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minimaltech
Adept I

32GB RAM for R7 2700X to run at 2933MHz!

Hi! I am new to the community and a little newbie (and confused) with the new Ryzen platform!!

I already have an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 CPU paired with 16GB (2x8) DDR4 RAM @ 2400MHz (G.Skill Flare-X).

Now, I want to buy an ASRock X470 Taichi motherboard for my new build, plus an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X. I'm trying to find a 32GB (2x16) DDR4 RAM to run at 2933MHz and to be compatible with my motherboard (motherboard's memory QVL --> here). As far as I know, to be able to achieve this speed I must buy only Single-Rank RAM sticks. Otherwise the memory will run at only 2400MHz... Is this true?

Do you know dimm's that are single-rank and are 16GB? What do you propose for my system?

Thank you!

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1 Solution
Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello,

The single rank stick feature will always be true with any cpu memory controller used to drive any memory.
It mean that in any case, single ranked memory modules will always be less stressful for any cpu memory controller than dual ranked modules.

That said  memory controller can be tuned in a way to alleviate the stress, even when using double ranked memory modules.
Ryzen 1st gen memory controller indeed fall a bit short when using dual ranked kit under high memory clocks.
Ryzen 2nd gen memory controller have been greatly updated and suffer less when using dual ranked kit under high memory clocks.

Bottom line you can go with 2x16GB dual ranked with your 2700x and achieve up to 3200mhz i suppose, but i wouldn't bet clocking higher.
The other choice is to go 4x8GB single ranked, you should also be able to get up to 3200Mhz i suppose, not so much higher either.
Do not: use more than 2 stick that are dual ranked, never 4 stick dual ranked, if wanted decent memory speeds.
If you want max memory speed always go for 2xXGB of single ranked module.

You can google hardwareluxx memory list, if i post the link i will have to wait the post moderation, it's a great repository of memory modules specs.
I would advice to get a Gskill kit and also check carefully the others bench to leverage which latest kit would fit the best!
Tho the old Samsung IC density is 8GB single 16GB dual ranked module, with the new high density IC Samsung released, i would have expected 16GB single ranked and 32GB dual ranked modules!
Tho I did not found any 16GB kit single ranked, maybe i did not looked at in depth around.

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15 Replies
minimaltech
Adept I

Come on guys! No one?? It is urgent to make the order and to build my system!

Is the above (with the Single-Rank RAM sticks) true?

What do you propose for my system?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello,

The single rank stick feature will always be true with any cpu memory controller used to drive any memory.
It mean that in any case, single ranked memory modules will always be less stressful for any cpu memory controller than dual ranked modules.

That said  memory controller can be tuned in a way to alleviate the stress, even when using double ranked memory modules.
Ryzen 1st gen memory controller indeed fall a bit short when using dual ranked kit under high memory clocks.
Ryzen 2nd gen memory controller have been greatly updated and suffer less when using dual ranked kit under high memory clocks.

Bottom line you can go with 2x16GB dual ranked with your 2700x and achieve up to 3200mhz i suppose, but i wouldn't bet clocking higher.
The other choice is to go 4x8GB single ranked, you should also be able to get up to 3200Mhz i suppose, not so much higher either.
Do not: use more than 2 stick that are dual ranked, never 4 stick dual ranked, if wanted decent memory speeds.
If you want max memory speed always go for 2xXGB of single ranked module.

You can google hardwareluxx memory list, if i post the link i will have to wait the post moderation, it's a great repository of memory modules specs.
I would advice to get a Gskill kit and also check carefully the others bench to leverage which latest kit would fit the best!
Tho the old Samsung IC density is 8GB single 16GB dual ranked module, with the new high density IC Samsung released, i would have expected 16GB single ranked and 32GB dual ranked modules!
Tho I did not found any 16GB kit single ranked, maybe i did not looked at in depth around.

Thank you very very much Wimpzilla! You solved all of my answers plus you teach me new things about Ryzen platform!

For clarification purposes:

If I go with G.Skill 2x16GB 3200mhz Trident Z [F4-3200C16D-32GTZRX] (possibly dual ranked)  -or-

G.Skill 2x16GB 2933mhz Trident Z [F4-2933C14D-32GTZRX] (possibly dual ranked)

1) Will both be able to run at least at 2933mhz?

