Help Me Understand RAM Frequencies

dpow7

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Mar 13, 2017
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I've been looking at the Threadripper motherboards, and their VQL for RAM.

On one of the motherboard VQL Lists for RAM, Patriot Viper 4 3400MHz at 16Cl is listed as supported. However, Patriot Viper 4 3733MHz at 17Cl is not listed on the VQL. The difference between RAM price at my local store is $5 for 16gb.

Here's my question, is the 3733MHz just the same memory that has been shown to be stable at higher frequencies? If I bought the 3733Mhz, could I decrease the frequency/timing and expect it to work?
 
You'll be lucky to get the Zen line to run at 3000mhz, so don't beat yourself up trying to get the fastest ram.
 
yup I don't think I've seen anybody get over 3200. so you might as well stop there. besides, anything above that is going to be such a small improvement only benchmarks would so it.
 
yup I don't think I've seen anybody get over 3200. so you might as well stop there. besides, anything above that is going to be such a small improvement only benchmarks would so it.

I understand that. I don't really expect to get faster than the 3200-3400 range since this is technically overclocking and that's all most have achieved. My question is more along the lines of, are these the same chips (just the higher frequency ones won the silicon lottery and are able to run higher)? If so, I might as well buy the better one in case I upgrade later. I don't really understand what is different (if anything) in design between the different ram modules.
 
I don't know what exactly is different about those modules, but if it's not on the QVL then you're always taking a risk of it not working properly. Doesn't mean it won't work, just that it hasn't been confirmed working by the motherboard manufacturer. Maybe someone will know, but you're probably better off messaging the company that makes the RAM.

If it were me, I might just take the chance and go for the one with higher clock speeds. That said, I stuck to picking something from the QVL list for my Ryzen chip and board combo. But in the past, I've never really bothered checking those QVL's. I usually just get something with the right speed and it tends to work :p And just for reference, my RAM can run faster than it's currently running, but it's only officially supported at 3200Mhz on my board. When I select the XMP for the highest speed, the UEFI will automatically set it to run slower at 3200Mhz. I think that is the current general limit for Ryzen, unless you know how to overclock manually.

Hope that helps somewhat. Good luck ;)
 
it wasn't until ryzen that I ever really worried about it either. now for it I say stick to the QVLs or contact the mobo maker.

OP, you'd have to try and track down the chips used on each and compare them.
 
the best chips are samsung b die
higher speed kits just use binned chips to reach a higher clock
most 3200c14 kits will have no problem hitting 4000mhz with some extra juice if the memory controller\mb can handle it
 
nope the memory is capable of that but the ryzen/tr memory controllers are not but since the op is thinking ahead to whats after ryzen\threadripper
 
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