Question Question about a 128 gb ram setup for a 2990WX system

[raulo1985]

Hi:

I’m building a rig for work, mainly heavy 3d rendering tasks and video editing tasks, so I need the best cpu + mobo + ram I can get according to my budget. Not planning on gaming (I already own a MSI GTX 1070 gaming 8G, which I think for my purposes is more than enough), and I’m not going to overclock. Main goals: stability, durability, quality of the components and, obviously, a lot of cpu power and ram capacity. The rest of my rig is made of a new 2990WX, a new Asus ROG Zenith Extreme Alpha, a Noctua NH-U14S cpu fan (at stock speeds should be enough I think, even under load), some Samsung ssds and a Cooler Master V1000 80 plus gold PSU (I’m going to update it in the near future but, for the meanwhile and running at stock speeds, I think it should be enough even under heavy load).

I’m looking for a 128 gb kit. It sounds like an overkill, but when rendering big scenes ram becomes quite important (and I mean capacity wise, not speed. That’s why I’m not looking to OC them and I’m even willing to underclock the modules son I can get a stable 128 gb setup). Could you please give some recommendations? I’m doing my own research, I know I have to go for a Samsung B-die ram, but after that I’m a little confused. I know it’s unrealistic to try to achieve high speeds or low latencies with a 128 gb setup even with expensive kits, but, like I said, I’m not looking for the best performance, but reliability. Maybe a high frequency/low latency 128 kit and underclock it to 2933 or something like that? Two 64 kits of the same model? Four 32 gb kits? I’m a little lost, but I’ll keep researching.

Thanks in advance

 

[feelinfroggy777]

There are several 128gb kits that are supported on the Zenith Extreme Alpha. Go with one of the kits on the QVL below and you will be good to go.

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...HA/Zenith_Extreme_Alpha_Memory_QVL_190130.pdf

 

[raulo1985]

There are several 128gb kits that are supported on the Zenith Extreme Alpha. Go with one of the kits on the QVL below and you will be good to go.

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...HA/Zenith_Extreme_Alpha_Memory_QVL_190130.pdf

Thanks for your reply. I have indeed looked into their QVL (that's the first thing I do when I'm choosing a ram for a certain mobo), and these are the modules I think could suit my needs. I must recognize that I'm a fan of G.Skill and Corsair, I've never have a problem with their ram modules, so I would prefer to chose a ram from either one of them:

- CORSAIR CMR128GX4M8C3000C16(Ver4.31)(XMP)8x 16GB, DS Samsung chip, 16-18-18-36 1.35V

- G.SKILLF4-3000C14Q2-128GVK(XMP) 8x 16GB, DS Samsung chip, 15-15-15-36 1.35V

- G.SKILLF4-3000C16Q2-128GVKB(XMP) 8x 16GB, DS SK Hynix chip, 16-18-18-38 1.35V

It seems that these are the only 128 gb kits on this mobo's QVL. If they are listed on their QVL it's because they've been tested by Asus and should work at the advertised speeds and latencies from the let go, but I've read many reports about that not being the case with AMD systems. Most of the people I've read that are building a 128 gb setup usually go for higher frequency rams with not so great latencies, and they underclock it to achieve 2933 with decent latencies and good stability. All of these QVL recommended kits are 3000 with CL of 15-16, doesn't sound like they have a great room for keeping them stable, specially these being 128 gb kits. I would go for the first or second one if I had to choose, because of the Samsung chips, but I'm not sure if they're going to be stable even if they are on the QVL page, and even if I underclock them. What do you think?

 

[sidratulmuntaha2026]

There are several 128gb kits that are supported on the Zenith Extreme Alpha. Go with one of the kits on the QVL below and you will be good to go.

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/...HA/Zenith_Extreme_Alpha_Memory_QVL_190130.pdf

That's all you need.

Here, I'm going to add a little bit more information. Check out these benchmark results.

https://www.cgdirector.com/single-dual-quad-channel-memory-threadripper/

As of the brand, personally, I'm a fan of G.Skill. My personal opinion is to go for the following kit. The little fans will offer enough air flow for all the sticks to remain in healthy temperature.

http://www.gskill.com/product/165/1...DR4-3000MHz-CL14-14-14-34-1.35V128GB-(8x16GB)

As you mentioned, it's quite a good strategy to get the RAM in higher MHz and downclock them to 2933MHz. If you're interested in making the system more stable, I recommend doing some manual tweaks in the BIOS.

