AMD Ryzen memory can top 5GHz, but 3,733MHz is the real gaming sweet-spot

Zarathustra[H]

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
Joined
Oct 29, 2000
Messages
39,792
PCGamesN is reporting that AMD has vastly improved memory compatibility with the Ryzen 3000 chips after admitting this was a weakness in previous iterations. The X570 Godlike has demonstrated 5Ghz RAM speeds, and 4200mhz has been accomplished with other boards by simply tweaking XMP settings...

...but, you may not want to go all the way up to the fastest clock you can hit. Reportedly the real memory clock sweet spot on the new infinity fabric is 3733Mhz for best latency.

Sounds promising!
 
Hopefully AMD can convince memory manufacturers to produce faster DDR4 ECC UDIMMs. Although I may not go for ECC on the windows workstation.
 
drescherjm said:
Hopefully AMD can convince memory manufacturers to produce faster DDR4 ECC UDIMMs. Although I may not go for ECC on the windows workstation.
Click to expand...

I'm debating ECC as well, especially since my favorite announced X570 board thus far appears to be a workstation board with official ECC support.

I'm just loving the fact that it doesn't have RGB LED's or any of that crazy racy "gaming" styling that has become so popular lately. This feels like a motherboard befitting an adult.

5way-pic.jpg
 
I have 16GB of DDR4 2400 ECC in my X470 Ryzen 2700 linux server / PVR. It was a little bit of a pain to find boards with ECC support last year when I purchased it but seems well with my ASUS Prime PRO X470.

I'm just loving the fact that it doesn't have RGB LED's or any of that crazy racy "gaming" styling that has become so popular lately.
Click to expand...

Not having that would be a huge benefit for me as well..
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm debating ECC as well, especially since my favorite announced X570 board thus far appears to be a workstation board with official ECC support.

I'm just loving the fact that it doesn't have RGB LED's or any of that crazy racy "gaming" styling that has become so popular lately. This feels like a motherboard befitting an adult.

View attachment 169134
Click to expand...

I do wish more boards would look that slick. I agree all the stupid RGB stuff is annoying already. Its hard to find decent boards that don't look like toddler toys.

I'm hoping I can push 3700 out of some good quality 3200 ram in a month or so. :)
 
ChadD said:
I do wish more boards would look that slick. I agree all the stupid RGB stuff is annoying already. Its hard to find decent boards that don't look like toddler toys.

I'm hoping I can push 3700 out of some good quality 3200 ram in a month or so. :)
Click to expand...

Even the "RGB all the things" boards still look a lot less like toys than the "Fisher Price color puke" boards of the past. Also, RGB stuff can be turned off (usually) so all the bitching about it seems silly.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm debating ECC as well, especially since my favorite announced X570 board thus far appears to be a workstation board with official ECC support.

I'm just loving the fact that it doesn't have RGB LED's or any of that crazy racy "gaming" styling that has become so popular lately. This feels like a motherboard befitting an adult.

View attachment 169134
Click to expand...

Finally! It looks sexy and industrious, all it needs is a big passive heatpipe cooler for the PCH.. I guess you're happy to finally find proper board manufacturer ECC support too ;)
Thanks for the heads up and thanks to ASUS for 'getting it' for once. We don't all want RGB crap nor to pay for not using it. My boards go in a windowless case, couldn't care less if it's not a diagnostic led.
 
Was the memory compatibility all about CPU or are motherboard designs also important? I mean, I have right 1600 on B350 Strix mother board and 3000Mhz RAM. I intent to replace my CPU with 3700X when it is released, but can I add faster RAM (maybe not 3733 but something like 3400 would be cool) without worrying about combatibility issues? My friend with old 1700 on Asus motherboard still hasn't gotten his 3200mhz Hynix RAM to full speed, it maxes out at 3000 with his Ryzen rig.
 
MaZa said:
Was the memory compatibility all about CPU or are motherboard designs also important? I mean, I have right 1600 on B350 Strix mother board and 3000Mhz RAM. I intent to replace my CPU with 3700X when it is released, but can I add faster RAM (maybe not 3733 but something like 3400 would be cool) without worrying about combatibility issues? My friend with old 1700 on Asus motherboard still hasn't gotten his 3200mhz Hynix RAM to full speed, it maxes out at 3000 with his Ryzen rig.
Click to expand...

I don't think motherboards have had much impact on memory compatibility since pre 1999 Athlon days when AMD was the first to move the memory controller on to the CPU package.

As long as the motherboard makers don't screw up the routing of the traces that go from the CPU socket to the RAM slots, they should be mostly the same, right?

(I could be totally wrong)
 
Derangel said:
Even the "RGB all the things" boards still look a lot less like toys than the "Fisher Price color puke" boards of the past. Also, RGB stuff can be turned off (usually) so all the bitching about it seems silly.
Click to expand...

