Ryzen 2600x + MSI B450-A Pro AM4

[Steven131]

I was thinking on bundling a Ryzen 5 2600x and this mobo: https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-A-PRO, but I've already ordered these RAM sticks from Newegg: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232179&nm_mc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text-_-

The question is if these components are a good match? and what's the maximum frequency I would the able to overclock the RAM?

 

[clutchc]

They should run at stock (3000MHz), but might get more. It is all up your expertise and the capability of the VRM that MSI provided. Oh, and the quality of the PSU you have.

 

[Steven131]

I'm not an expertise but would it be easy to overclock them to 3200Mhz?

 

[clutchc]

I'm not an expertise but would it be easy to overclock them to 3200Mhz?

Yes. Just set the RAM's clock speed to 3200 in BIOS. Once you get beyond the rated speed however, stability may be an issue. Might have to increase the voltage and/or loosen the timings.
The A-XMP may even offer that clock speed in the menu. That would be the easiest.

But in all honesty, the performance difference would not be noticeable. RAM speed is not all that much of a performance tweak like the CPU OC would be.

 

[Redneck5439]

I'm not an expertise but would it be easy to overclock them to 3200Mhz?

Yes. Just set the RAM's clock speed to 3200 in BIOS. Once you get beyond the rated speed however, stability may be an issue. Might have to increase the voltage and/or loosen the timings.
The A-XMP may even offer that clock speed in the menu. That would be the easiest.

But in all honesty, the performance difference would not be noticeable. RAM speed is not all that much of a performance tweak like the CPU OC would be.

"But in all honesty, the performance difference would not be noticeable. RAM speed is not all that much of a performance tweak like the CPU OC would be"

Traditionally this has been true, but Ryzen is a bit of an "odd duck". Ryzen shows big performance uplifts with faster memory. Typically Ryzen sees the biggest impact at around 3200Mhz but will show marginal performance impact though 3800Mhz its just past 3200Mhz its a diminishing return as timings get looser and voltage gets higher. I have found that Ryzen runs best with ram clocked between 3200Mhz and 3600Mhz, although the biggest uplift is going from 3000 to 3200Mhz, the margins narrow then going to 3400Mhz and to 3600Mhz. I have my system running at 3600Mhz and I have Precision Boost Overdrive enabled, the Vcore set with a negative offset of 1.1V and the SOC set to 1.09V. My Cinebench multi core scores range from 1900 to 1920 and single core from 180 to 183. I haven't manually overclocked the processor at all, that's just all Precision Boost Overdrive and fast memory. I'm also still using the factory Wraith Prism cooler, although if I decide to overclock the CPU later I did just get my AM4 mounts for my NH-D15.

 

[clutchc]

@ Redneck5439
Good to know. I haven't had the opportunity to use anything faster than 3200 so far.

Yes, now that you mention it, I have read about the Ryzen's ability to use fast RAM better than past platforms.

 

[Redneck5439]

@ Redneck5439
Good to know. I haven't had the opportunity to use anything faster than 3200 so far.

Yes, now that you mention it, I have read about the Ryzen's ability to use fast RAM better than past platforms.

Yep, like I said a real "odd duck" in the CPU world. I've overclocked just about every processor in use today, well not the server class stuff... but... On just about everything else out there you get a little improvement overclocking the RAM and tightening up timings, but it was always very little gain and much better to set the base clock higher or increase the multiplier for real gains. Ryzen is the only processor I've ever overclocked where increasing the memory speed greatly increases the performance. Over 3200Mhz the gains narrow, but are still there. I would say from my experience it really caps at 3600Mhz, as at 3800Mhz its a large diminishing return. Ryzen+ also overclocks itself really well. With Precision Boost Overdrive enabled my processor while rendering will hold at 4.175 to 4.2Ghz the entire time and the only setting I changed was to add a 1.1V negative offset on the Vcore and set the SOC to 1.09V. Even with stock cooling while rendering I haven't gone above 76C, although I do have 7 140mm case fans....