RAM, for Ryzen 7 1700x , focus on speed? or latency? or channel?

[dhruv990]

Hi,

So I'm building a system with a ryzen 7 1700x, I know that memory matters. But have seen a wide range of benchmarks which has me confused.

Budget is the obvious factor for decision making so I have the following options:
2*8 GB 3000 MHz Corsair Vengeance dual channel kit (Most expensive) dont know the timings but i'm guessing its 16-16-16-39
2*8 GB 2400 MHZ Single Channel sticks with timings 16-16-16-39 (slightly less expensive)
1*16GB 3000 MHz Stick timings 15-17-17-35 (Cheapest)

Or should I let go of buying Corsair altogether and get GSkill Ripjaws V instead, how well does it work with ryzen?
The following kit is available :
2*8 GB 2400 MHz 15-15-15-35 (around the same price as corsair 2*8GB Single Channels)

also, related to the above, is RAM only dual channel if it comes as 2 sticks in one box? or will 2 individual sticks (same manufacturer and model and speed) be considered dual channel as well?

Thanks

 

[clarkjd]

Hi,

So I'm building a system with a ryzen 7 1700x, I know that memory matters. But have seen a wide range of benchmarks which has me confused.

Budget is the obvious factor for decision making so I have the following options:
2*8 GB 3000 MHz Corsair Vengeance dual channel kit (Most expensive) dont know the timings but i'm guessing its 16-16-16-39
2*8 GB 2400 MHZ Single Channel sticks with timings 16-16-16-39 (slightly less expensive)
1*16GB 3000 MHz Stick timings 15-17-17-35 (Cheapest)

Or should I let go of buying Corsair altogether and get GSkill Ripjaws V instead, how well does it work with ryzen?
The following kit is available :
2*8 GB 2400 MHz 15-15-15-35 (around the same price as corsair 2*8GB Single Channels)

also, related to the above, is RAM only dual channel if it comes as 2 sticks in one box? or will 2 individual sticks (same manufacturer and model and speed) be considered dual channel as well?

Thanks

From what i've read, Ryzen likes fast ram, so speed would be more important than latency. Also any 2-stick kit would be better than a single stick. A dual channel kit will always contain at least 2 sticks. the advantage here is that the two sticks are matched and therefore have a better chance of working than two unmatched sticks of even the same brand, make, model, timings, and speed. They sell matched sets for a reason.

 

[James Mason]

Ryzen is particularly picky about ram, so all the things you mentioned are important things to consider.
You want as high of MHz as possible with as low a CL as possible for the MHz. Dual sticks is also ideal.

 

[dhruv990]

Ryzen is particularly picky about ram, so all the things you mentioned are important things to consider.
You want as high of MHz as possible with as low a CL as possible for the MHz. Dual sticks is also ideal.

Exactly the reason for my confusion, I saw this one test where a 2933 MHz RAM setup was performing at par or worse than a 2133 MHz setup because it had higher CAS Latency.

My most important question, If I go to a Single RAM Sticks products page and buy the same RAM twice, can I run them in a dual channel mode? or do I have to buy a kit which comes with 2 Sticks in one box?

Also my main issue with getting either Corsair or the Ripjaws running at 3000 or 3200 MHz is that There is no mention of compatibility of these particular sticks on either the Motherboards QVL list (Asrock Fatal1ty Gaming K4 X370) nor is there any mention of their compatibility o the RAM manufacturers website. So even if I get a 3200 MHz stick I doubt I can even run it at the Motherboards Max Speed limit (2933 MHz) without running into issues as I will be overclocking my CPU.

After a lot of digging I found that a particular model of Kingston HyperX 8GB Sticks is available in my country and according to Kingston's own testing is fully compatible with the X370 chipset. However they are only single 8GB sticks and at 2400 MHz, but latency is much better than any of the other sticks available at 15-15-15-35.

So If two identical but seperately packed sticks can work in dual channel mode, I'll just get these. They are ever so slightly cheaper than the expensive options listed above but are tested, seems like a no brainer. So I'll sacrifice a bit of speed but then I would sacrifice the speed anyway if I bought a more expensive set and it could even reach 2400 MHz (I've seen people complaining that their incompatible 3000 MHz sticks would refuse to run at anything above 2133 MHz)

 

[clarkjd]

Ryzen is particularly picky about ram, so all the things you mentioned are important things to consider.
You want as high of MHz as possible with as low a CL as possible for the MHz. Dual sticks is also ideal.

