[SOLVED] Is RAM frequency a gimmick?

[Fiorezy]

So I just upgraded my RAM from 2x8GB 2666MHz to 2x8GB 3200MHz but it doesn't feel like an upgrade! It is the same in all tasks, nothing feels faster , I did some benchmarks and gaming but it is still the same scores... Is there something wrong? Is it because of timing?

Specs:
x570
Ryzen 7 3700x
2060 Super
Corsair RM650i
1TB SSD

 

[tennis2]

• It's not going to be a HUGE difference. And the difference will vary by task/game.
• Did you take the old kit out and install the new one, or do you now have 4x8GB sticks?
• If you only have the 2x8GB 3200MHz installed, have you confirmed that it's actually running at 3200MHz?

 

[bmockeg]

So I just upgraded my RAM from 2x8GB 2666MHz to 2x8GB 3200MHz but it doesn't feel like an upgrade! It is the same in all tasks, nothing feels faster , I did some benchmarks and gaming but it is still the same scores... Is there something wrong? Is it because of timing?

Specs:
x570
Ryzen 7 3700x
2060 Super
Corsair RM650i
1TB SSD

3200mhz should give improvement. 3600mhz is the sweet spot I’d possible for Ryzen gen 3.

 

[Fiorezy]

• It's not going to be a HUGE difference. And the difference will vary by task/game.
• Did you take the old kit out and install the new one, or do you now have 4x8GB sticks?
• If you only have the 2x8GB 3200MHz installed, have you confirmed that it's actually running at 3200MHz?

Ofc I took out the old kit, enabled XMP and confirmed 3200MHz, I even tried to overclock it but I failed
Here is a screenshot from the task manager

 

[Fiorezy]

3200mhz should give improvement. 3600mhz is the sweet spot I’d possible for Ryzen gen 3.

Is there any chance to overclock it to 3600 or 3400?

 

[bmockeg]

Is there any chance to overclock it to 3600 or 3400?

Maybe depends on a lot and takes time

 

[tennis2]

What tasks are you referencing to "feel" faster?

 

[Fiorezy]

What tasks are you referencing to "feel" faster?

Photoshop/Illustrator and fps in gaming

 

[mihen]

Nope it won't be faster in the bulk of use cases. It takes a unique setup to truly push Ram frequency into being a bottleneck. There will obviously be a difference between 1600mhz ddr3 and 3200mhz ddr4, but you won't notice a few hundred mhz outside of benchmarks on the same standard.

 

[bmockeg]

So I just upgraded my RAM from 2x8GB 2666MHz to 2x8GB 3200MHz but it doesn't feel like an upgrade! It is the same in all tasks, nothing feels faster , I did some benchmarks and gaming but it is still the same scores... Is there something wrong? Is it because of timing?

Specs:
x570
Ryzen 7 3700x
2060 Super
Corsair RM650i
1TB SSD

Both of those kits have high latency. Your 3200 MHz kit has higher latency than my 3600mhz kit. DDR 3200 you should have 14ns latency. Latency matters just as much as speed.

 

[Fiorezy]

Nope it won't be faster in the bulk of use cases. It takes a unique setup to truly push Ram frequency into being a bottleneck. There will obviously be a difference between 1600mhz ddr3 and 3200mhz ddr4, but you won't notice a few hundred mhz outside of benchmarks on the same standard.

So it is a gimmick afterall

 

[mihen]

Yea pretty much. With a 1st gen Ryzen CPU you could see a gain by using faster memory, but I think this had to do with how the memory controller worked.

 

[bmockeg]

So it is a gimmick afterall

It’s not really a gimmick as you bought crap memory lol.

 

[tennis2]

It’s not really a gimmick as you bought crap memory lol.

Give it a rest.
DDR4-3200 CAS 16 is absolutely the middle of the road, and certainly the value sweet spot. Getting even a 3200MHz CAS 14 kit costs 50% more, and there's NO WAY that extra performance compared to CL16 is worth the premium.

 

[tennis2]

In general you're looking at 10% or less performance improvement when talking about "budget-acceptable" ranges of RAM speeds for a given CPU. And for that we're talking about something like 2666MHz to 3600MHz (35% frequency uplift). Oftentimes the performance improvement is in the single digits. The review world (that everyone gleans their opinions off of) is, by nature, largely benchmark focused, which makes it hard to do a reality check when looking at the results charts. Usually readers/viewers just see "this is the best" without paying attention to how MUCH better it is as a percentage and comparing that against cost. Sure, if you're buying a new system and going one step up in RAM frequency doesn't incur much cost, even if the performance gain is minimal, most people will take it. However, the discussion changes when you're talking about upgrading RAM speed only (which is generally the LEAST cost effective improvement you can make to your system)
https://www.anandtech.com/show/11857/memory-scaling-on-ryzen-7-with-team-groups-night-hawk-rgb/6

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/3508-ryzen-3000-memory-benchmark-best-ram-fclk-uclock-mclock
(there's a bunch of RAM scaling articles out there)

 

[Third-Eye]

So I just upgraded my RAM from 2x8GB 2666MHz to 2x8GB 3200MHz but it doesn't feel like an upgrade! It is the same in all tasks, nothing feels faster , I did some benchmarks and gaming but it is still the same scores... Is there something wrong? Is it because of timing?

Specs:
x570
Ryzen 7 3700x
2060 Super
Corsair RM650i
1TB SSD

If you were going from say 2133 or 2400 to 3200 then there would be a big difference in games, probably around 15-20fps, but 2666-3200 is around where diminishing returns kicks in and you will only notice around a 5-7fps difference in games that would be affected. Some games still gain higher fps from faster ram, but they are currently the outliers. The "next generation" of games may change all that and have increase performance from much faster ram.

From my own personal testing using 2x8GB at 3200 CL14 and 4x8GB at 3000 CL14, depending on the game, I either lost no fps or gained up to 5fps on my Ryzen 5 2600. I would say 5fps is hardly enough to matter if I'm already getting 60+ or 120+ fps.

Edit - I should also say that fps increased by ram speed is also affected by your platform and CPU and that you may get increased fps at up 3600MT/s, but likely not much more than 10fps max.

 

[bmockeg]

Give it a rest.
DDR4-3200 CAS 16 is absolutely the middle of the road, and certainly the value sweet spot. Getting even a 3200MHz CAS 14 kit costs 50% more, and there's NO WAY that extra performance compared to CL16 is worth the premium.

If you say so. I’d absolutely never advise someone gaming and doing intensive tasks on their PC to buy DDR 3200 with a cas of 16-19-19-38, NEVER. For an elderly person that wants a working PC, all day long. Point is, he asked why he didn’t see the result he was looking for by “upgrading” his RAM. My point is, he barely upgraded, therefore he will barely get results. Again, back to my first post, he should have gotten DDR 3600 with a 3rd gen Ryzen. Going with 3200 is fine, but Ryzen has a high latency memory controller that benefits from CAS 14 latency.

 

[RodroX]

Sorry to ask this stupid questions, but the new RAM you got, you put it in the proper slots so dual channel is enable yes? Have you checked this (dual channel function enable) using CPU-Z?