[SOLVED] How much of a performance decrease will I see?

[Deleted member 2720853]

I have 2x 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200 MHz CL16 sticks. I want to get a Ryzen 9 3900x and a B550 Aorus Pro motherboard. The memory I have is on the QVL list of that mobo.

Is my current RAM too "slow" for Zen 2 (considering I see everyone mentioning how 3600 MHz is the "sweet spot")? Will I see drastic performance decreases?

 

[kanewolf]

I have 2x 16 GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200 MHz CL16 sticks. I want to get a Ryzen 9 3900x and a B550 Aorus Pro motherboard. The memory I have is on the QVL list of that mobo.

Is my current RAM too "slow" for Zen 2 (considering I see everyone mentioning how 3600 MHz is the "sweet spot")? Will I see drastic performance decreases?

No, it won't be a "drastic" performance hit. 5% would be my guess.

 

[punkncat]

I would almost guarantee you that in a side by side sit down test without counters on you would NEVER be able to discern a difference. The only place you would feel this is a benchmark...maybe.

I would be willing to bet you could OC that memory to 3200, but if you have to loosen the timing or run voltage up much you may as well not do it.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

I would be willing to bet you could OC that memory to 3200, but if you have to loosen the timing or run voltage up much you may as well not do it.

The memory is already 3200 MHz? Current XMP profile set it to 16-18-18-36 and 3200 MHz.

If you meant 3600 then yeah, I wouldn't do it. I don't even know how.

I would almost guarantee you that in a side by side sit down test without counters on you would NEVER be able to discern a difference. The only place you would feel this is a benchmark...maybe.

Perfect.

No, it won't be a "drastic" performance hit. 5% would be my guess.

That's good enough for me, don't feel like spending another $150+ on another RAM kit considering I just bought this kit, all for a 5% increase in performance. Might not even be 5%, probably even less.

 

[punkncat]

Lol, yup, typo.

The CPU of that gen "wants" 3200+, so you should be fine. I wouldn't personally set 32GB of RAM aside for a couple of possible frames in some titles. On the desktop and from your chair you would never be able to tell.

 

[Karadjgne]

You do realize that ram speeds of transmission are counted using nano-seconds. The difference realistically between 3200MHz and 3600MHz, assuming the same timings, would be a couple of minutes on an hour long render. Etc.

The reason why 3600MHz is the touted 'sweet spot' (it really isn't, 3733MHz is) is because it's the fastest and most readily available ram that still maintains a 1:1:1 ratio in the infinity fabric. Beyond 3733MHz, it switches to a 1:2:1 ratio and gets slower. Same thing with 2000 series cpus, but that limit is 3466MHz, making 3200MHz the 'sweet spot'. The only reason 3466/3733 isn't the popular choice is because it's all too easy to see changes in BCLK, FSB, ram settings etc which can make it into 3734MHz and games will show that with speedups/slow downs on screen fps. Better to be solidly 3600 than variably 3733.

Stand on the side of a freeway. 2 cars go past you. One is doing 95mph, and one is doing 100mph. Tell me whether the red or the blue car was faster. You can't. You cannot discern that small of a difference. It'd take a cop with a radar gun. Or a benchmark, if you will.

 

[Deleted member 2720853]

You do realize that ram speeds of transmission are counted using nano-seconds. The difference realistically between 3200MHz and 3600MHz, assuming the same timings, would be a couple of minutes on an hour long render. Etc.

The reason why 3600MHz is the touted 'sweet spot' (it really isn't, 3733MHz is) is because it's the fastest and most readily available ram that still maintains a 1:1:1 ratio in the infinity fabric. Beyond 3733MHz, it switches to a 1:2:1 ratio and gets slower. Same thing with 2000 series cpus, but that limit is 3466MHz, making 3200MHz the 'sweet spot'. The only reason 3466/3733 isn't the popular choice is because it's all too easy to see changes in BCLK, FSB, ram settings etc which can make it into 3734MHz and games will show that with speedups/slow downs on screen fps. Better to be solidly 3600 than variably 3733.

Stand on the side of a freeway. 2 cars go past you. One is doing 95mph, and one is doing 100mph. Tell me whether the red or the blue car was faster. You can't. You cannot discern that small of a difference. It'd take a cop with a radar gun. Or a benchmark, if you will.

Yup so conclusion I'm overthinking things again and I'll be just fine.

 

[Karadjgne]

Lol, yep. 3600 wouldn't hurt anything but your wallet, moving from 3200 to 3600 makes little sense. Now if you had 2133... different story.