View: https://youtu.be/KOqhyVNPhaM


Using the tools, you can determine the stable values for all the RAM timings (Calculate SAFE). Then, use MemTest86 to verify the stability. Yes, it's going to be a really, really LONG process with all those RAMs. However, stability is your priority, right? Then, from my personal experience, it's worth every single second.

 

[raulo1985]

That's all you need.

Here, I'm going to add a little bit more information. Check out these benchmark results.

https://www.cgdirector.com/single-dual-quad-channel-memory-threadripper/

As of the brand, personally, I'm a fan of G.Skill. My personal opinion is to go for the following kit. The little fans will offer enough air flow for all the sticks to remain in healthy temperature.

http://www.gskill.com/product/165/1...DR4-3000MHz-CL14-14-14-34-1.35V128GB-(8x16GB)

As you mentioned, it's quite a good strategy to get the RAM in higher MHz and downclock them to 2933MHz. If you're interested in making the system more stable, I recommend doing some manual tweaks in the BIOS.

View: https://youtu.be/KOqhyVNPhaM


Using the tools, you can determine the stable values for all the RAM timings (Calculate SAFE). Then, use MemTest86 to verify the stability. Yes, it's going to be a really, really LONG process with all those RAMs. However, stability is your priority, right? Then, from my personal experience, it's worth every single second.

Thanks for your detailed reply. I was indeed leaning towards your suggestion (the G.Skill GVKD model), but I have some questions, hopefully you can help me with them:

1) There's a GVK and a GVKD model of the same ram. The only difference I can see at their webpages is that the GVKD model seems to have active cooling (a couple of fans) judging by the pictures, but on the description page it says fans not included. Is that the real difference between both models? Is there any other difference? They have the exact same specs, but only the GVK version is on the QVL of the Asus mobo (in other words, your suggestion is not on their QVL, but the GVK is, and I don't know why). And the Asus mobo doesn't appear on the QVL page of both rams either. Could it be that the GVKD is not Samsung B-die? Because if the only diffence between both rams is the cooling solution, both should be compatible, or both incompatible.

2) The fact that this ram (I mean the GVKD, GVK according to Asus's QVL is a Samsung based memory) is CL14 makes it more likely that it's also a Samsung B-die memory, but how can I be sure, besides contacting G.Skill's customer support? Having a Samgung B-die memory for this kind of setup seems to be a must.

3) This is a 3000 memory, and like you said, it seems to be a good strategy to have a higher frequency memory and underclock it when going for 128 gb, but there isn't any 128 gb kit on the QVL with higher speeds than that for this mobo. This is maybe a matter of experience, but do you think this setup (GVK or GVKD, even if listed on Asus's QVL) is in fact stable? It should be, that's why QVL is for, but with AMD it seems to be a little more trickier than that. Ok, it's a 128 gb kit, CL 14 (most likely Samsung B-die), but it's 3000, which seems to not give a lot of room for tweaking seeking stability (not thinking on OCing). This is my inexperience talking anyway, because I'm switching back to AMD after like 10 years.

4) A kind of related question, I've always have this doubt. What's the real difference between the Ripjaws V series and the TridentZ series, besides the RGB? I've read contradicting statements about it, like they are both exactly the same if they share the same specs and in that case the only difference would be the RGB feature, and also have read that the Ripjaws series tend to have higher sub-timings and less layers on their PCBs, so a little less quality and performance. Any ideas about this? Anyway, I don't seem to find a TridentZ 128 gb kit on Asus's QVL, so I'm asking just out of curiosity.

Thanks again.

PS: BTW, I'm also a G.Skill guy when it comes to ram. Corsair comes second place.

 

[sidratulmuntaha2026]

1. I'm not so sure about the difference between them. My personal rig is running 2 sticks of Ripjaws V F4-3200C16-8GVKB. According to my searchings, the Ripjaws V Black lineup uses Samsung B-die

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/62vp2g/clearing_up_any_samsung_bdie_confusion_eg_on/


G.Skill won't offer the RAM cooler, it seems. There are a number of RAM coolers available on Amazon that are compatible with G.Skill RAMs. Found this one that almost resembles the one showed on G.Skill's website.

https://www.amazon.com/G-SKILL-Turbulence-Memory-Cooler-22DBA/dp/B00O5C6O2M?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_8

2. Ripjaws V black ones are mostly going to be Samsung B-dies... no other dies can reach such good timing reliably. I got a pair of them with CL 16 ratings and they're Samsung B-dies.

3. It should be stable. However, you should definitely use tools like MemTest86, AIDA64 etc. to ensure that everything is perfectly stable. A good way would be downclocking the RAM to 2800 or 2933 MHz.

4. That's something I would also like to know. 😊

Cheers!