G.SKILL DDR4 3200MHZ CL 14 VS G.SKILL DDR4 3600MHZ CL 14

[Kirbyjones4283]

I have an AMD Ryzen 3700x CPU on an ASUS TUF GAMING 570X WIFI Motherboard and want to know which RAM will work best between these G.SKILL TRIDENT Z NEO DDR4 3200MHZ CL 14 Timing 14-14-14-34 1.35v or G.SKILL TRIDENT Z NEO DDR4 3600MHZ CL 14 Timing 14-15-15-35 1.45v. Can anyone help me with the the price doesn't matter. I also have 2 AMD RX5600XT Graphics Cards in MGPU mode.

Total build Ryzen 7 3700x (2) Radeon 5600xt, Asus Tuf Gaming X570 Wifi Motherboard (1) Sabrent Rocket 500GB PCIE 4.0 NVME, (1) Sabrent Rocket 1TB PCIE 4.0 NVME
Just need to be sure which Ram will perform better?

 

[ashmelev75]

Honest answer is - it is the same memory, 3600MHz kit is listed with higher voltage. You can get 3200 one and overclock it yourself to 3733 or 3800. CL14 vs CL16 would not matter for anything other than benchmarks.

 

[hititnquitit]

Agreed, they will both perform the same. I would go with the cheaper of the two if you know how to oc memory timings and voltage. If not just go with the set that matches the speed you are looking to hit out of the box.

 

[tankman1989]

Honest answer is - it is the same memory, 3600MHz kit is listed with higher voltage. You can get 3200 one and overclock it yourself to 3733 or 3800. CL14 vs CL16 would not matter for anything other than benchmarks.

Are you really sure about the difference in speed and latency? I have the PC3200 CL14 (2x8GB) and I need another set of it for 32GB. This ram was $200 a few years back (G-skill Ripjaws V) and from what I've seen, it's the same price now, or maybe $30-40 less at some places. I can find the PC3200 CL16 (2x16) for the same price - maybe even less. The problem is I don't know if they will be compatible if they have different latency.

My motherboard is a MSI Z370 that supports 64GB and below is the supported RAM. What I'm confused about is what it means with the (OC) after the speed - I know it means overclock, but WHAT is overclocked - the ram, CPU, MOBO?? I've never OC'd so I appologize if this is a dumb question. The reason I ask is b/c I don't intend to overclock anything, I have enough stability issues as-is. I'm wondering if all the ram with the OC means that the CPU needs to be OC'd to take advantage of this - and there are only 3 speeds (the lower speeds) that work with the system w/o over-clocking. My current PC3200 seems to be getting along fine w/o changing settings. So I guess my question is - what ram should I buy if I'm not planning on over-clocking anything - the 2667mhz or what?
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z370-SLI-PLUS.html

DDR4 4000+(OC)/ 3866(OC)/ 3733(OC)/ 3600(OC)/ 3466(OC)/ 3400(OC)/ 3333(OC)/ 3300(OC)/ 3200(OC)/ 3000(OC) / 2800(OC)/ 2667/ 2400/ 2133

last Q - can I mix 8 & 16 GB sticks on one channel or should I keep the 8 x 8 on channel A and 16x16 on channel B?

 

[ashmelev75]

Are you really sure about the difference in speed and latency? I have the PC3200 CL14 (2x8GB) and I need another set of it for 32GB. This ram was $200 a few years back (G-skill Ripjaws V) and from what I've seen, it's the same price now, or maybe $30-40 less at some places. I can find the PC3200 CL16 (2x16) for the same price - maybe even less. The problem is I don't know if they will be compatible if they have different latency.

Generally, you can run your PC3200CL14 at looser timings to match a new CL16 kit. But you really should not do that.

last Q - can I mix 8 & 16 GB sticks on one channel or should I keep the 8 x 8 on channel A and 16x16 on channel B?

Technically it is possible, but not recommended. Not sure what would be better 8+16 on each channel or 8 on one and 16 on the other.
Your best option would be to sell the old kit and buy a larger one.