[SOLVED] Wrong RAM - Need help to fix my poor choices

[Corwin65]

CPU: AMD R7 2700
MOBO: Asrock B450 Pro4 R1
RAM: 32 GB(4x8) DDR 4 1866 Mhz

I've never really had any issues but I randomly noticed 1866 Mhz. I know I'm leaving quite a bit of performance on the table and I want to get some new RAM (2x16) at the highest speed possible 3200Mhz (if I'm wrong please let me know) as I've researched that 2 sticks will work better than 4.

Would anyone be able to suggest RAM that would fit my bill? I need 32 as I do distance teaching and I need to run quite a few programs at a time and also some music production.

Would I also benefit from a CPU upgrade?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Where are you seeing the speed being reported as 1866MHz? That isn't a typical multiplier for RAM speed except for 3733 MT/s (MHz). The effective rate for 1866 is 3733 due to data being sent on the rising and falling parts of the clock cycle. If the RAM were defaulting to a lower speed due to being in a 4x 8GB you would expect to see either 1066 (2133), 1200 (2400), or 1333 (2666). With 4 DIMMs installed you should be able to run at 2666 and that won't affect much performance.

The 3000 series and for sure the 5000 series will give a good performance boost. A 3700X for example gets a 16% higher single threaded and 21% higher multithreaded CineBench R20 score over the 2700X. The 5800X is 43% and 46% higher respectively over the 2700X. You will see a fairly large CPU increase across the board with either choice.
https://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/2671?vs=2665

CPU 2021 Benchmarks - Compare Products on AnandTech

CPU 2021 benchmarks: Compare two products side-by-side or see a cascading list of product ratings along with our annotations.

www.anandtech.com

Overall do you need a new CPU probably not. The newer Ryzens do have better support for RAM. They officially support 3200 RAM but most will easily take 3600 RAM.

 

[Corwin65]

I ran Speccy and it showed 933 (makes me feel something is wrong) I then checked in task manager and it showed 1866.

Popped into BIOS to set XMP and set it to auto and it's at 1866.

I then tried it at 3200 and it did not take. Is there a "best" way to confirm what speed my RAM is?

 

[jeremyj_83]

I ran Speccy and it showed 933 (makes me feel something is wrong) I then checked in task manager and it showed 1866.

Popped into BIOS to set XMP and set it to auto and it's at 1866.

I then tried it at 3200 and it did not take. Is there a "best" way to confirm what speed my RAM is?

Use CPU-Z. That will get the most current information about the components in your system. Just use the Zip version as it works fine.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

 

[--SID--]

32 GB(4x8)

Is this a kit of 4 or 2 kits of 2?

What's the brand and model?

 

[Corwin65]

2 kits of 2.

CPU Z confirmed 931.1 MHz.
These are the part numbers
DIMM 0 GKE800UD102408-2666
DIMM 1 F4-3000C16-8GISB
DIMM 0 GKE800UD102408-2666
DIMM 1 F4-3000C16-8GISB

Hoodisk Electronics Co Ltd GKE800UD102408-2666 8GB

G.Skill F4-3000C16S-8GISB Aegis 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000

Definitely not what my CPUZ readings show.

Any suggestions?

 

[jeremyj_83]

2 kits of 2.

CPU Z confirmed 931.1 MHz.
These are the part numbers
DIMM 0 GKE800UD102408-2666
DIMM 1 F4-3000C16-8GISB
DIMM 0 GKE800UD102408-2666
DIMM 1 F4-3000C16-8GISB

Hoodisk Electronics Co Ltd GKE800UD102408-2666 8GB

G.Skill F4-3000C16S-8GISB Aegis 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3000

Definitely not what my CPUZ readings show.

Any suggestions?

You have not only mixed speeds but also brands. That isn't recommended at all. Your best bet would be to buy a 2x 16GB set instead. You can use the QVL from your motherboard manufacturer to get a list of modules that have been tested to work at specific speeds.

 

[Karadjgne]

Brands don't matter. Most ram comes from half a dozen OEMs anyway, so what you'll find under Kingston ram can be the same thing as under Corsair or Patriot. Remove the heatsinks and you couldn't tell the difference.

What IS important is compatibility. Different kits, of any brand, will train to the best possible stable speeds, generally the worst timings and highest voltage. In this case, 1866MHz seems to be the sweet spot for both kits.

That's partly due to the memory controller in the 2000 series cpus, it does Not like to run 4x sticks at high speeds, that messes with the Fclock settings. So A1/B1 are gimped you are lucky to get 2666MHz out of a factory 4stick kit. Some may see 2933MHz. But generally, 2133MHz for all 4 is the norm for 32Gb+.

Best bet is 2x16Gb in slots A2/B2.

QVL is a tool, not Gospel. It's entire purpose is to tell you that the motherboard has been tested with X amount of ram, from these brands, with these kits and it was good. It does not Qualify the Ram.

There's over 3000 individual model numbers just in Gskill DDR4 Trident-Z. No motherboard vendor is about to test all 3000+, and all the RipJaws, and Aries, value, snipers and all the other series from all the other ram vendors. The QVL would be thousands of pages long, consisting of millions of tested ram, taking thousands of manhours and a small fortune in purchase price for all that ram, for every single board in their lineup.

They grab a handful, test it, it works, board is good. Not the ram.

Because SkHynix is OEM for many companies, just like Samsung, if you test corsair lpx at 3200MHz, you've also tested Patriot, Kingston, and a dozen other vendors besides. Same ram, different heatsink and paint job. So no point in testing repeats. Blue RipJaws Cas 16 is the same as Red RipJaws Cas 16. Model number is different because the color is different, but the ram is the same. Test a 2stick kit and a 4stick kit, you've tested the exact same ram, with different model numbers.

QVL is Qualified VENDOR List. Not Qualified RAM List. Big difference.

 

[Corwin65]

Thank you all for your help.

I will be picking up 2x16 3200 from the QVL.

 

[lynx1021]

I picked my ram from the QVL of my motherboard on my 2020 build because Just because it is DDR3 or DDR4 doesn't mean it will work in all motherboards !! I ran into the low density DDR3 issue back in the day and learned my lesson. I have to make sure the ram manufacturer says it will work on my board or the motherboard maker!

 

[Karadjgne]

Lga775 was the last time I can think of when density mattered. AMD used high density, as did Macs, and Intel used low density. But with higher ram sizes and limited space on a ram pcb, DDR3 and DDR4 are all high density now.

All ram chips are cut from a sheet of silicon, the total amount being a single 'batch'. Because silicon is not 100% pure, it'll have some impurities in it, and those will differ with every batch.

Because of that, you can have 2x ram kits that are totally identical in every single way, bought from the same store, from the same shelf on the same day and be totally incompatible. That applies to the QVL as well. There's a very good chance that any kit tested by the factory and you buy that exact model, will work on the board, but that's not a guarantee.

When it comes to ram, there's only One Guarantee and that is 'There are No Guarantees'. It's all pot-luck. You take your chances and hope for the best.

One other thing to remember about the QVL is that it's just a list of what ram kits actually did work as tested, there's no listing of kits that were tested and failed. That's the underlying reason ppl say to get kits that are On the QVL, but that's still not a guarantee that any model you buy that Is on the QVL will be good.