16gb@3600 or 32gb@3200 Ram?

[Skillsthebarber]

I’m building my first PC ever and I’m building it for my son. So far I have a Ryzen 5 3600 and an Rog Strix b550 e motherboard. Next on the list is ram. I want to get the corsair vengeance rgb pro. I’m not sure if I should get 16gb at 3600 MHz or 32gb at 3200mhz. The price is not that different. If anyone has any insight on this I would love to hear your thoughts. 

[Levent]

32G hands down (only if price difference is negligible to you)

[CommanderAlex]

Welcome to the forums!!!

 

What are the timings on the RAM modules? If the 16GB 3600 is CL16 and your just doing gaming, that would be perfect. If its 3600 CL18, they are ok, but I'd pick the 3200 if they are CL16. 

[AlexGhe]

Provided that we are talking about 1x16gb at 3600 mhz and 2x16gb at 3200 mhz I recommend that you go with the 3600 for now and add more later.

 

If the 3600 is actually 2x8gb then I don't recommend it, you will be limited to only 32 gb. 16 gb is currently kind of the standard for new builds, so you want your max to be as high as possible.

 

 

[Dillpickle23422]

3 minutes ago, AlexGhe said:

Provided that we are talking about 1x16gb at 3600 mhz and 2x16gb at 3200 mhz I recommend that you go with the 3600 for now and add more later.

 

If the 3600 is actually 2x8gb then I don't recommend it, you will be limited to only 32 gb. 16 gb is currently kind of the standard for new builds, so you want your max to be as high as possible.

 

 

Although you have to remember, its on a ryzen processor, which heavily benefits on dual channel

[AlexGhe]

14 minutes ago, Skillsthebarber said:

I’m building my first PC ever and I’m building it for my son. So far I have a Ryzen 5 3600 and an Rog Strix b550 e motherboard. Next on the list is ram. I want to get the corsair vengeance rgb pro. I’m not sure if I should get 16gb at 3600 MHz or 32gb at 3200mhz. The price is not that different. If anyone has any insight on this I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Also do make sure that you have a USB memory stick with the latest version of bios on it.

Your motherboard supports bios flashback. In my case I had an ASUS TUF B550-M and the bios that came with the motherboard did not post my RAM.

 

If your motherboard does not post after built, do the bios flashback, here's an article to help you: https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1038568/

Edited February 26, 2021 by AlexGhe
coirrection

[Skillsthebarber]

Thanks for all the help. The 16gb whic is 8x2 is CL18 and the 32gb 16x2 is CL16

[boggy77]

1 minute ago, Skillsthebarber said:

Thanks for all the help. The 16gb whic is 8x2 is CL18 and the 32gb 16x2 is CL16

if mostly gaming, 16gb are enough. if that saves you some money to go towards a better gpu, even better.

[Morgan MLGman]

5 minutes ago, Dillpickle23422 said:

Although you have to remember, its on a ryzen processor, which heavily benefits on dual channel

How does a Ryzen CPU (apart from iGPU-equipped ones) "heavily benefit" from a dual channel memory setup in a way that's unlike any other processor?
 

1 minute ago, Skillsthebarber said:

Thanks for all the help. The 16gb whic is 8x2 is CL18 and the 32gb 16x2 is CL16

Speed is one thing, capacity is completely another. Do you need the capacity? That'd be the first question you need to ask yourself, as if you're strictly gaming, 16GB is enough for now.

Another thing is - 3200MHz vs 3600MHz doesn't make that much of a difference. The 3600MHz kit is better, but it's not that much better and usually not worth paying for, especially that you can set a 3200MHz kit to 3600MHz manually.

[SupaKomputa]

If you can buy a 32gb right now, do it, Memory price is at the lowest in years, not sure if the price will stay this way in this current chip shortages.

Memory capacity is not equal in performance, but it's nice to have it ready for the future.

5 years ago people said 8gb is enough, now 16gb is the standard.