Fair but its still the equivalent of putting 33" tires on a truck imo. I guess it was cool when it was a few boards.... and every MFG didn't put 99% of their lineup in the mobo+xmas tree blender. ;) lol
 
ChadD said:
Fair but its still the equivalent of putting 33" tires on a truck imo. I guess it was cool when it was a few boards.... and every MFG didn't put 99% of their lineup in the mobo+xmas tree blender. ;) lol
Click to expand...

I'm not super fond of "RGB all the things" either, but I do like a little lighting. At least as long as its fully controllable. My biggest problem with the RGB everything approach (aside from the billion or so control panels needed if you actually want a bunch of RGB) is how bad manufactures handle control zones. They want to throw RGB on every square milimeter of a motherboard, fine, but make sure its set up with actual control zones so people can toggle specific parts of the lighting separately instead of the only options being off and "It's so bright I'm blind".
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm debating ECC as well, especially since my favorite announced X570 board thus far appears to be a workstation board with official ECC support.

I'm just loving the fact that it doesn't have RGB LED's or any of that crazy racy "gaming" styling that has become so popular lately. This feels like a motherboard befitting an adult.

View attachment 169134
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of that either but I gotta say that board is pretty boring. Could have at least put a little style in it.
 
Derangel said:
I'm not super fond of "RGB all the things" either, but I do like a little lighting. At least as long as its fully controllable. My biggest problem with the RGB everything approach (aside from the billion or so control panels needed if you actually want a bunch of RGB) is how bad manufactures handle control zones. They want to throw RGB on every square milimeter of a motherboard, fine, but make sure its set up with actual control zones so people can toggle specific parts of the lighting separately instead of the only options being off and "It's so bright I'm blind".
Click to expand...

I find Asus does this best of anyone, to date. Lots of zones, good control, and a widely used API. Their ROG level boards have lots of RGB for those who want it, but it tends to be good quality and easy to turn off or set up the way you want, including just from BIOS / UEFI.
 
  • Like
Reactions: N4CR
like this
Zarathustra[H] said:
As long as the motherboard makers don't screw up the routing of the traces that go from the CPU socket to the RAM slots, they should be mostly the same, right?
Click to expand...

The routing and signalling is part of it, but BIOS quality is still a significant factor, and may be used for product line segmentation.
 
ChadD said:
I do wish more boards would look that slick. I agree all the stupid RGB stuff is annoying already. Its hard to find decent boards that don't look like toddler toys.

I'm hoping I can push 3700 out of some good quality 3200 ram in a month or so. :)
Click to expand...

That's because people who have finer taste wont have a window or be showing their b
Motherboard anyway. So it make mo difference just put the rgb on it. You can also turn it off.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChadD
like this
Randall Stephens said:
I like the dual NICs...had that on my 890FX board, missing it on my z270
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if they are real dual NIC's though. One of them may be dedicated to Out of Band Management. Unclear from the description if it can be configured for standard NIC use by the OS. Dual NIC's on board are not that uncommon these days though. I feel like most higher end boards have them.

If I get this board (paired with a Ryzen 3950x of course) I plan on configuring it with a GPU in the first slot at x16, second slot unpopulated (to keep the GPU at x16) and my dual port 10gig fiber Intel x520 NIC in the third slot. Then I'd assess the quality of the on board sound, and decide whether or not to pop in my old Creative X-Fi Titanium HD in the 1x slot. A 2TB Phison E16 SSD would go in the NVME slot.

Then all the on board devices (NIC's, Audio, SATA, etc.) would get disabled in BIOS.
 
Last edited:
I just hope the chipset fans on x570 boards wind up being well behaved, quiet and pitch free.

It would suck to have to stick another restrictive water block over the chipset, and reduce the flow in my loop.
 
Also not seeing 10Gbit on that board- I'm saddened that that time may have passed. I'm seeing more boards with the 2.5Gbit stuff now, which is fine that it works over CAT5e, but represents a regression for high-end consumer boards.
 
FrgMstr said:
I dig the look. Has an industrial, purpose driven feel to it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, aesthetically it is exactly what I am hoping to get.

I don't put a huge amount of importance on aesthetics though. It's going to have to have good power delivery, overclock well, that chipset fan will need to be whisper quiet, and it can't be priced in crazy territory etc., but I like what I see thus far!
 
IdiotInCharge said:
Also not seeing 10Gbit on that board- I'm saddened that that time may have passed. I'm seeing more boards with the 2.5Gbit stuff now, which is fine that it works over CAT5e, but represents a regression for high-end consumer boards.
Click to expand...

