RAM question

[AWT]

Hi. I just received my Viper 3600 MHz CL18 RAMs, and want to get to use them (although the intended CPU upgrade to Ryzen 5900X isn't done yet). You can find my full specs in my profile.
My question is: does it make any sense to try and get the 3600 MHz to run with my current Ryzen 1700, or is it going to be pointless due to CPU limitations?
Note: I am currently temporarily using Corsair Vengeance @3200, which run stable for everything except newer Ubisoft games.

[Supafly]

If thats what they are rated for it should be fine. Giving it a go would likely be faster than waiting for answers....been waiting 20 minutes before I posted

[Illusion of Progress]

I'm only personally familiar with Zen 2 and Zen 3 (Ryzen 3000/5000 series), and both of them do 3,600 MHz pretty reliably. They have the same I/O Die. Older Zen generations, however, were said to have much lower maximums for RAM support and IF clocks. I've read somewhere around 2,933 MHz to 3,200 MHz can start giving trouble, depending on DIMM count, rank count, and IMC/IF luck (even motherboard, BIOS version, and RAM itself are variables).

Personally, it sounds like your current 3,200 MHz RAM isn't quite entirely stable to begin with, so I'd leave it as-is until you get the 5900X. I think 3,600 MHz might be unlikely to work, but if you're willing to invest the time trying, nothing is stopping you.

I would definitely update to the latest BIOS if you haven't already. This is likely to update the AGESA and RAM compatibility, and it might even be necessary to support the 5900X.

[_I_]

if its 3200 cl16, the 3800 cl18 kit should run at the slower freq with tighter timings

[AWT]

It's a kit of 2x16GB 3600 MHz CL18. Does it make sense to try running them at the frequency and timings of my old 3200 MHz C16 kit (which died after 5 years of reliable use at full speed using XMP, which is why I currently use the Corsair ones)? Will certainly update the BIOS, as it's required for the 5xxx Ryzen series.
Haven't tried it tonight as I had some important work to do, but will try in coming days whenever I have enough time to update BIOS & try and get them to run.

[_I_]

its extremely rare for ram to die, unless you are overvolting it by alot

[AWT]

FYI, just wanted to let you know I now tried running my kit Viper 3600MHz C18 kit at 3200 MHz @ 16-18-18-18-36 timings and it's working like a charm. I will see if I can tweak it to find the ideal speed, once I have found a way to verify what the actual speed is.

BTW, I noticed the Dual Channel field in CPU Z is empty. Can I somehow enforce dual channel?

[Supafly]

Originally posted by Supafly:

Originally posted by AWT:

FYI, just wanted to let you know I now tried running my kit Viper 3600MHz C18 kit at 3200 MHz @ 16-18-18-18-36 timings and it's working like a charm. I will see if I can tweak it to find the ideal speed, once I have found a way to verify what the actual speed is.

CPU - Z > Memory Tab > Dram Frequency

Double what the Dram Frequency is to get your Speed/Mhz

Can Validate it with the button at the bottom

EDIT:

Originally posted by Supafly:

Originally posted by AWT:

BTW, I noticed the Dual Channel field in CPU Z is empty. Can I somehow enforce dual channel?

Need to modules, I assume you have as you said RAMs in the topic
If you use the SPD tab you need to select the slot/s your Ram is in to see the speeds they do using stock and XMP/AMD version of XMP and that only show what it can be not what it's running at, need the memory tab for that.

[_I_]

a single ddr4 dimm will always be single channel

the channels in cpuz has always been borked
dual most of the time shows, but if the dimms are mismatched or different sizes or using 3 dimms who knows what cpuz reports it as

post the validate link
if they are in dimm slots 2-4 and matching, it should be dual channel

check the cpuz spd tab, select the slots
validate does not show them in the correct ones, always 1 to 4 however many dimms are installed

[AWT]

Thanks guys, that confirmed it.
CPU Z Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Up02eHW
Validation: https://valid.x86.fr/9y38s1
Quite confusing how the app itself displays it. I have 2 identical RAMs in operation (Slot 1&3), purchased as a set.
By speed I meant the actual value in ms for access time (there is a formula to calculate that). People in another thread said 3200 CL16 is faster than 3600MHz @ CL18.

[[-iD-]]

Originally posted by AWT:

Thanks guys, that confirmed it.
CPU Z Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Up02eHW
Validation: https://valid.x86.fr/9y38s1
Quite confusing how the app itself displays it. I have 2 identical RAMs in operation (Slot 1&3), purchased as a set.
By speed I meant the actual value in ms for access time (there is a formula to calculate that). People in another thread said 3200 CL16 is faster than 3600MHz @ CL18.

ram speed is really just not really that big of a deal
just buy cheap good ram thats on the QVL of your mobo.

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mRPGJmnvD7ruzEAHVr7uMH-970-80.png.webp

unless you do super heavy encoding.

[_I_]

Originally posted by -iD-:

Originally posted by AWT:

Thanks guys, that confirmed it.
CPU Z Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/Up02eHW
Validation: https://valid.x86.fr/9y38s1
Quite confusing how the app itself displays it. I have 2 identical RAMs in operation (Slot 1&3), purchased as a set.
By speed I meant the actual value in ms for access time (there is a formula to calculate that). People in another thread said 3200 CL16 is faster than 3600MHz @ CL18.

ram speed is really just not really that big of a deal
just buy cheap good ram thats on the QVL of your mobo.

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mRPGJmnvD7ruzEAHVr7uMH-970-80.png.webp

again qvl is pointless
there is no way for the mobo mfg to test all boards with all dims

3600 cl 18 and 3200 cl 16 are extremely close
both 10ns

and the sub timings you are at are a little tighter too
that helps more

as long as its stable its fine

2x64 is dual channel

[[-iD-]]

Originally posted by _I_:

Originally posted by -iD-:

ram speed is really just not really that big of a deal
just buy cheap good ram thats on the QVL of your mobo.

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mRPGJmnvD7ruzEAHVr7uMH-970-80.png.webp

again qvl is pointless
there is no way for the mobo mfg to test all boards with all dims

3600 cl 18 and 3200 cl 16 are extremely close
both 10ns

and the sub timings you are at are a little tighter too
that helps more

as long as its stable its fine

imagine going through a dozen sticks only to find out the only parts that work are on the qvl.
been there done that.

[_I_]

imagine the mfg going through literally tens of thousands of dimms testing each one for 100% stability
that would take more time than any mfg would ever want to do

[[-iD-]]

Originally posted by _I_:

imagine the mfg going through literally tens of thousands of dimms testing each one for 100% stability
that would take more time than any mfg would ever want to do

im not saying they should but unless its on the qvl its not guaranteed to work.

reading comprehension bud.

[_I_]

Originally posted by -iD-:

Originally posted by _I_:

imagine the mfg going through literally tens of thousands of dimms testing each one for 100% stability
that would take more time than any mfg would ever want to do

im not saying they should but unless its on the qvl its not guaranteed to work.

i never ran into a ddr2, ddr3 or ddr4 dimm combo that did not work at default speeds

i have had a few bad dimms that did not work in any boards, but again that was extremely rare
and i was able to easily rma the ram for new modules that did work