Stuck in a dilemma about DDR4 options.
Stuck in a dilemma about DDR4 options.
Searching for the ideal RAM setup for your new build. You're using an ASUS Crossair VIII Dark Hero with a Ryzen 5950X, targeting 4x8GB at 3600MHz. You're curious about timing options and whether dual-channel is possible. Gaming is your main use case, but you also need higher thread counts for other tasks—especially since you got a good deal on a system similar to the 5800X. TL;dr: what RAM speeds and configurations perform best with this configuration?
Go for 2x16 instead, no point in limiting expansion capabilities... as long as you're using them in dual channel there's no performance gain between 2 and 4 dimms. All DIMMs can work in dual channel (or triple or quad if your system supports it, though yours doesn't), it's a feature of the CPU. 3600MHz CL16 is a good starting point, higher frequencies and lower timings are obviously better. By the way if you haven't bought your motherboard yet I urge you to reconsider, it's incredibly expensive and if you're not going for some insane LN2 overclocks it's just a waste of money.
Start with single output and switch to dual channel. Adding more than the recommended number doesn’t improve performance. Just two dimmers are sufficient for dual channel operation. If you want four, would appreciate seeing benchmarks that confirm it matters.
Aida64 executes 3800 16-16-16-36 using 2 sticks, followed by 4.
It's really confusing with all the technical terms. Generally, higher clockspeed means better performance, while smaller timings are also advantageous. Features like ECC and ranks can be difficult to understand when comparing models. To verify if a model has dual rank, you’d need to check its specifications or documentation directly.
The team benefited from an EKWB monoblock when I placed my order. ASUS has consistently delivered solid mainboards for me now. Before that, Gigabyte was unreliable, so I’ll experiment with overclocking occasionally. No extreme cooling tricks like LN2. I’m targeting 3600MHz or above for CL16.