Upgrading RAM capacity, unsure about frequency

[Philip Ljung]

I'm planning to upgrade RAM capacity (to 16 or 32gb)

 

I currently have 8gb (2x4gb) of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM (HyperX Fury).

 

What RAM frequencies are recommended for this?

 

Current system:

CPU: Intel i5-9600K @3.7GHz

Motherboard: ASUS TUF Z370-PLUS GAMING II

RAM: HyperX Fury 8gb (2x4gb) 2666MHz DDR4

 

Max supported speed from the motherboard manual is up to 4000MHz, which 3200MHz is included in (the speed I planned to buy).

But the highest supported frequency by the CPU is 2666MHz.

 

I can't wrap my head which speeds I should look to when choosing RAM frequency.

 

Thanks in advance

[adm0n]

5 minutes ago, Philip Ljung said:

Max supported speed from the motherboard manual is up to 4000MHz, which 3200MHz is included in (the speed I planned to buy).

This is the speed the traces on the motherboard are rated at.

5 minutes ago, Philip Ljung said:

But the highest supported frequency by the CPU is 2666MHz.

This is the speed the memory controller is rated at. But while it is rated at 2666MHz, it isn't limited to that. So if you use an XMP profile, you'd overclock your memory and hope that the controller works fine with that (which it usually does).

 

That being said, if I remember correctly, intel processors from that generation don't really benefit from memory speed that much. So I'd not spend too much on higher speed memory, unless you plan to use it later on with a higher gen CPU.

[YoungBlade]

DDR4-3200 should run just fine on a 9th gen Intel CPU. If your intent is just to buy a new kit (and not to pair it with your existing RAM) then I'd recommend getting either a DDR4-3200 or DDR4-3600 kit, as those seem to be in the sweet spot for value.

 

Long story short, RAM speed compatibility is largely determined by the quality of the memory controller on the CPU. By 9th gen, Intel CPUs could easily hit DDR4-3200 speeds and most could also handle DDR4-3600, some could even go up to DDR4-4000. This was not the case for AMD CPUs of the time - some Ryzen 2000 series chips struggled to even hit DDR4-3000, let alone higher frequencies.

 

The optimal RAM speed for each generation of CPUs is mostly determined by the collective wisdom of the PC community - people tried out RAM configurations and shared their results and/or reviewers tested a bunch of RAM kits on a CPU. The officially supported speed on the CPU is almost always going to be lower than the optimal RAM speed, and motherboards will often support ludicrously high speeds that are not actually achievable by most CPUs on the platform.

 

So if you're not on the pulse of PC hardware, asking here about your setup is a good option.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

Just buy whatevers the cheapest 3200c16 or 3600c18 32gb kit, completely ignore branding cause branding is outright irrelevant (ram ics are made by the same few companies so branding on the sticks dont matter at all)

 

Though keep in mind this is a single stick and apparently this cpu imc is kinda crap

 

Clearly 4000+ is doable with enough volt, though ~1.45v vccsa/io is the most youd wanna run for long term

 

If you do wanna go ahead and tune your rams id suggest some used m378a1g43eb1 samsung sticks, 4x8 quad rank samsung e die, scales >2v = idiot proof so no way you can kill it without a voltmodded mobo that can go well past 2v, and actually decent subtimings (particularly trfc) or some m378a2k43db2 in 2666-3200 bin, 2x16 dual rank samsung d die, pretty much just binned rev e apparently, likely idiot proof aswell voltage wise, good if you wanna run abit higher freq than a quadrank config and you can set high trefi (>65536)

[Michael C]

Here's a link to the Qualified Vendor List from Asus:

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/TUF_Z370-PLUS_GAMING/TUF-Z370-PLUS-GAMING-Memory-QVL.pdf?model=TUF Z370-PLUS GAMING

They list every memory type they've tested and confirmed to work with the Asus TUF Z370-Plus Gaming:

I've also attached the PDF from the above link.

If you want to continue to use your existing memory, the new memory needs to have the same timings as your existing RAM. Of course that will limit you to 2666MHz.