Yeah, would have been great if it had 10gig on board, but honestly, its probably just as well it doesn't, because all the consumer boards are going to go with Aquantia chips and 10GBase T.

I want intel, and SFP+ slots for fiber transducers. That's why for my purposes that last 8x slot off of the chipset is the perfect slot for my Intel x520-SR2 NIC.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I just hope the chipset fans on x570 boards wind up being well behaved, quiet and pitch free.

It would suck to have to stick another restrictive water block over the chipset, and reduce the flow in my loop.
Click to expand...

If you have good case airflow you could just stick a passive copper or tall aluminum heatsink on it. 15w is really nothing with a bit of airflow. A cheap low-restriction water block would probably be fine too.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Yeah, aesthetically it is exactly what I am hoping to get.

I don't put a huge amount of importance on aesthetics though. It's going to have to have good power delivery, overclock well, that chipset fan will need to be whisper quiet, and it can't be priced in crazy territory etc., but I like what I see thus far!
Click to expand...

I'd like that board a little better if it had extra power delivery to the CPU socket more like the ROG boards.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
How do you mean? In addition to the 8 pin EPS? (I've never worked with those ROG boards)
Click to expand...

Yeah, a lot of higher end AMD boards had an additional 4 pin in addition to the 8 pin EPS. I know my CH7 had it. Might not make a big difference though. I'm guessing with ECC memory, etc. you're not looking to dial in a huge manual OC (could be wrong though ;) ).
 
kirbyrj said:
Yeah, a lot of higher end AMD boards had an additional 4 pin in addition to the 8 pin EPS. I know my CH7 had it. Might not make a big difference though. I'm guessing with ECC memory, etc. you're not looking to dial in a manual OC.
Click to expand...

I can't help but wonder if that is really necessary.

An 8 pin EPS plug can provide a total of 28 amps. At 12v, that's 336W.

Then add to that the total power from the standard motherboard plug which gives us 24 amps at 3.3V (79.2W), 30 amps at 5v (150W) and 12 amps at 12V (144w).

I know that TDP ratings aren't accurate these days, but how much power do we really need for a socket on which the most power hungry CPU's are rated at 105W TDP?
 
Last edited:
Zarathustra[H] said:
I can't help but wonder if that is really necessary.

An 8 pin EPS plug can provide a total of 28 amps. At 12v, that's 336W.

Then add to that the total power from the standard motherboard plug which gives us 24 amps at 3.3V (79.2W), 150W at 5v (150W) and 12 amps at 12V (144w).

I know that TDP ratings aren't accurate these days, but how much power do we really need for a socket on which the most power hungry CPU's are rated at 105W TDP?
Click to expand...

You're right. But that doesn't stop them from building boards with more than the 8-pin plug. I don't think that 105W is really going to be very accurate under load, but I don't think it's going get anywhere near that 336W either. You'll probably be ok. Out of the 5 or 6 Ryzen boards I've used I think only 2 had 8+4 and it was the ROG CH7 and ASRock Fatal1ty boards. My Strix X470-F was a much better board than the ASRock board without the extra power using the same chip. Asus bios was just a lot better and more stable with a variety of RAM compared to the ASRock board.

I'm going to give that Pro ACE board a look when it comes out. Really depends on the price though. If it's priced the same as the CH8, I'll probably just get that.
 
rudy said:
That's because people who have finer taste wont have a window or be showing their b
Motherboard anyway. So it make mo difference just put the rgb on it. You can also turn it off.
Click to expand...

Well I know its not reaally on topic...

Have to say though I have always liked to bling my cases up a bit. Way way back in the eraly 90s I remember drilling a blow hole in my first case and hunting a nice stylish faan protector for the top. lol Every case I have had since has been unique (if not perhaps all that beutiful) I just don't get the point of car scene style heavy LED stuff.

There is a market for those of uss that would like to be a bit flash... but at the same time not look like we are playing out Xmas light the neighboor. Going to the computer store these days its hard not to laugh seeing a row of computers all glowing out the seams and blinding you if you happen to look into the wrong case window for too long.

I agree with what people have said though.. ya it can mostly be shut off. Its just hard to help feeling likey you have no option but to always be paying 20 or 30 bucks for a bunch of stupid LED lights and control setups. I know I might be odd, and perhaps one of the only ones. But part of me wants a good old 80-90s style green PCB x570 board. I would window that bad boy up... perhaps throw a bit of back light on it. OG style. :)
 
kirbyrj said:
You're right. But that doesn't stop them from building boards with more than the 8-pin plug. I don't think that 105W is really going to be very accurate under load, but I don't think it's going get anywhere near that 336W either. You'll probably be ok. Out of the 5 or 6 Ryzen boards I've used I think only 2 had 8+4 and it was the ROG CH7 and ASRock Fatal1ty boards. My Strix X470-F was a much better board than the ASRock board without the extra power using the same chip. Asus bios was just a lot better and more stable with a variety of RAM compared to the ASRock board.