Exactly the reason for my confusion, I saw this one test where a 2933 MHz RAM setup was performing at par or worse than a 2133 MHz setup because it had higher CAS Latency.

My most important question, If I go to a Single RAM Sticks products page and buy the same RAM twice, can I run them in a dual channel mode? or do I have to buy a kit which comes with 2 Sticks in one box?

Also my main issue with getting either Corsair or the Ripjaws running at 3000 or 3200 MHz is that There is no mention of compatibility of these particular sticks on either the Motherboards QVL list (Asrock Fatal1ty Gaming K4 X370) nor is there any mention of their compatibility o the RAM manufacturers website. So even if I get a 3200 MHz stick I doubt I can even run it at the Motherboards Max Speed limit (2933 MHz) without running into issues as I will be overclocking my CPU.

After a lot of digging I found that a particular model of Kingston HyperX 8GB Sticks is available in my country and according to Kingston's own testing is fully compatible with the X370 chipset. However they are only single 8GB sticks and at 2400 MHz, but latency is much better than any of the other sticks available at 15-15-15-35.

So If two identical but seperately packed sticks can work in dual channel mode, I'll just get these. They are ever so slightly cheaper than the expensive options listed above but are tested, seems like a no brainer. So I'll sacrifice a bit of speed but then I would sacrifice the speed anyway if I bought a more expensive set and it could even reach 2400 MHz (I've seen people complaining that their incompatible 3000 MHz sticks would refuse to run at anything above 2133 MHz)

To enable dual channel, two sticks of ram are required. It is ALWAYS better to by a matched set. they have been tested to work together, not just work. The problem with separately packed sticks is that you don't know WHEN they were packed. If they were packed one right after another, then they would have a better chance of working together, but the longer the period of time between one stick being made and the second stick, the less chance of being compatible. You may get lucky and get two separately purchased sticks to work, but considering how picky Ryzen is about ram already, why take the chance to save "ever so slightly"?

 

[dhruv990]

Ryzen is particularly picky about ram, so all the things you mentioned are important things to consider.
You want as high of MHz as possible with as low a CL as possible for the MHz. Dual sticks is also ideal.

Exactly the reason for my confusion, I saw this one test where a 2933 MHz RAM setup was performing at par or worse than a 2133 MHz setup because it had higher CAS Latency.

My most important question, If I go to a Single RAM Sticks products page and buy the same RAM twice, can I run them in a dual channel mode? or do I have to buy a kit which comes with 2 Sticks in one box?

Also my main issue with getting either Corsair or the Ripjaws running at 3000 or 3200 MHz is that There is no mention of compatibility of these particular sticks on either the Motherboards QVL list (Asrock Fatal1ty Gaming K4 X370) nor is there any mention of their compatibility o the RAM manufacturers website. So even if I get a 3200 MHz stick I doubt I can even run it at the Motherboards Max Speed limit (2933 MHz) without running into issues as I will be overclocking my CPU.

After a lot of digging I found that a particular model of Kingston HyperX 8GB Sticks is available in my country and according to Kingston's own testing is fully compatible with the X370 chipset. However they are only single 8GB sticks and at 2400 MHz, but latency is much better than any of the other sticks available at 15-15-15-35.

So If two identical but seperately packed sticks can work in dual channel mode, I'll just get these. They are ever so slightly cheaper than the expensive options listed above but are tested, seems like a no brainer. So I'll sacrifice a bit of speed but then I would sacrifice the speed anyway if I bought a more expensive set and it could even reach 2400 MHz (I've seen people complaining that their incompatible 3000 MHz sticks would refuse to run at anything above 2133 MHz)

To enable dual channel, two sticks of ram are required. It is ALWAYS better to by a matched set. they have been tested to work together, not just work. The problem with separately packed sticks is that you don't know WHEN they were packed. If they were packed one right after another, then they would have a better chance of working together, but the longer the period of time between one stick being made and the second stick, the less chance of being compatible. You may get lucky and get two separately purchased sticks to work, but considering how picky Ryzen is about ram already, why take the chance to save "ever so slightly"?

Well the thing is that this despite being a single stick (HX424C15FB2/8) is the only one I've got confirmation about being truly compatible. Anyways its now more expensive than the rest, The prices in my country are really volatile as of now, and they're going to be like this for the next year Also it is single rank, another thing I've seen ryzen preferring

EDIT:-
I'm settling for G.Skil Flare X Memory now, Same price as the hyper x and the corsair but assured to work by both G.Skill and Asrock. Its got AMD COMPATIBLE RAM written on it as well, if thats not reassuring then I dont know what is