Overclock CPU without overclocking RAM?

[jaltejkr]

Hi
I'm building a computer for my friend, and i've put together a pc with a ryzen 5 1600 x.
I had plans to mildly overclock it (3.9 or something like that), but when I started watching tutorials on how to do it, I saw that everyone else also overclocked the ram at the same time.
I only have experience with overclocking cpu's and not ram, so I was curious if I could get away with just overclocking the cpu and not the ram?

 

[10tacle]

They are two entirely independent operations so yes. I don't like overclocking memory past its rated speed for two reasons: 1) it increases chances of errors and crashes and 2) in most applications, especially gaming, it makes no difference in performance.

 

[Eximo]

The reason you are seeing everyone overclock the memory is because it has a direct impact on CPU performance. Ryzen CPUs infinity fabric runs at the speed of the memory bus and that is how the CPU packages communicate to each other.

That is why most people are targeting 2933 or 3200. Even if you purchased a lesser memory kit at say 2133, you should be able to run it at a higher frequency with looser timings. Follow those guides and get as much as you can.

If the system proves unstable, you can always undo it.

 

[zyh1987]

Yes you can oc them separately, the thing with ryzen is that manual tweaking can be troublesome and quite frustrating at the same time, my advice is to stay below a 2666 if you are not experienced, and experiment everything onwards, also make sure you flash the bios to the most recent version.