I'm going to give that Pro ACE board a look when it comes out. Really depends on the price though. If it's priced the same as the CH8, I'll probably just get that.
Click to expand...

The Crosshair VI Hero, Hero WiFi, Crosshair VII Hero and Hero WiFi all have 8+4 power plugs for the CPU. I can't confirm the Crosshair VI Extreme, but I'd be surprised if it did not as well.

FWIW, the Asus Maximus XI Formula has an 8+8 setup for the CPU power plugs (!)
 
ChadD said:
Well I know its not reaally on topic...

Have to say though I have always liked to bling my cases up a bit. Way way back in the eraly 90s I remember drilling a blow hole in my first case and hunting a nice stylish faan protector for the top. lol Every case I have had since has been unique (if not perhaps all that beutiful) I just don't get the point of car scene style heavy LED stuff.

There is a market for those of uss that would like to be a bit flash... but at the same time not look like we are playing out Xmas light the neighboor. Going to the computer store these days its hard not to laugh seeing a row of computers all glowing out the seams and blinding you if you happen to look into the wrong case window for too long.

I agree with what people have said though.. ya it can mostly be shut off. Its just hard to help feeling likey you have no option but to always be paying 20 or 30 bucks for a bunch of stupid LED lights and control setups. I know I might be odd, and perhaps one of the only ones. But part of me wants a good old 80-90s style green PCB x570 board. I would window that bad boy up... perhaps throw a bit of back light on it. OG style. :)
Click to expand...

When all the mainboards were yellow and green, I wished for different colors just to relive the monotony. MSI and Gigabyte complied with red and blue mainboards, respectively. Then came the ultra cool looking black ones, and even some white ones.

Now everything is always almost perfectly black, or black with (usually RGB) trim. It would be kinda cool to see some of those old yellow and green mainboards again...
 
Nice looking board, but just 1 x M.2 ? Never mind, I think there are two.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm debating ECC as well, especially since my favorite announced X570 board thus far appears to be a workstation board with official ECC support.

I'm just loving the fact that it doesn't have RGB LED's or any of that crazy racy "gaming" styling that has become so popular lately. This feels like a motherboard befitting an adult.

View attachment 169134
Click to expand...

Your opinion is valued but rgb is for adults. Made by adults and purchased by adults.

All rgb boards can have the rgb turned completely off.

I have one of the most intense RGB getups on the planet yet many nights I turn it all off and enjoy the peace and darkness of the computer.

People like you are just going to put your stuff in a closed case under the desk anyways.

I also find that high end gaming boards have more stable and better components than so called workstation boards.
 
Last edited:
The extra power delivery makes sense not in terms of ratings, but when considering what PSUs can push. You might want those extra power pathways just to make sure that you're getting enough stable power overall.

From the board manufacturer's perspective, while nicer power supplies should be expected, we all know plenty of people are just going to plug in what they have and expect it to work...
 
IdiotInCharge said:
The extra power delivery makes sense not in terms of ratings, but when considering what PSUs can push. You might want those extra power pathways just to make sure that you're getting enough stable power overall.

From the board manufacturer's perspective, while nicer power supplies should be expected, we all know plenty of people are just going to plug in what they have and expect it to work...
Click to expand...


I'm going to plug in whatever I have and expect it to work...

...but I have a 1200W Seasonic Prime :p
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm going to plug in whatever I have and expect it to work...

...but I have a 1200W Seasonic Prime :p
Click to expand...

I wouldn't doubt it for a second- I'll just say that aging power supplies, power supplies that have been subjected to less-than-lethal voltage spikes, or faulty power supplies are absolutely a concern for board manufacturers.

And from experience, enthusiasts tend to blame everything except the power supply when troubleshooting...
 
IdiotInCharge said:
I wouldn't doubt it for a second- I'll just say that aging power supplies, power supplies that have been subjected to less-than-lethal voltage spikes, or faulty power supplies are absolutely a concern for board manufacturers.

And from experience, enthusiasts tend to blame everything except the power supply when troubleshooting...
Click to expand...

That one time that enthusiast blamed my mother was kinda brutal... :)
 
IdiotInCharge said:
I wouldn't doubt it for a second- I'll just say that aging power supplies, power supplies that have been subjected to less-than-lethal voltage spikes, or faulty power supplies are absolutely a concern for board manufacturers.

And from experience, enthusiasts tend to blame everything except the power supply when troubleshooting...
Click to expand...

That's funny, because from my experience the PSU is usually the first suspect when there are problems.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top