patriot Memory

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
So, my brother ordered up a system from Digital Storm some time back. Really, REALLY wish he would've consulted with me first, but, here we are. He got the system back in November. I do know that there is:
  • MB: Asus board with X570 chipset (don't remember precise model)
  • Ryzen 7 3800X
  • Radeon RX 5700 XT (an MSI model, but not sure which one)

Some . . questionable . . choices were made. One that particularly irked me was the RAM . . 2x8GB of Patriot 3200MHz RAM . . CL 22.

What?

There are five lines of info on the sticker for each RAM module:
  • PSP48G320081HB
  • PS001560-BK
  • DDR4 8GB 3200MHz CL22 1.2V
  • PS1500-BK 01375 (this is under a UPC bar code, whereas the 2nd stick is identical but ends with 73 instead of 75)
It seems like the first line is the part number - and I've had to do some guesswork as nothing I've found seems to quite match, but, are these actually individual sticks that Digital Storm put together with the same part number, and not actually part of a 2x8GB kit?

Also, CL22? I know I don't have a huge amount of experience dealing with DDR4, but isn't that a really high latency, particularly for 3200MHz RAM? Going from memory right now, but I think the timings are 22-22-22-52.

I have the sticks in a box with me (upgraded him to 32GB, but as a 3200MHz CL16 2x16 kit) . . as I didn't want to finagle with things in case his CPU didn't want to play nice with 3600MHz RAM. Still, what came from the builder seems a little sketchy.

(side note, I'll probably have another post regarding recommendations with regard to his cooling setup and possible heat issues . . to me, even the cooling seems like some poor decisions were part of the process)
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
I was just really trying to figure out if these particular sticks came in a 2x8GB kit, or if Digital Storm literally had gone the way of using two individual 8GB sticks with identical model numbers, but that were not part of a kit.

(even Patriot's site didn't seem to have any reference to the part number)
 
if Digital Storm literally had gone the way of using two individual 8GB sticks with identical model numbers
They could do that easily. When you build up say 10 machines with same RAM at once all you would need is about 25 single sticks to make 10 working pairs. The downside is you have to test each setup if it works correctly vs just plug and send if they had kits.
Have you checked out what cpu-z has to say about those sticks?
 

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
They could do that easily. When you build up say 10 machines with same RAM at once all you would need is about 25 single sticks to make 10 working pairs. The downside is you have to test each setup if it works correctly vs just plug and send if they had kits.
Have you checked out what cpu-z has to say about those sticks?
Yep . . it just showed the same model number as was on the label.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Digital Storm isn't stupid. Ram is the single most exasperating thing in a pc to get right, I seriously doubt that those sticks are mixed kit.

When you get a stick of ram, it'll have a bunch of numbers that don't make any sense whatsoever. Those will be 2 things, either internal product key numbers, like Patriot instantly recognizing they were made for Digital Storm not Retail sales, and a serial production number.

With a kit, the chips almost always come from the same sheet of silicon, so both sticks have maximum compatability. Most times you'll see sticks with sequential serial numbers, literally the very next stick in line. But not always. It's very common, especially in 4x stick kits, to see 3xcsticks be sequential, but the 4th stick to be 2 or 3 or 5 numbers down the line.

This is due to ram failures in a chip, it had a chunk of impurities in it, or a bubble or some other inane reason, but what's important is all the sticks are factory tested as compliant and compatible.

And that's what they'll send to DS, kits, not individual sticks that DS must then test, mix and match etc. Doesn't matter if the last numbers are 73/74 or 73/75.

Cas22 means 2 things. Loose latency for higher possibile stability and cheaper ram. Consider the price difference between Samsung B-die Cas14 and SkHynix Cas16. It's not just a brand name expense, Cas14 uses a much higher grade of silicon and literally costs more per chip. That cost being sent to the consumer. Cass22 is Far cheaper in comparison, so DS gets a slightly higher profit margin per stick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tennis2 and King_V
I was just really trying to figure out if these particular sticks came in a 2x8GB kit, or if Digital Storm literally had gone the way of using two individual 8GB sticks with identical model numbers, but that were not part of a kit.

(even Patriot's site didn't seem to have any reference to the part number)
The couple google hits I got from searching "PSP48G320081HB" returned 1x8GB, which is perhaps the "1" at the end(?)

