Question What Speed/Type of Memory to Get for 5800X with X570/B550?

[Crag_Hack]

Hi the title says it all, what speed and type of memory should I get? Here says:

"For Ryzen 5000 CPUs, it has been suggested that 4,000MHz kits are your best bet. "

However that very same article touts the G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32GB DDR4-3600MHz as the best RAM for gaming with an AMD motherboard. And here touts the same as best high-speed 32GB Kit for manual tuning.

What speed is best for gaming and a little production (program compilation)?

I'm leaning towards a Gigabyte Aorus Ultra X570 which says it only supports 3200 MHz without overclocking. Is there an AMD equivalent to Intel's XMP for faster memory that is relatively stable?

And is Trident Z Neo one of the best options for AMD? Is it the best memory G Skill makes?

Thanks!

 

[Eximo]

Intel's XMP can be found on AMD motherboards. Also DOCP which is AMDs flavor of it.

3600Mhz is the common recommendation, because you can then run the infinity fabric at 1800Mhz with the memory in a one to one ratio with it. Not much chance of being able to run the fabric at 2000Mhz for 4000Mhz memory kits. Then you have to run them offset, which can cause greater latency. The infinity fabric is what connects the multiple CPU dies and I/O chip found on the CPU substrate.

Trident Z is certainly a popular model from G.Skill. Really though any CL16 3600Mhz kit that is on the QVL for the motherboard is a good bet.

 

[Crag_Hack]

@Eximo Thanks. So to do 3600 do I need to to do DOCP?

 

[Eximo]

or XMP, yes.

 

[Crag_Hack]

Will it be a stable overclock?

 

[Eximo]

I can't guarantee that, but generally people don't have many issues running at 3600Mhz with Ryzen.

 

[Crag_Hack]

What kind of performance penalty would I incur going with 3200 MHz non-oc'd instead of 3600 oc'd?

 

[Eximo]

Depends on the exact timings, but it would be something like 5 or more percent. Really it is the changing of the CPU dies communication speed that makes a difference.

 

[Crag_Hack]

I can always run at 3200 with two sticks of 3600 then go up on the frequency if I want right?

 

[logainofhades]

What kind of performance penalty would I incur going with 3200 MHz non-oc'd instead of 3600 oc'd?

If said 3200mhz ram is CL14 ram, there wouldn't really be any difference, vs 3600 CL16.

 

[Eximo]

Yes.

 

[Crag_Hack]

@logainofhades Even with the Infinity Fabric thing mentioned by Eximo? I'm concerned with oc'ing memory IIRC I read that higher frequencies lead to less stability because of the occasional bit switch (something like that).

 

[Eximo]

I've been running 'overclocked' memory for literal years on my PC, with an overclocked CPU and GPU (and GPU memory), I think the computer has maybe crashed twice and usually not catastrophically, just back to the desktop.

If you want to play it safe with memory, get a motherboard that supports ECC. Then you would be looking at significantly increased latency.

 

[logainofhades]

What kind of performance penalty would I incur going with 3200 MHz non-oc'd instead of 3600 oc'd?

Why would you run it at 3200? If it is 3600 ram, it should run at 3600 in any good B550/X570 board, and that CPU. When you enable XMP/DOCP, the infinity fabric should also rise with it, for the 1:1 ratio. I have a 3700x that I had to up my IF manually, with 3733mhz ram, but my 5800x, I didn't have to, with the 32gb 3600mhz kit I have now.

 

[Jirekshun]

I had same query and the CPU in question was Ryzen 3600 and my motherboard (B450 Tomahawk Max) supports for up to DDR4-3466. I was told to buy a cheap CL-14 or CL-16 3600mhz RAM. I was not able to find any stick which was mentioned in my motherboard's QVL. After doing some research and asking here I got these kits, they are not listed in QVL but that doesn't matter anymore because RAM compatibility with new Ryzen CPU's ain't an issue anymore. I was able to run these kits at XMP without any issues. I didn't do any stress test but I played some intensive games to see how my RAM functions and yet I did not get any BSOD. Its safe to assume that my RAM is running as intended on XMP. As for Trident Z Neo, they are pretty safe choice because these kits are specifically designed for Ryzen CPU'S.

 

[Crag_Hack]

If said 3200mhz ram is CL14 ram, there wouldn't really be any difference, vs 3600 CL16.

@logainofhades So even with the IF not being 1 to 1 with 3200 MHz RAM, would I likely not incur a performance penalty with such RAM with my X570/3800X? Also the reason I was thinking about running 3600 sticks at 3200 would be if there was instability at 3600 but not at 3200, I could test it out and see how it runs and switch to the lower frequency if needed.

@Eximo If I only see a ~5% performance hit from 3200 compared to 3600 to me that's insignificant and the stability is more important to me than that much more performance.

I think this video is what scared me away from OC'ing memory IIRC. Does anybody concur?

 

[logainofhades]

I seriously doubt you will have any instability with a 5800x, and an X570 board like that one. Set XMP and don't worry about it. The speeds faster than 3200 really were only a problem for older gen Ryzen, on 300 and 400 series boards.

 

[Crag_Hack]

If said 3200mhz ram is CL14 ram, there wouldn't really be any difference, vs 3600 CL16.

Depends on the exact timings, but it would be something like 5 or more percent. Really it is the changing of the CPU dies communication speed that makes a difference.

@logainofhades @Eximo Thanks again. Just wanted to clarify about 3200 MHz RAM. Who's right? Or are both of you right? G.Skill told me 3600 would be stable while Gigabyte said it might not be. Almost made up my mind; sounds like 3600 will be stable so I'm leaning towards that.

 

[Eximo]

Still in favor of 3600Mhz. No, they can't guarantee it will work. Same of any overclocking, though they will have tested such configurations, they will not give you a 100% on anything that goes above the rated specification.

 

[Crag_Hack]

I'm just curious, why would AMD require overclocking to reach maximum performance with the CPU? Why didn't they just make 3600 native?

 

[logainofhades]

Even 3200mhz you are overclocking the ram. DDR4's default speed is 2133. Any ram rated over that is an overclock.

 

[Crag_Hack]

Another somewhat unrelated question - why does Noctua only give 32mm of clearance for memory and 44mm if you move the second fan up for the NH-D15? Sacrilege! Corsair only has 1 compatible memory module and G.Skill Trident Z Neo is 44mm, too close for comfort! It's almost illogical for the flagship NH-D15 to not support bigger sticks of memory.

 

[Eximo]

People that tend to buy D15 coolers aren't looking for oversized memory, since the cooler will cover up a lot of the board anyway. Large heatspreaders barely have an effect. Really started being a thing with the higher voltage DDR2, and the extremes of early DDR3, after that they became mostly decorative.

 

[Crag_Hack]

Hi guys, I had no idea the 5900x was so affordable and might go with it if I can find one. Would I use the same 3600 MHz memory for it or is the infinity fabric a different speed? Thanks again!

 

[Eximo]

Same architecture, you are setting the IF speed with your memory choice.