Recommendation for RAM upgrade

[milesuy]

Budget (including currency): USD 110 or PHP 6000

Country: Philippines

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for:

• Games
  • GTA V
  • World War Z
  • GTFO
  • Dying Light
  • Forza Horizon 4
  • Back 4 Blood
  • Lethal Company
• Coding & Compiling
  • C & C++
  • Xilinx Vivado & Vitis (Verilog)
  • Python
• Video Rendering: Davinci Resolve
• ML Model Training via WSL and Python

Current System:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
• RAM: 2x16GB T-Force Vulcan TUF Gaming Alliance 3600MHz CL19 (TEAMGROUP-UD4-3600)
  • Running at 3600MHz CL20-19-19-39 1T
  • Built-in XMP profile is at 3596MHz CL19-19-19-39
• GPU: Colorful iGame RTX 2070 SUPER Advanced OC
• Motherboard: ROG Strix X570-F Gaming
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Turbo

Questions:

• I am planning to upgrade my RAM with better timings, but is it gonna make a difference?
• Does the Ryzen Compatible Memory List mean its guaranteed that a RAM module / kit would run at its advertised XMP profile?
• I've been looking for 3600MHz CL16, but its difficult to find one locally, the most common one that I could find is 3600MHz CL18 and 3200MHz CL16, while the latter is cheaper. According to the RAM Calculator, their latency are similar, is there any advantage in getting the 3600MHz CL18? Would you recommend getting the 3200MHz or 3600MHz CL16 instead?
  • 
  • 
• I heard Ryzen hates odd CL timings, is it true? Is this the reason why my RAM don't work on the built-in XMP profile?
• Which one would you recommend?
  • 3600MHz CL16: Corsair Vengeance LPX, G.SKILL Ripjaws V, *Kingston Fury Beast, and **G.skill Trident Z Neo.
    • *Advetised 3600MHz CL16, but I doubt its CL16 since I can't find its datasheet.
    • **Too expensive
  • 3200MHz CL16 and 3600MHz CL18: Corsair Vengeance LPX
  • 3200MHz CL16: Kingston Fury Beast

[aoxomoxoa]

If there is any difference, it will be marginal at best. I think you are spending money just to spend money - it would be an absolute waste. Does your current system run poorly with your current RAM?

[milesuy]

9 minutes ago, aoxomoxoa said:

If there is any difference, it will be marginal at best. I think you are spending money just to spend money - it would be an absolute waste. Does your current system run poorly with your current RAM?

No BSODs, the PC runs fine. I guess, I don't need to upgrade if the difference is marginal.

[GuiltySpark_]

Certainly makes very little sense to change the memory in search of any sort of performance improvement. That money would be much better spent on a GPU. That and maybe a PA120/PS120 to give that poor 5950x some headroom to work.

[QuantumSingularity]

You can observe measurable differences in gaming (outside of statistical error and not in all games), but only if you REALLY lower the timings. Kits with CL14. This is what non-X3D cpus like - tight timings. The X3Ds on the other hand couldn't care less about the timings, all they want is as many MT/s as possible. And yes, depending on the kit, the memory used in it and the motherboard, you can run the memory out of specs, but in most cases it will require manual tuning. My motherboard officially supports memory up to 3600MHz, but it now runs flawlessly at 4000MHz. Most often than not, the price gap simply is not worth it. However if you can find an exclusive deal (like i did) then there is no harm in going for it. What i've found the faster memory to be so good for is 1% and 0.1% lows in gaming when the game has a really high FPS. If you run your games at usual let's say 69 FPS, if the lows get to 44, you might not even notice it, but when you have 300+ average FPS and the 1% drops under 100 it's quite obvious and especially if 0.1% drops to under 60. This is where fast memory counts. It keeps the gameplay smooth and fluid. This isn't something you can watch on a 60FPS video, but you certainly FEEL it while playing.