Your potential output is reduced by 3200 CL16 on the 5950X.
Your potential output is reduced by 3200 CL16 on the 5950X.
I achieved a 5950x setup two days ago and it's functioning smoothly. My memory feels a bit outdated. I'm using an Aorus Master B550 board with 32GB from a 64GB kit of 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3200 CL16 modules (from my Threadripper system). Are the performance drops noticeable, or are we seeing single-digit changes? Also, is the motherboard limiting anything?
Because you're using four sticks with dual-rank support, your performance remains strong according to Hardware Unboxed's findings—especially when playing at 1440p. However, switching to a 1080p display would hurt your frame rate. Upgrading to DDR4-3800 at 1080p could boost performance by nearly 4.5% and significantly improve average FPS by about 3.2%. Overall, it's still a solid setup.
Besides FCLK, achieving two ranks per channel provides the biggest improvement in RAM performance. You already benefit from dual ranks with a 4x8GB configuration. At 3200MTs you’re already seeing a notable boost compared to 2666MTs versus 3800MTs, with most of that gain tied to increasing FCLK, which is closely related to RAM speed. If needed, you can push your RAM further to unlock the remaining performance. Timings offer the smallest gains. A fresh setup outside the priciest options may only add a few percent in certain cases. With significant effort on custom timing tuning for high-end RAM, up to 10% improvement is possible in ideal situations.
I think you're confused. Dual channel matters the most, but that much is achieved with any two sticks of RAM, one in each channel. Ranks is entirely different. Each stick can be single or dual rank, and the optimum number of ranks for Ryzen is four, not two. That can be achieved with two dual ranked sticks or 4 single ranked sticks. 4x8GB gets you there, since all 8GB sticks are single ranked, resulting in four ranks total.
I wouldn't claim that easily. Changing the frequency from 3200MHz to 3600MHz isn't straightforward; simply increasing voltage won't guarantee the shift, especially considering the XMP voltage is already quite high. RAM categories are fixed, so a kit meant for 3600MHz would have been labeled accordingly. It's always possible to get something favorable, much like with any semiconductor, but it's not certain.