Ram speed

[icon_of_sin]

When considring ram speed is there anything to consider other than the motherboards max speeds, the rams max speed and the cpus max ram speed?

also does it make any difference if i am using XMP to get higher speeds or not

[Xtenzor]

for RAM a lower CAS latency is better than a higher one. also XMP will adjust the latency most likely itself but also sometimes may bring instability. you may need to play with XMP then a bit and also adjust the memory voltage.

[Cloudy]

Maybe this video will help you make your choice on what RAM speed you'll want.
https://youtu.be/D_Yt4vSZKVk?t=4m28s

(I wouldn't suggest going below 3000MHz, and the jump to 3200MHz is worth the extra $10 more assuming your motherboard supports it.)

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

Speed matters more for Ryzen CPUs (especially APUs) and overclocking builds.
3000 Mhz or 3200 Mhz for Ryzens, 3466 Mhz on newer boards like B450 or X470 that support it if you want or when price is not significantly higher.

2400 Mhz or 2666 Mhz for Intel B360 boards, 3200 Mhz for Z370 overclocking boards or higher up to the limits of the boards if you have money to blow.

Keep an eye on CL, the lower value the better, when both RAM kits have 3200 Mhz for instance then one with lower CL value is better.
Using RAM with pairs instead of single stick is better for dual-channel effect.
Some systems more designed towards professional work like Threadripper and Intel LGA 2066, 2011 socket systems use quad-channel for four sticks.

Corsair and g.Skill are usually more reliable brands, Kingston and Crucial are pretty good too.

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

Basicaly for current generation Intel (Skylake and newer) DDR4-2400 or higher is recommended. For AMD's current generation (Ryzen 1 and newer), DDR4-2660 or higher is rcommended.

I have a Core i7-6700K running at 4.4 GHz and my RAM is DDR4-2400.

[tacoshy]

Messaggio originale di Xtenzor:

for RAM a lower CAS latency is better than a higher one. also XMP will adjust the latency most likely itself but also sometimes may bring instability. you may need to play with XMP then a bit and also adjust the memory voltage.

XMP will not mostl ikely adjust the latency, it will definetly adjust the latency.
XMP is manufacture overclockign profile to run the RAM faster then JEDEC standard specification of 2133MHz @1.2V. So everythign beyond that is an overclock either manual or through XMP which is a pretested OC information file added by the manufacturer. And XMP will not bring instability on the RAM as the manufactuirer garuntees to run at this. There certain problems with AMD memory controllers that cause instabilities on Ryzen 1st Gen. not on the RAM. If you use XMP, you cnat play with it. You either activate it or you dont. If you change settings after using XMP you OC manually not usign XMP anymore.

Messaggio originale di icon_of_sin:

When considring ram speed is there anything to consider other than the motherboards max speeds, the rams max speed and the cpus max ram speed?

also does it make any difference if i am using XMP to get higher speeds or not

Depends on the CPU. Ryzen profits more then Intel from faster RAM but 1st gen has some problems. RAM can always be overlocked on Ryzen despite few A-Chipset Motherboards.

For Intel you need a Z-Chipset or H-Chipset Motherbaord to OC the RAM. If you have neither of that then you can only run RAM to a maximum to the RAM controller speed (CPU). However in both cases the RAM has to to support it. You can gamble and try to make it run with OC'ing manually or you buy a pretested RAM set and run it with XMP at an OC'ed state which is garunteed to run from the manufacturer. Silicion Lottery apllies in every case for manual OC.


Until a certain point frequency becomes mroe and more "useless" the extra price comes with a diminishing return and you see in msot cases in gaming no advantage anymore for paying noticably more.
Also neither high RAM frequncy nor low CAS Latency (CL) are working its magic on its own. It is a combination opf both. High RAm frequncy does not mean that the RAM is faster, just that you have more clocks per second.

