Buying ram for Ryzen?

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[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 15, 2014
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I am doing a little HTPC living room gamer with an R5 1400 I got form here and a gtx 1060. It's an itx build and I am looking at the MSI or Asrock ITX B450 boards. Looking at the qvl of the boards there i snot much ram on there, especially in the 3000-3200 range, mostly uncommon sets.

How picky do I need to be? In my Asus B450-I with R5 2600 it accepted my Tridentz 3200 c16 just fine, but when I put some older LPX sticks with basically the same ratings (3200c16) I had all sorts of issues.

Not sure what to look out for. I am looking to stay cheap for this build. Seeing some sets close to 100$ that are 3000mhz.
 
I did but thats the thing, they seem to have off brands and uncommon models, its a little frustrating.
RAM was a major issue for first gen ryzen. Thats proably the only time in the last 10 years I'd say absolutely stick to QVL. Normally for most other platforms you can stray here and there,
 
I did but thats the thing, they seem to have off brands and uncommon models, its a little frustrating.
is it the itx/ac? is so they have most of the major manufaturers listed in the qvl. first gen ryzen doesn't support really high ram speeds and is picky, so dont hope for much over 3000.
 
is it the itx/ac? is so they have most of the major manufaturers listed in the qvl. first gen ryzen doesn't support really high ram speeds and is picky, so dont hope for much over 3000.
I was looking at that or the MSI.

I was looking at faster ram because everyone says its needed for ryzen, maybe I should just grab some 2666 and be done with it.
 
I was looking at that or the MSI.

I was looking at faster ram because everyone says its needed for ryzen, maybe I should just grab some 2666 and be done with it.
oops I misread and missed the MSI in the op.
yes it does help but gen one isn't designed to use the highest speed ram, gen two is better but still not as high as intel. you prob wouldn't notice the difference between 2666 and 3000 in normal use, unless you are benchmarking and looking for it.
 
oops I misread and missed the MSI in the op.
yes it does help but gen one isn't designed to use the highest speed ram, gen two is better but still not as high as intel. you prob wouldn't notice the difference between 2666 and 3000 in normal use, unless you are benchmarking and looking for it.
Ok thanks that will save me some cash.
 
Update the bios. Even with 1st Gen Ryzens, later bioses give you much better memory compatibility.

Memory that simply wouldn't work anywhere near rated speeds now accept the XMP profile and work fine in many cases.
 
Definitely update to the latest BIOS. An updated BIOS can make a world of difference in RAM Compatibility and stability.

I ran my Patriot 3400MHz at far less than 3200MHz for over a year because the initial BIOS didn't like the Patriot Viper RAM. Once I updated BIOS to resolve a different issue, then rebooted, I was running at 3200MHz with tight timings and it's rock-solid stable.
 
I have to say researching AM4 boards right now and this is nuts to me. I don't think I've ever had to actually look or care about vendor supported ram before, ever. I would just buy stuff and slap it in and it was good to go.

I'm reading that with Ryzen I want FAsT ram..but the lists are confusing as fuck and often the part # I can't even find that ram anywhere. That and the SS/DS stuff... Like you have to do a doctoral research paper on ram.
 
I picked up ram before my board/cpu and seems to have gotten very lucky. I can affirm, strongly, keep your bios updated with gen 1 ryzen. Makes a world a difference.

I've read ram compatibility can vary from one individual ryzen to another due to who knows what variability in the manufacturing process. Maybe some of that has been ironed out by now.
 
RAM was a major issue for first gen ryzen. Thats proably the only time in the last 10 years I'd say absolutely stick to QVL. Normally for most other platforms you can stray here and there,
2nd generation too, bro. The fucking RAM compatibility was such shit, I had to take out my sweet 2x8 GB DDR4 3200 Ripjaws 5 CL16 out of my sweet 2700x system , and replace everything with a 4x4 set of Patriot 2x4 (times two) Signature Line 2400 MHz kits, cause the MSI x470 mobo just refused to cooperate.
Latest BIOS and drivers and all shit, at the time. Broke my heart :(.
I am sorely disappointed, basically. Might have to go back to an Intel platform next time, to avoid the hassle and the waste of time all this caused.
 
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I am going through the same crap after going through Asrocks QVL for memory. Once I noticed almost all the listed stuff was unavailable anywhere, I went to pcpartspicker.com and searched for completed build logs of people using my same motherboard and copied their exact memory.
 
2nd generation too, bro. The fucking RAM compatibility was such shit, I had to take out my sweet 2x8 GB DDR4 3200 Ripjaws 5 CL16 out of my sweet 2700x system , and replace everything with a 4x4 set of Patriot 2x4 (times two) Signature Line 2400 MHz kits, cause the MSI x470 mobo just refused to cooperate.
Latest BIOS and drivers and all shit, at the time. Broke my heart :(.
I am sorely disappointed, basically. Might have to go back to an Intel platform next time, to avoid the hassle and the waste of time all this caused.
Some of us paid a little extra and did a little research to get easy setup 3200 memory for our ryzen builds
 
Some of us paid a little extra and did a little research to get easy setup 3200 memory for our ryzen builds

Yeah once i sprung for some good b die ram setup was a cakewalk, used the stilts timings and performance was great, havent had a ram issues now since switching ram.
 
How do you tell if something is b-die? (stupid question, but I don't know).
How do you tell if something is other than b-die?
As in, when you order online...how do you know? I honestly have no idea at this point.
 
How do you tell if something is b-die? (stupid question, but I don't know).
How do you tell if something is other than b-die?
As in, when you order online...how do you know? I honestly have no idea at this point.

It was hard to tell when ordering, i actually ordered a set that should have been and wasnt. So then i sprung for the Gskill FlareX which was guaranteed to be B-die, and used the other set i had ordered in the girlfriends new build so it all worked out in the end i guess.

There is a program you can run on your pc that will identify the ram modules, cant remember the name off the top of my head been 2 years since i built this rig, but i posted about it on anandtech ill go look and edit this post with the name of the software.

EDIT, the program is Thaiphoon Burner it will report which IC's are in the ram in the system.
 
Anything 3200c14 will be b die.
3600c15\c16 b die
3200c16 and 3600c19 are not b die although there may have been the odd stick floating around that is they have probably changed revision since for something cheaper.
 
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