2) Can I achieve 2933mhz without overclocking (stock settings in CPU and RAM)

3) Should I better buy the 2933mhz pair due to lower latencies (CL14 vs CL16) since I don't plan to overclock my system (or RAM only) to 3200mhz or more?

I want to build an extremely stable system able to work fine in very heavy loads (Photoshop, android development and maybe Adobe Premier) and never to crash, freeze or give me any BSODs.... This is the reason I want only the stock settings and no overclocking everywhere...

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello,


The second thing you need to know, aside the single/dual ranked stuff, is that each kit can mount different ram chip, from different manufacturers.
Usually the ram chip are produced by samsung, micron, hynix, so each chip behave differently depending where it come from.
Top end kits usually mount samsung B-die ram chips, dunno if it changed nowadays, these rule out 3200Mhz CAS14 usually.
Not sure the kit you choose get these chips since it run 3200Mhz CAS16, that's a bit high to be B-die for sure.
If you want to be sure to get the less hassle possible, unfortunately you need to pay the price and get some high end kits.
Not matter if you will run only 2933/3200Mhz, its good to get at least a kit that can mange 3400/3600Mhz, that usually mount samsung B-die or high end chips.
I was looking for the kits you choose and did not found any useful information about, so i can't say for sure it will run smooth at 2933Mhz.
Dunno if these kit are the same as the F4-3200C14D-32GTZR B-die but with higher timing to match precisely ryzen platform.


I would rather get something like this personally:
-F4-3200C14D-32GTZR
-F4-3600C17D-32GTZR
-F4-3200C14D-32GTZ
-F4-3400C16D-32GTZ

-F4-3200C14D-32GTZKY (Neo version different colours be sure CAS14)
-F4-3600C17D-32GTZKW
-F4-3400C16D-32GVK

-CMR32GX4M2F3600C18

Last thing, setting up properly ram timings and speeds is not overclocking, it is simply setting up your ram.
We speak about ram overclocking when one push the DDR4 ram platform over 4000Mhz.
Nobody that is running ram lower than 3600Mhz is really overclocking the DDR4, despite all the echo you heard about.
There is nothing hard about, if the system do not boot straight at 3200Mhz, or even 2933Mhz just check the bios ram settings.
One often need to adjust a couple of setting to run smooth with these kind of high end kits.

Bottom line, the only 16GB ram modules i could find being single ranked for sure, come from the main manufacturers.
Again i couldn't find any other informations about the usage of these chips aside from server ram stuff, no real product from Gskill from example.

I read carefully what you wrote. I did some research by my own also.

I conclude that if I go with a high-end kit (like the F4-3200C14D-32GTZR you said) it costs me about EUR 456 in my country (Greece) (around 525 in USD). And, assuming that I am buying this 3200MHz kit for example, again I am not sure if it will run at 2933MHz and CL14 latencies easily and smoothly (or if it will not run at all)...

On the other hand, if I go with a lower-end and a lower-frequency kit (like the 2400MHz G.Skill F4-2400C15D-32GFX CL15) that costs me about EUR 285 (around 328 in USD), I am 100% sure that my system will run at 2400MHz with CL15, stable, regardless if the dimms are single or dual ranked.

The price gap is big: 60% more expensive the 3200MHz kit than the 2400MHz!! But the performance difference is very low: only 5-7% faster performance with the 3200MHz kit (running at 2933MHz) than the 2400MHz in average!!

Please, correct me if I'm wrong with the numbers... I searched this extensively in the web..

So, in conclusion, I think the 3200MHz kit (running at 2933MHz) it will not worth the extra price gap and the better choice for me is the 2400MHz.

What is your opinion?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello,

It is true that memory is unfortunately expensive, especially if one want good kits and if you want huge amount of ram like 32GB; 16GB are more affordable.

With the kit i gave you, i can say almost for sure you will get 2933mhz with a decent CAS and even 3200Mhz if one spend a bit checking the settings.
But you are right these kit are overpriced, costing more than the cpu and the motherboard together, it's a shame but unfortunately it's how the market goes.

