Relevant DDR4 speeds?

[FYZX7]

As a DDR3 user I never really had the interest to inform myself about DDR4, now that I plan on switching from Haswell to Ryzen 5 I have to buy the fitting RAM again.
I was banging my head against the wall when I tried to wrap my head around the speeds I saw, going anywhere from 2133MHz up to 4600MHz while I'am sitting here using CL9's w/ 1666MHz feeling now like a peasant.
Please just make it easy for me and tell me what's the right speed to combine with a R5 2600X on a X470-Pro platform.

[Taf the Ghost]

1 minute ago, FYZX7 said:

As a DDR3 user I never really had the interest to inform myself about DDR4, now that I plan on switching from Haswell to Ryzen 5 I have to buy the fitting RAM again.
I was banging my head against the wall when I tried to wrap my head around the speeds I saw, going anywhere from 2133MHz up to 4600MHz while I'am sitting here using CL9's w/ 1666MHz feeling now like a peasant.
Please just make it easy for me and tell me what's the right speed to combine with a R5 2600X on a X470-Pro platform.

3200 is the speed you want to target. 2933 is the official "top" speed, but 3200 Mhz is the optimal speed for the platform.

 

We also suggest it because RAM prices are so dang high that it going from 2666 to 3200 is worth the cost. Actual performance increase is mostly in high-end gaming, though.

[AskTJ]

3000MHz on Ryzen will do you wonders.

[Jurrunio]

Ryzen loves memory bandwidth, so make sure you get pair(s) of sticks rather than one for dual channel memory. a pair of 2133 sticks can beat a single 3200 stick in benchmarks if capacites are the same.

 

As for memory frequency, 3200 is the highest for a Ryzen CPU to reliably use, though slightly slower ones at 3000MHz might be a better buy if they are cheaper. While it's possible to go higher, it's very difficult to hit and some CPU just cannot do it.

[Taf the Ghost]

pcpartpicker.com has the cheapest 2x 8Gb kit of 2666 at 159USD, while the cheapest 3200 is 165USD. That's been the situation since the DRAM price jumps.

 

With both AMD & Intel, the rating is for Intel products, so anything over 2666 (Intel) and 2933 (AMD) is considered an OC and not guaranteed. However, pretty much everything will do 3200 in the recent processor releases.

 

Anything beyond 3200, though, isn't a given at all. 8600k & 8700k will generally do around 3600 without too much issues, with RAM rated for that, but beyond that is down to getting a really good IMC.

 

However, 3200 with good subtimings will get the most out of your CPU. At least for gaming and the programs really sensitive to memory speed & latency.