[SOLVED] On a budget, what is the best RAM to use with the Ryzen 5 1600 af?

[carson_e]

Basically what the title says. Using an MSI Tomahawk Pro. I have heard multiple things but I can't seem to find anything consistent, so I came here to find a definite answer. Thanks ahead of time!

 

[tennis2]

Should be able to do 3000-3200MHz RAM (DDR4 obviously). Get a 2 stick kit (sold together)

 

[carson_e]

Basically what the title says. Using an MSI Tomahawk Pro. I have heard multiple things but I can't seem to find anything consistent, so I came here to find a definite answer. Thanks ahead of time! Something messed up with the previous thread, I don't know what's going on. So sorry if this is a repost.

 

[carson_e]

Should be able to do 3000-3200MHz RAM (DDR4 obviously). Get a 2 stick kit (sold together)

Is there any specific kit you would recommend? I'm only getting it because my PC failed yesterday and I really do not want to mess something up again.

 

[carson_e]

Also, I think I might upgrade to a Ryzen 5 3600X sometime soon. Should I get like a 3600MHz in preparation for that?

 

[Third-Eye]

Also, I think I might upgrade to a Ryzen 5 3600X sometime soon. Should I get like a 3600MHz in preparation for that?

You should be able to run the ram just fine, but you will have to either manually set the speed and timings or use the MSI Memory Try It! feature. Set the ram to 2933-3200MT/s with either 14-14-14, 16-16-16 or 16-18-18 timings when using the 1600 AF. CL14 at 3200MT/s is usually best used with Samsung B die or Hynix A or C die modules.

 

[carson_e]

You should be able to run the ram just fine, but you will have to either manually set the speed and timings or use the MSI Memory Try It! feature. Set the ram to 2933-3200MT/s with either 14-14-14, 16-16-16 or 16-18-18 timings when using the 1600 AF. CL14 at 3200MT/s is usually best used with Samsung B die or Hynix A or C die modules.

Would the 3200MHz and 14-14-14 timings be the best? Also I do not know what you mean by "Samsung B die or Hynix A or C die modules."

 

[Third-Eye]

Would the 3200MHz and 14-14-14 timings be the best? Also I do not know what you mean by "Samsung B die or Hynix A or C die modules."

To be honest, you likely don't need to worry about any of that. CL16-18-18 2x8GB kits should be reasonably priced at around $115-130 and they should be capable of 14-14-14-32 timings at 3200MT/s. Even if you got cheaper CL18 3600 modules, you likely won't notice any real world benefit to the tighter timings of the higher quality modules. Just get modules that are in your price range for the speed you are looking for and don't get CL19 or CL20 at 3600MT/s. You might want to also look for kits on the motherboard QVL for Ryzen 3000 CPUs for better compatibility.

One last thing to mention is if you want more than 16GB of ram, you will have to run at 2933-3000MT/s on Ryzen 2000 (1600AF is based on Ryzen 2000) and 3200-3333 with Ryzen 3000. Once you start running a dual rank configuration, you are limited by the memory controller. Dual rank configurations would be 2x16GB or 4x4/8/16GB. Higher capacity modules sometimes force you to use even slower speeds, so using 4x16GB may limit your speed to 2666-2800MT/s on Ryzen 2000 or 2800-2933MT/s on Ryzen 3000.

 

[carson_e]

To be honest, you likely don't need to worry about any of that. CL16-18-18 2x8GB kits should be reasonably priced at around $115-130 and they should be capable of 14-14-14-32 timings at 3200MT/s. Even if you got cheaper CL18 3600 modules, you likely won't notice any real world benefit to the tighter timings of the higher quality modules. Just get modules that are in your price range for the speed you are looking for and don't get CL19 or CL20 at 3600MT/s. You might want to also look for kits on the motherboard QVL for Ryzen 3000 CPUs for better compatibility.

One last thing to mention is if you want more than 16GB of ram, you will have to run at 2933-3000MT/s on Ryzen 2000 (1600AF is based on Ryzen 2000) and 3200-3333 with Ryzen 3000. Once you start running a dual rank configuration, you are limited by the memory controller. Dual rank configurations would be 2x16GB or 4x4/8/16GB. Higher capacity modules sometimes force you to use even slower speeds, so using 4x16GB may limit your speed to 2666-2800MT/s on Ryzen 2000 or 2800-2933MT/s on Ryzen 3000.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0143UM4TC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
That is the kit I decided to get. However, on Newegg the price of the Tomahawk just went up to $199 so I am going to have to wait for it to come back into stock on Amazon and then for them to ship it. I blame COVID-19.

