I'm looking for some advice about RAM.

[Dash Lambda]

I got a new Ryzen platform not too long ago and chose G.Skill Trident Z because that seemed the safest choice. Everything I'd been able to find said that Trident Z was the best way to get Samsung B-die and everyone seemed to have good results with it.

 

When I was at the store, I had the option of C16 for $150 or C14 for $180, and I chose C16 because $600+ was already enough for me. I got it up to the rated speeds exactly and anything past that was out of the question (in terms of stability).

The important thing to note is that I got a 2x8GB kit and planned to get a second, identical kit for 32GB later on when I got the money.

 

Now, the issue comes because I was looking around at my options now that I might have the free money soon and I find that my RAM has SK Hynix chips. I also find out that my kit's model can have either single-rank Hynix A-die or dual-rank Samsung E-die, with no way to tell.

So, instead of just being able to slap another kit on, I have three problems:

- This is not the RAM I wanted. It bugs me when things aren't correct, and I'd have to sink another $180 in for another kit that isn't what I want.

- It will in all likelihood not run at 3200Mhz with decent timings with 4 sticks.

- Even if I buy the exact same model, I'm just as likely to end up with a completely different kit as I am to get the same one.

 

Is there any good solution to this? If RAM prices weren't double right now I probably wouldn't even have to think, but $300-400 is hard to come by.

I'm kind of just filled with hate right now.

[79wjd]

@MageTank

[johndms]

29 minutes ago, Dash Lambda said:

I got a new Ryzen platform not too long ago and chose G.Skill Trident Z because that seemed the safest choice. Everything I'd been able to find said that Trident Z was the best way to get Samsung B-die and everyone seemed to have good results with it.

 

When I was at the store, I had the option of C16 for $150 or C14 for $180, and I chose C16 because $600+ was already enough for me. I got it up to the rated speeds exactly and anything past that was out of the question (in terms of stability).

The important thing to note is that I got a 2x8GB kit and planned to get a second, identical kit for 32GB later on when I got the money.

 

Now, the issue comes because I was looking around at my options now that I might have the free money soon and I find that my RAM has SK Hynix chips. I also find out that my kit's model can have either single-rank Hynix A-die or dual-rank Samsung E-die, with no way to tell.

So, instead of just being able to slap another kit on, I have three problems:

- This is not the RAM I wanted. It bugs me when things aren't correct, and I'd have to sink another $180 in for another kit that isn't what I want.

- It will in all likelihood not run at 3200Mhz with decent timings with 4 sticks.

- Even if I buy the exact same model, I'm just as likely to end up with a completely different kit as I am to get the same one.

 

Is there any good solution to this? If RAM prices weren't double right now I probably wouldn't even have to think, but $300-400 is hard to come by.

I'm kind of just filled with hate right now.

Unfortunately, this is where a bit more research before purchasing comes in handy. Often times you'll see two nearly identical kits, in this case G.Skill Trident Z. One will be C14 and more expensive, the other will be C16 and less expensive. The C14 kit was the Samsung B-Die because they're capable of running at lower CAS Latency, and are known to work best with Ryzen in most situations. Basically, you get what you pay for. If you go the cheap route, you get the cheaper chips.. most likely, Hynix.

 

There's a program called Thaiphoon Burner that will give you many details about your particular kit of ram. You can either use that program to determine the maker of your chips and attempt to purchase something identical, or sale your current kit and purchase the Samsung B-Die kit. If you opt not to use that program, you can simply locate the model number on the back of the DIMMs and post it here. I also find this link informative when searching your model number to see what JEDEC info is known about your kit.

 

You're not really in a bad situation, however. When Ryzen was first released, it had numerous memory incompatibility issues, but many of these were fixed with bios releases aimed at system stability and memory compatibility. Give that a shot and you may find your kit working as intended. I did. My 3000MHz rated kit has Hynix M-Die chips and I can overclock it to 3200 at 1.4v with no issues using an updated bios.

29 minutes ago, Dash Lambda said:

- It will in all likelihood not run at 3200Mhz with decent timings with 4 sticks.

Ryzen does have issues with four DIMMs, but not as many now as when the platform was released. Worst case scenario, you'll be able to get them running at 2666MHz with a little work on the timings/voltages.

29 minutes ago, Dash Lambda said:

- Even if I buy the exact same model, I'm just as likely to end up with a completely different kit as I am to get the same one.

This is possible. I tried going this route two years ago with an i3 6100 setup. I ordered a single 8GB stick and got one version number (Single Rank) and months later ordered another stick with same model number (same link on Newegg) and got a different version number (Dual Rank this time). It still worked, but that was Intel and 2133MHz. I've since sold that whole system and went Ryzen.

[DocSwag]

You see, the C14 kit was the one that was b-die...  

 

You could try for 4 sticks. TBH, even if you can only reach 2933 MHz or something afterwards, the difference between 2933 and 3200 isn't that large.

[johndms]

17 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

TBH, even if you can only reach 2933 MHz or something afterwards, the difference between 2933 and 3200 isn't that large.

I agree completely.

 

@Dash LambdaI often share a particular YouTube video that shows benchmarks comparing 2666 vs 3200 on a Ryzen 5 1600. It gives fairly good evidence that suggests the difference between 2666 and 3200 isn't as impressive as people may want you to believe. Don't misunderstand me though, there is a difference, but not enough (in my opinion) to warrant spending more than 10% extra on 3200, if you can get 3000, or 2666 for significantly less. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOWx5LH4uBo

 

 

You'll hear many boasting, "Ryzen performs SO MUCH BETTER and gives MASSIVE fps boosts while gaming using high frequency ram," and a lot of talk of Infinity Fabric. While the claims of performance gains regarding Infinity Fabric are true, many tend to blow it all out of proportion. This, unfortunately, leads people to believe they MUST purchase 3200MHz or higher Samsung B-Die because anything less will severely hinder their system. I'll provide a link and allow you and everyone else to form your own opinions.

http://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4963&title=ryzen-ram-frequency-and-gaming

 

Edited September 28, 2017 by johndms
Corrected wording for clarification.

[Mitchell 3]

I have mismatched ram brands though do note the timing is the same but the speed is 2400mhz for the adata and I think 17 for the two stick of pny though do note this is intel 6th gen skylake with an asus h170 mobo

Edited September 29, 2017 by Mitchell 3
typo