Then as said before lower end kits would work fine but maybe not at 3200Mhz or maybe not straight like with the high end kits.
In any case with any 32GB kit you will reach 2666mhz that is the minimum to get good performances for sure, 2933Mhz most probably, 3200Mhz with hassle in my opinion.

So bottom line, always aim at least to a 2933/3200Mhz kit, even if it is a budget one, because ram speed is very important for Ryzen platform.
One should always try to get the fastest memory he could get, even if these are not top end kit, so absolutely do not buy basic ram working at 2400Mhz, get a kit that at least can support 2933Mhz.
The one you choose initially is still good memory kit, did these they cost too much for you?
You can link me the kit you find fitting your budget, i will check the review and how they behave for you.

Wimpzilla sorry for the delay! I didn't have time to answer due to my work..

I went with the G.Skill Flare X 32GB DDR4-2400MHz (F4-2400C15D-32GFX) kit. I ordered it yesterday at EUR 278 (about 320 USD). I bought that kit mostly due to its cost because any other option exceeded my budget a lot...

Also, one last reason which made me to end up to this kit is that (as I also said in my previous post) in benchmarking videos I saw the performance difference is very low: only 5-7% faster performance with the 2933MHz RAM than the 2400MHz in average!! So I think I will be OK with the 2400MHz...

A big thank you for your help and time you spent for me to give me options and to clarify things with the ZEN platform!!

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Hello,

You are welcome.
Try anyway to bump the memory speed to check if it support faster frequency, you never know.
Let me know if you need help if you decide to tune a bit the bios settings.
Maybe you can try to get 2666/2993Mhz out of it with if you spend some time tuning the ram.
Good luck, i understand your choice, 278e is already cheap with the actual ram market, for a 32GB kit.

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Ok! I will test it in about 15 days which I'll have my whole system in my hands and start to building it!

If I'll have further questions with the settings, I'll write you back here...

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lothos
Journeyman III

I've been able to get 3400Mhz on 2x16 (32Gb) running on an ASUS Crosshair VII x470 motherboard with a Ryzen 2700x.

I've been posting my progress on the link below, I posted my 3333Mhz timings and someone else confirmed my timings worked for them. I just got the 3400Mhz working last night and stable and will post the timings over the weekend as I wanted to keep trying to get higher speeds or tighten them first.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?110230-Crosshair-Hero-VII-x470-WiFi-32GB-at-3333Mhz-BIOS-2...

Below is the link to the memory kit I am using with Samsung B-Die

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820236238

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Hello.

You don't run memtest on your system?  In my experience, just because a system boots and is stable while gaming doesn't indicate a stable RAM overclock.  Small errors may not crash the system, but allowed to build up can corrupt data or even the operating system over time.  If you can push through two full cycles of memtest (200%) without any errors, you are probably good to go.

Yes, I do other tests other than reboot. I use Intelburn test and Prime95. The reasons I mention reboot is that I have had times where it would pass an those tests but when you tried to reboot the motherboard would stop failing on reboot.

EDITED: One more note, I have been playing several games for the past few days as well and not a single crash. I may try and increase the voltage again on the memory but it seems like the motherboard does not like that when you hit the higher frequencies.

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Too my point, you can have errors generated by too high a RAM speed that will never cause a crash or a failure to post.  The data written to RAM will be slightly altered, and over time, those small errors can corrupt data files or the entire OS.

Memtest 32G.PNG

For example, here is my data from 3200 MHz, CL14 and 4 SR DIMMs installed.  After 300% coverage over my RAM not a single error has posted, a sure sign that everything is okay.  If I raise the speed to 3333Mhz, everything boots up just fine, but I will start to see errors crop up in memtest.

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So you are saying that Intelburntest and Prime95 are not good ways to test it?

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Not for RAM.  MemTest is free, and essentially it writes data to each RAM sector and then reads it back looking for discrepancies.  You can get the free version, which limits the amount of RAM you can test at one time, but you can just open multiple instances and cover the majority of your RAM.  It'll take several hours to go through 30Gb three times over.

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