 

[carson_e]

Let me know if you see any problem with that kit.

 

[Third-Eye]

Let me know if you see any problem with that kit.

That Corsair kit should work fine. If you are even considering spending more than $140 on a B450 motherboard, the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC usually goes on sale for $140 at least once a month. You could also wait for B550 motherboards, which will hopefully release in the next 2-3 months. That may be part of why stock of the better B450 motherboards is in short supply.

 

[carson_e]

That Corsair kit should work fine. If you are even considering spending more than $140 on a B450 motherboard, the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC usually goes on sale for $140 at least once a month. You could also wait for B550 motherboards, which will hopefully release in the next 2-3 months. That may be part of why stock of the better B450 motherboards is in short supply.

Well I’m doing all this because my current PC broke down. Is there any MicroATX boards like the MSI Tomahawk that you know of? I currently only have a MicroATX case and I really can’t afford another case right now.

 

[Third-Eye]

Well I’m doing all this because my current PC broke down. Is there any MicroATX boards like the MSI Tomahawk that you know of? I currently only have a MicroATX case and I really can’t afford another case right now.

The Tomahawk wouldn't have fit in that case anyway as there is no mATX version. The only micro ATX boards that I know are decent, are the Asrock B450M Pro4, Asrock B450M/AC (basically the Pro4 with Wi-Fi), the Asrock B450M Steel Legend and the MSI B450M Gaming Plus. Those are or should be $80-100 depending on the store.

 

[carson_e]

The Tomahawk wouldn't have fit in that case anyway as there is no mATX version. The only micro ATX boards that I know are decent, are the Asrock B450M Pro4, Asrock B450M/AC (basically the Pro4 with Wi-Fi), the Asrock B450M Steel Legend and the MSI B450M Gaming Plus. Those are or should be $80-100 depending on the store.

That’s what I was saying earlier and those all have similar specs to the Tomahawk?

Also, I have no clue what to do like I could get a cheap case and hope for the best because the Tomahawk would allow for further upgrading (idk how the other boards will upgrade). Or I could just live without a case for a while... maybe?

Thank you so much for helping me out on this.

 

[Third-Eye]

That’s what I was saying earlier and those all have similar specs to the Tomahawk?

Also, I have no clue what to do like I could get a cheap case and hope for the best because the Tomahawk would allow for further upgrading (idk how the other boards will upgrade). Or I could just live without a case for a while... maybe?

Thank you so much for helping me out on this.

Most of the reason for getting an ATX board like the Tomahawk would be for additional SATA ports, expansion slots for a second graphics card or other cards. If the system is just for gaming and you only need one GPU, I doubt you would miss the extra 2-3 slots lots with an mATX board.

What is your current case model? Do you know if you can fit standard parts in it? Is it a micro tower, Slim micro tower or SFF case? If you are replacing all the parts are you also planning a power supply replacement? What parts do you have that you can or are planning to use on the new hardware, like a GPU or DDR4 ram from the previous motherboard maybe?

You could enter in everything you are considering at https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ and it will usually tell you of any conflicts you may have with the parts. Browse over the other builds to get an idea of what you need for your own system.

 

[carson_e]

I was mainly thinking about those two extra RAM slots on the Tomahawk. The case I have right now is a MicroATX (Mini tower I believe). I’m planning on reusing my GPU (AMD Radeon R7 360 (pretty bad I know)) I cant reuse anything because it was an AMD Athlon X4 860K which used a different chipset and DDR3. It sucks that it had to get damaged. I have done that with the list but my case isn’t on it so I’m just assuming it would be too small for the Tomahawk.

 

[Third-Eye]

I was mainly thinking about those two extra RAM slots on the Tomahawk. The case I have right now is a MicroATX (Mini tower I believe). I’m planning on reusing my GPU (AMD Radeon R7 360 (pretty bad I know)) I cant reuse anything because it was an AMD Athlon X4 860K which used a different chipset and DDR3. It sucks that it had to get damaged. I have done that with the list but my case isn’t on it so I’m just assuming it would be too small for the Tomahawk.

Do you know what was damaged on the old computer to make it not work anymore?

If the case has the room for an R7 360, it likely means you can fit a standard ATX PSU and can reuse the case if you like it. Was the system a prebuilt, like from Dell or HP or was it a user built? Depending on the size of the case, you may be limited on heat-sink and case fan options.

Do you know what your current power supply model is? The power supply you have now is likely about 5-6 years old, which isn't really an issue for reuse as long as it was a good quality PSU, but you should really budget for a new 550-650watt PSU if you haven't already.

 

[carson_e]

Do you know what was damaged on the old computer to make it not work anymore?