PS = Patriot signature
3200 = 3200MHz
8 = 8GB stick
1 = 1 stick kit
B= black PCB

I think it's just cheapo OEM stuff. They sell the sticks/chips with tighter timings on the aftermarket. The remaining go to OEMs whose customers don't know/care.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: King_V

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
The couple google hits I got from searching "PSP48G320081HB" returned 1x8GB, which is perhaps the "1" at the end(?)

PS = Patriot signature
3200 = 3200MHz
8 = 8GB stick
1 = 1 stick kit
B= black PCB

I think it's just cheapo OEM stuff. They sell the sticks/chips with tighter timings on the aftermarket. The remaining go to OEMs whose customers don't know/care.
Glad to get a second set of eyes confirming it. I came up more or less with the same conclusion by trying to piece the parts of the part # together, but wasn't sure if I'd fumbled along the way . .


Also, @Karadjgne , yep, it looks like you're spot-on there. What I think is probably the printed Patriot serial number is 2 apart, 01373 and 01375. Also, there's a Digital Storm sticker slapped on somewhere, with a bar code and a number, and it, likewise, is exactly two apart. 214868 on the 01373 stick, and 214870 on the 01375 stick. Two sticks out of a large number of them that came from the same sheet seems to be what happened here.
 
I have no way to prove this, but I imagine at this point in the DDR4 lifecycle CAS22 is awful conservative, to the point where I can't imagine the "reject" bin destined for CAS 22 timing wouldn't be very full. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that the majority of those sticks would run stable at much tighter timings (CAS 16-18 wouldn't be surprising at 3200MHz). Whereas the more aggressively spec'd sticks/kits may have less wiggle room and/or variability. Of course, that's a gamble (and the manufacturer is only guaranteeing the specs listed), but with enough volume.... that's probably why builders like DS can just pair 1x sticks instead of buying matched kits.


One question I have is: what the CAS latency has to do with multi-stick compatibility. Does the IMC (on the CPU) know/care what the CAS (and subtimings) is, or is it mostly the frequency? I honestly don't know what causes 2 equally spec'd (and stable) individual sticks to suddenly not work together, aside from exceeding the IMC frequency limits for multiple sticks. **Keeping in mind the stock specs for a given CPU are generally more tame than most aftermarket RAM kits, so we need to exclude memory [IMC] "overclocking" from consideration. I've never seen a CPU spec list anything besides the frequency on their compatibility list, which would seem that's all the IMC cares about. 3200MHz CAS 22 = 3200MHz CAS 14 for all we know.
 
Last edited:

King_V

Illustrious
Ambassador
That's kind of a question I've had as well. I'm starting to suspect that it's sort of "what the time calculates to" . . that is, 16CL at 3200MHz is the same as 18CL at 3600MHz, if my thought is correct.

I would take that with an enormous boulder of salt, and assume there's rather a number of caveats to it.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Timings are just that, afaik, the amount of time given for any particular procedure and amount of clock ticks to complete that procedure.

I think of Cas and speeds as related, the overall result being in nanoseconds to finish. To me it's like walking across the room. Cas14 3200 would be 14 steps from door to door, legs swinging at 3200. That's like long strides at a medium pace. Cas16 would be 16steps, so a shorter stride, but legs are moving faster to compensate. Picture you walking across the room vs a Geisha in a hurry. Same approximate time taken to cover the distance, even if technically the Geisha is walking faster.

The other timings being related to the amount of time it takes to open the door, walk through, close the door etc. Try and do that too fast, there'll come a time when you'll slam your fingers in the door.

Stability has to do with bit-flips. The more stable the ram, the less chance of a bit-flip. ECC goes one step further, checks output data vs input data, and corrects any bit-flips that have occurred, which takes time and costs performance. It's why servers historically use large amounts of slower ram, with loose timings, not because of its affects on the MC, but because it allows for less bit-flips to start with.

Doesn't generally affect games, but can affect OS if the bit-flip hits a system driver. Secondary and Tertiary timings have far more to do with OS stability than the Primary timings. Windows doesn't care how long it takes to get data moved through the ram, but it does care when it's fingers get slammed in the door.
 
  • Like
Reactions: King_V