It looks like your HyperX Fury 8gb (2x4gb) 2666MHz DDR4 is on the QVL if yours has CL15 timing, so you could get another two sticks of that if you can still find it at a reasonable price.

But the Asus QVL lists DDR4 all the way up to 4000MHz compatible with that board using XMP. DDR 3200MHz is getting pretty cheap at the moment, so it would probably be cheaper than trying to dig up some older, slower memory. That's probably what I would go with.

Be sure to notice on the QVL list how many sticks the motherboard can run of each type of memory. Some can memory run 1, 2, or 4 sticks, but many can only run certain combinations. 

 

TUF-Z370-PLUS-GAMING-Memory-QVL.pdf

[Michael C]

1 hour ago, adm0n said:

This is the speed the traces on the motherboard are rated at.

This is the speed the memory controller is rated at. But while it is rated at 2666MHz, it isn't limited to that. So if you use an XMP profile, you'd overclock your memory and hope that the controller works fine with that (which it usually does).

 

That being said, if I remember correctly, intel processors from that generation don't really benefit from memory speed that much. So I'd not spend too much on higher speed memory, unless you plan to use it later on with a higher gen CPU.

At this point, 3200MHz and 3600MHz are probably much easier to find and much cheaper to buy than 2666MHz or even 3000MHz.

[adm0n]

18 minutes ago, Michael C said:

At this point, 3200MHz and 3600MHz are probably much easier to find and much cheaper to buy than 2666MHz or even 3000MHz.

The go with them. But you could probably get 2666MT/s DDR4 RAM used pretty cheap. But I guess 3200MT/s is on the same level even used.

[Michael C]

12 minutes ago, Michael C said:

Here's a link to the Qualified Vendor List from Asus:

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/TUF_Z370-PLUS_GAMING/TUF-Z370-PLUS-GAMING-Memory-QVL.pdf?model=TUF Z370-PLUS GAMING

They list every memory type they've tested and confirmed to work with the Asus TUF Z370-Plus Gaming:

I've also attached the PDF from the above link.

If you want to continue to use your existing memory, the new memory needs to have the same timings as your existing RAM. Of course that will limit you to 2666MHz.

It looks like your HyperX Fury 8gb (2x4gb) 2666MHz DDR4 is on the QVL if yours has CL15 timing, so you could get another two sticks of that if you can still find it at a reasonable price.

But the Asus QVL lists DDR4 all the way up to 4000MHz compatible with that board using XMP. DDR 3200MHz is getting pretty cheap at the moment, so it would probably be cheaper than trying to dig up some older, slower memory. That's probably what I would go with.

Be sure to notice on the QVL list how many sticks the motherboard can run of each type of memory. Some can memory run 1, 2, or 4 sticks, but many can only run certain combinations. 

 

TUF-Z370-PLUS-GAMING-Memory-QVL.pdf 1.27 MB · 0 downloads

I just found another article that said DDR4 3600MHz runs fine with the i5 9600K. They recommended Corsair LPX 3600MHz C18. So it looks like 3600GHz seems to be the sweet spot on terms of price : performance.

Here's a helpful article that explains what all those numbers and letter mean in different manufacturers' model numbers. It can be helpful when comparing what is for sale at your favorite vendor doesn't exactly match the number on the QVL. Sometimes the only difference is the code for the color of the heat spreader.

https://raisonjohn.blogspot.com/2019/01/how-to-read-ddr4-ram-model-numbers-of.html

[Philip Ljung]

Thanks to all of you guys, now I know more about RAM and will be making a smarter buying decision!

 

A dual 8gb or 16gb DIMM kit will be bought, with 3200MHz, in accordance with @Michael C's list of Qualified Vendors.

 

 

[TheDankKoosh]

If you're getting DDR4 then you're gonna want samsung b-die, it is by far the best DDR4 memory IC and would be able to overclock well past the IMC limits of your CPU. Teamgroup has a set for $47 on newegg, double them up for 32gb and you'll have very solid memory performance.

https://www.newegg.com/team-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820331435?Description=t force xtreem&cm_re=t_force xtreem-_-20-331-435-_-Product