If the case has the room for an R7 360, it likely means you can fit a standard ATX PSU and can reuse the case if you like it. Was the system a prebuilt, like from Dell or HP or was it a user built? Depending on the size of the case, you may be limited on heat-sink and case fan options.

Do you know what your current power supply model is? The power supply you have now is likely about 5-6 years old, which isn't really an issue for reuse as long as it was a good quality PSU, but you should really budget for a new 550-650watt PSU if you haven't already.

My current PSU is an EVGA 400W. Pretty good quality. I built this computer around 3-4 years ago. The R7 360 (that I have) is single fan an pretty small. My current case is a Rosewill Ranger-M. I think I measured it and I don’t think it would fit or dimensions of the Tomahawk on Amazon are wrong. I would be very happy if it would fit but I don’t think it would.

Alright so this is fun: the MSI Tomahawk is sold out everywhere. I don’t know what to do now.

 

[carson_e]

Do you know what was damaged on the old computer to make it not work anymore?

If the case has the room for an R7 360, it likely means you can fit a standard ATX PSU and can reuse the case if you like it. Was the system a prebuilt, like from Dell or HP or was it a user built? Depending on the size of the case, you may be limited on heat-sink and case fan options.

Do you know what your current power supply model is? The power supply you have now is likely about 5-6 years old, which isn't really an issue for reuse as long as it was a good quality PSU, but you should really budget for a new 550-650watt PSU if you haven't already.

Also this is my current build (different case): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/L2Djyf

I cleaned it with compressed air from an air compressor. Here is the old thread of what happened: https://forums.tomshardware.com htt...no-signal-everything-receiving-power.3596004/

 

[carson_e]

Hold up. I just found this motherboard: MSI Arsenal Gaming AMD Ryzen 1st and 2nd Gen AM4 M.2 USB 3 DDR4 DVI HDMI Crossfire ATX Motherboard (B450 Tomahawk) (Renewed)

Did they just rename the B450 Tomahawk? And there is a mATX version of this board! Am I not seeing something? This seems too good to be true.

EDIT: Nevermind. It is just a renewed version of it.

 

[Third-Eye]

Hold up. I just found this motherboard: MSI Arsenal Gaming AMD Ryzen 1st and 2nd Gen AM4 M.2 USB 3 DDR4 DVI HDMI Crossfire ATX Motherboard (B450 Tomahawk) (Renewed)

Did they just rename the B450 Tomahawk? And there is a mATX version of this board! Am I not seeing something? This seems too good to be true.

EDIT: Nevermind. It is just a renewed version of it.

The original B450 model was released for Ryzen 2000. The Max versions of MSI boards have a Ryzen 3000 compatible bios and they're just the same motherboard with a few cosmetic changes.

Consider that that renewed board only has a 90 warranty. It might be better in the long run to buy new for the full warranty. You might want consider the B450 Gaming Pro as it's nearly the same motherboard as the Tomahawk, but with smaller VRM heat-sinks and no USB C port in the back.

 

[carson_e]

The original B450 model was released for Ryzen 2000. The Max versions of MSI boards have a Ryzen 3000 compatible bios and they're just the same motherboard with a few cosmetic changes.

Consider that that renewed board only has a 90 warranty. It might be better in the long run to buy new for the full warranty. You might want consider the B450 Gaming Pro as it's nearly the same motherboard as the Tomahawk, but with smaller VRM heat-sinks and no USB C port in the back.

But would that fit in my case?

 

[Third-Eye]

But would that fit in my case?

No.

The Tomahawk wouldn't have fit in that case anyway as there is no mATX version. The only micro ATX boards that I know are decent, are the Asrock B450M Pro4, Asrock B450M/AC (basically the Pro4 with Wi-Fi), the Asrock B450M Steel Legend and the MSI B450M Gaming Plus. Those are or should be $80-100 depending on the store.

Of those boards I listed, the Asrock B450M boards have four ram slots and the MSI B450M board has only two slots.

 

[carson_e]

No.

Of those boards I listed, the Asrock B450M boards have four ram slots and the MSI B450M board has only two slots.

I have heard that MSI boards have more bells and whistles, though.

 

[Third-Eye]

I have heard that MSI boards have more bells and whistles, though.

The only real advantage the MSI boards have is slightly better overclocking ability, but mostly on the higher end boards ($150-200 range.)

What do you know you actually need and what do you think you want or need?

If you are on a tight budget, and still want to use your current mATX case, just get the Asrock B450M Pro 4. It's one of best mATX boards available and has a USB-C port in the rear. I seriously doubt you will be missing much of anything if it's just for gaming and school work.