Confused about RAM

[AndyInAtlanta]

After a few days of reading forum posts about what RAM to buy for my new computer I honestly think I'm more confused than when I started.  For every positive product post there is negative response.  The problem, I don't understand the positives and negatives enough to know where they matter.

 

For starters, I've already purchased (due to sales) a Ryzen 3900X and an Asus ROG Strix X570-E mobo.  Also, for what its worth, I'll bring with me from my current computer an EVGA 1000 watt PSU, a Samsung 970 Evo Plus M.2-SSD, and my Corsair H100i Pro. The only items I need to purchase are a GPU and RAM.

 

GPU is easy right now.  I'm likely getting a 2080 Super and upgrading to a 3000 card in the summer.  So, that leaves me with the RAM.

 

Timings, latency, OC'ing, the list goes on, all over my head.  I've done overclocking before, just never with RAM.  I'd like to get 32 GBs as in addition to gaming I work with Adobe Premiere and After Effects and sometimes dabble with Revit/AutoCAD.

 

All that I think I understand is that I want to aim for 3600 and CL16 at least.  As you can probably tell from that sentence is that I don't understand fully what those numbers mean.  Sad thing is I tried to understand it.  A lot of topics talk about what to look for, but don't go as far as making a recommendation.  Budget isn't a factor, though ideally I'd prefer to stay under $250.

 

So far I think I've seen these as good options, but please let me know if I'm way off or there is something better.

G.Skill Trident Z Neo F4-3600C16D

G.SKILL Ripjaws V F4-3600C16D

 

Thoughts?

[berberries]

The 2 you have listed are very good options. there is no difference in performance between the 2. Just that Trident Z Neo has RGB and the Ripjaws don't have RGB.

[jackoneill1984]

Hi, I'm no expert myself, but 3600 Cas 16 memory if you can buy it outright and set the XMP profile in bios is the sweet spot for Ryzen 3rd gen. Right now the prices aren't bad either. I'm sure there are people who know more but from the reviews I've seen that seems to be the consensus.

[Juular]

Zen 2 works well with any kit in the market, if it's rated to 3600MHz XMP then you can try to tight the primary timings manually, at least i worked with my 3600MHz 19CL kit (TridentZ) which is running 16CL now. Don't fixate on 16CL kits if they're significantly more expensive than 18\19CL ones.

[Zando_]

15 minutes ago, AndyInAtlanta said:

All that I think I understand is that I want to aim for 3600 and CL16 at least.  As you can probably tell from that sentence is that I don't understand fully what those numbers mean.

3600 is the RAM's clockspeed, 3600MHz. CL16 is the CAS Latency. For really any rig, but especially Ryzen, you want the highest clocks with the lowest latency, that'll give you the best performance. Usually you hit diminishing returns around 3200Mhz Cl14 or 3600Mhz CL16, both for performance and price. Given current pricing, 3600Mhz CL16 is the best bang for your buck, and the best bang overall unless you want to step up to really expensive and only slightly faster RAM. 

Since you're going 32GB, make sure to get a 2x16GB kit. Any time you're running higher clocked RAM, the less actual DIMMs (sticks of RAM) you have, the less headaches there are. More DIMMs = more load on the IMC (Integrated Memory Controller) = higher chance of stability issues. 

 

You're not likely to hit stability issues just running XMP, but it's always better to go for the least sticks you can. 2 in your case, for dual channel, 4 in my case (I run HEDT), for quad channel. Only reason to max the DIMMs is for sheer capacity, usually 64GB or more. Or aesthetics, lol. Full RAM slots does look pretty. 

 

[tarfeef101]

4 minutes ago, Juular said:

Zen 2 works well with any kit in the market, if it's rated to 3600MHz XMP then you can try to tight the primary timings manually, at least i worked with my 3600MHz 19CL kit (TridentZ) which is running 16CL now. Don't fixate on 16CL kits if they're significantly more expensive than 18\19CL ones.

Just be careful with some kits. Check user comments about OCing, reviews, etc. before assuming you can tighten timings. 

For example, with 3200 CL16 kits, these are famous for being "bad" Hynix AFR memory chips which cannot do anything better than that, whatsoever. I have multiple kits of this that cannot OC even 100 MHz without really loosened timings, or tighten the timings in any meaningful capacity. 

So a 3600 CL16 kit is ideal as many have said, but if you go with something cheaper, just see if it has a reputation like those 3200 CL16 kits for being difficult to OC before pulling the trigger

[Juular]

2 minutes ago, tarfeef101 said:

Just be careful with some kits. Check user comments about OCing, reviews, etc. before assuming you can tighten timings. 

For example, with 3200 CL16 kits, these are famous for being "bad" Hynix AFR memory chips which cannot do anything better than that, whatsoever. I have multiple kits of this that cannot OC even 100 MHz without really loosened timings, or tighten the timings in any meaningful capacity. 

So a 3600 CL16 kit is ideal as many have said, but if you go with something cheaper, just see if it has a reputation like those 3200 CL16 kits for being difficult to OC before pulling the trigger

Yeah, but if you get 3600MHz kit it will work on 3600MHz, of course it's a gamble buying 3200MHz kit and trying to OC it to 3600MHz.

[AndyInAtlanta]

10 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

You're not likely to hit stability issues just running XMP, but it's always better to go for the least sticks you can. 2 in your case, for dual channel, 4 in my case (I run HEDT), for quad channel. Only reason to max the DIMMs is for sheer capacity, usually 64GB or more. Or aesthetics, lol. Full RAM slots does look pretty. 

Thankfully, for my budget at least, my case isn't clear, so aesthetics are pointless.

 

When it comes to OC'ing, I think I'd prefer something out of the box that's great, and gives me the potential to make it better.  BUT, and a big but, there's an above 50% chance I never touch any of the settings and keep things as they come.  From what I've read, that means I shouldn't buy cheaper RAM and attempt to improve its performance; I'm better off spending a premium upfront.

[Jurrunio]

28 minutes ago, AndyInAtlanta said:

GPU is easy right now.  I'm likely getting a 2080 Super and upgrading to a 3000 card in the summer.

I'd rather have a 2070S, take 80% of the 2080S, and save the money for something else or just for the future

 

28 minutes ago, AndyInAtlanta said:

G.Skill Trident Z Neo F4-3600C16D

G.SKILL Ripjaws V F4-3600C16D

These two I think are even based on the same PCB layout (A2), just a heatsink and RGB LED difference.

 

btw make sure you check the timings, lower is better (CL16 still has 16-16-16, 16-18-18, 16-19-19 and 16-20-20 at 3600MHz)

[AndyInAtlanta]

22 minutes ago, berberries said:

The 2 you have listed are very good options. there is no difference in performance between the 2. Just that Trident Z Neo has RGB and the Ripjaws don't have RGB.

Thanks!  I really don't have a need for RGB as my case doesn't have any glass panels.

[Zando_]

5 minutes ago, AndyInAtlanta said:

From what I've read, that means I shouldn't buy cheaper RAM and attempt to improve its performance; I'm better off spending a premium upfront.

Always best to do it that way, since you're guaranteed that performance. I had 3000Mhz G.Skill Ripjaws V that happily ran 3200MHz with the XMP timings and voltage, but not every kit is guaranteed to do that, they're only guaranteed to hit 3000.