Looking for guidance on RAM speeds for your Ryzen 5 3600?
Looking for guidance on RAM speeds for your Ryzen 5 3600?
Hello! I’m new to Ram timing and really appreciate any help you can offer. I’m searching for X570 cl14 setups that run at 2800-3200mhz on X570 Asrock and MSI motherboards. I’ve already built one PC and plan to assemble another tonight. The first one I finished uses an Asrock x570 Phantom K4 (gaming 4), a Ryzen 5 3600, 2x8GB Geil Evo Potenza 3000 MHz CL16, Micron B-Die, and a Wraith Max (from FX and the first-gen Ryzen). The second is identical except it’s an MSI X570-A Pro with a Viper Patriot 3200 CL16. On the first rig I used Thaiphoon to import my XMP profile into the Ryzen Calc, adjusted the settings, but got a black screen. After pulling the CMOS and resetting XMP to 3200 MHz, everything works fine. I’m eager to fine-tune the timings but am nervous about trying changes without knowing. Could raising the frequency alone be risky? Should I just tweak the main settings or also adjust other parameters? The toughest part was figuring out the tRFC requirement. The Ryzen calculator only showed tRFC and (alt), while my motherboard’s UEFI lists tRFC 1, 2, 3, and 4 – confusing. I’ve heard that tighter timings are better for Ryzen than higher clock speeds, and I’d love a straightforward guide or copy-paste settings that fit my RAM, CPU, and board. Also, side note: using PBO versus all-core OC? I disabled OC voltage to stable voltage and noticed my system slowed down 20-30% during idle, but ran smoother and faster overall. Just wanted to share this experience and any tips you might have. Thanks!
Zen 2 appears quicker when PBO is turned on compared to when it’s off using a fixed OC, but this doesn’t seem like a real boost. Micron Rev.B isn’t the optimal choice for OC; stick with around 3200mhz and adjust timings slightly. The suggested settings are 15-19-19-13-21 1T tRC 52 tWR 10 tRRD S/L 6/7. T-RFC 1, 2, 3, and 4 tend to be lower in the rankings; names vary by manufacturer, so check what they use. ALT usually stands for alternative, but it’s often a looser setting than recommended. If you’re stuck, raise DRAM termination resistance to the next value if your command rate is already at 2T—this worked for my Micron E. Running at 1T can be improved by switching to 2T, though it adds some latency because the CPU sends commands twice. Depending on your chips, you might need voltages higher than 1.35V, possibly 1.4 or 1.45—still safe even if others suggest otherwise. VSOC can boost memory controller stability; it can be increased up to 1.2V on Zen+, though I’m not sure if this applies to Zen 2.
You only need to adjust a few things, probably just the voltage. Since you're new to RAM settings and haven't built one before, focus on getting the timing right for lower latency. Your target is around 3200 MHz, and you're okay with it not exceeding that. The UEFI should still boot, even if Windows fails.
Each memory kits behave differently, your might do better or worst then what i have found on Reddit, you find out sooner or later how it behave. IMO it behave somehow like the Hynix A, there is not much gain to get but it's better then nothing i guess. I learned how to OC memory by watching Buildzoid videos and trying to go as far as i can, took me about 1 month to OC my first RAM kit, but once you know how you get faster and faster with each kit. Try 3200mhz, try 3000mhz if you can get tighter timings and better latency.
In short, I realized the problem was that trfc and trfc alt were just two values derived from base trfc (using the tRFC alternative value). You could skip entering them in hexadecimal and instead use the settings for your motherboard’s timings, SOC voltages, and memory voltage. The Asrock x570 board has two menus where you adjust timings—one required hex input for tRFC, others didn’t. It wasn’t mentioned anywhere else. I followed the Ryzen Dram calculator’s “safe 3000 MHz” settings and still overclocked to 3200, since the fast and extreme profiles stopped working with the latest version. The system is running well, raising my memory score from 87.9% to 93%. For a 60$ build, I’m satisfied. Hardwareunboxed has a helpful video on using the Ryzen calculator properly. This setup includes an RX 580 and will be paired with a 1070 and a Matrexx 55 case for my dad.