RAM Frequncy = clock per second (3,200 MHz = 3,200,000,000 Clocks per second)
CAS Latency = required clocks to finish an operation

SO DDR4-3200 CL14 is faster then DDR4-4000 CL19 because it need less time to finish an operation even tho the clock is lower but so are the required clocks to actually finish the operation.

Just make sure you use Dual Channel for free performance upgrade which is nearly double the bandwidth effectivly.


For Brands all 4: G.Skill, Corsair, Kignston and Micron (crucial and ballistix) give lifetime warranty. For the first 3 might be the more expensive but all of them at speeds of 3200MHz or faster use the superior Samsung-B Dies. Crucial and Ballistix which are a brand of Micron of course use the slower Micron Dies.

[Xtenzor]

XMP is good when it's running smooth. Worth trying anyway. But I wouldn't trust any manufacturer's guarantee. Different things happen sometimes and the systems run unstable.
Then you will need to put values manually

[icon_of_sin]

I seevso XMP is aboe set overclock which the manufacturer gaurantees.

Is it as good as nativly supported speeds

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Nothing is a guarantee. But yes the XMP profile should work, but again the Motherboard MUST support that speed already. Many will not, such as cheaper boards.

Stick to the X chipset for AMD and Z chipset for Intel for best results regarding RAM speeds and any OverClocking.

If you go with a B chipset; many will not do what is claimed, such as 3200MHz RAM
Most B chipset for AMD have this issue, where you might be able to reach 2666 - 3000 Mhz at most, simply because the Intel XMP profiles do not translate 100% on AMD chipsets/bios

RAM speed is not limited by the CPU, it is limited by the Motherboard.

[tacoshy]

Messaggio originale di Bad_Motha:

If you go with a B chipset; many will not do what is claimed, such as 3200MHz RAM
Most B chipset for AMD have this issue, where you might be able to reach 2666 - 3000 Mhz at most, simply because the Intel XMP profiles do not translate 100% on AMD chipsets/bios

Well mostly due to the fact that AMD uses AMP (espacially Asus) and not XMP. But it is not a chipset issue apperently but more a Memory Controller (CPU) issue. If you sue the 2nd Gen Ryzen CPU's on old AMD B350 Chipset they run at 3200 MHz with no issue. First Gen. had this sisue a lot.

[icon_of_sin]

I have found some ram with the following spec

PC4-25600 (3200), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 16-18-18-36, RGB LED, XMP 2.0, 1.35V

is that a good CAS?
and does 3200 mean the mhz

[Xtenzor]

from what I understood your CAS is 16 for 3200 Mhz. that's right. it's a pretty normal CAS. usually for this range it's around 14 to 16 anyway and your memory speed may compensate everything.
As someone else has suggested you need to check that it says Dual channel memory which should be supported by your MoBo.
Do you know which company is producing them?

also watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yed-a9vqTYc

you may also search for a formula to calculate operational nano-seconds if you like

[icon_of_sin]

Messaggio originale di Xtenzor:

Do you know which company is producing them?

Corsair

[Xtenzor]

Messaggio originale di icon_of_sin:

Messaggio originale di Xtenzor:

Do you know which company is producing them?

Corsair

Yep, that will normally do

[tacoshy]

Messaggio originale di icon_of_sin:

Messaggio originale di Xtenzor:

Do you know which company is producing them?

Corsair

no corsair doesnt produce dual channel memory. no company does that. There is no Dual Channel Memory at all.

What does Dual Channel mean? a Memory controller on a Coffee Lake CPu (as with msot CPU) has 2 channels. as you have then mostly 4 RAM slots on a motherboard, 2 of those are conencted to Channel A and the other 2 to Channel B.
Dual channel does not mean to use special RAM but to use 2 RAM modules in teh correct spots of the motherboard. Dont even have to be the same RAM and you can even sue uneven ammount of RAM of different brands and speed to sue dual channel. Like I said it is not a special RAM you have to buy, just the right placement on the motherboard as stated in your motherboards manual!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1416686512

[ColdBoltz]

get 2400mhz or 3000/3200,hz 2666 is a waste