Ryzen 1600 and 32GB RAM?

pioruns

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Sep 11, 2018
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Hello guys,

I have following hardware installed:
G.SKILL F4-3200C14D-16GFX 16 GB (8 GB x 2) Flare X Series DDR4 3200 MHz PC4-25600 CL14 Dual Channel Memory Kit - Black
GA-AB350-Gaming 3 (rev. 1.x)
AMD Ryzen 1600 X


So I have this working at 3200 MHz perfectly. I specifically chosen this memory when I was building this brand new, because at the time, there was only handful selection of memory sticks which would work at 3200 Mhz out of the box.
I have now newest BIOS from Gigabyte installed, which supports AGESA 1.0.0.4 (I don't know what it changes though).

I need to expand to 32 GB. What are my options? Can I just throw two more G.SKILL sticks? Or I need to find 2x 32GB sticks which are working at 3200MHz? I don't want to dial down to 2400Mhz, that would be a waste. But I need more memory. Please help if any one have any experience with that :) Thanks
 
More sticks add more noise to the memory bus. You may need to slow down the speed, or may not.

Generally two sticks can run faster then 4, with ram - however, dimms with 16gb are effectively two dimms glued together (two ranks) which also increases noise.

All that said.....

I have 4 * 16 for 64 and can manage a memory speed of 2933 and be stable. The same max speed I was getting with two sticks. This is Gskill DDR4 rated for 3200.

So it is kinda pot luck going with 2 * '2 rank' dimms or 4 * '1 rank' ones.
 
Are my current ones single rank, and 16GB ones are essentially dual rank, you are saying?
Yes and since you have a low quality MB by comparison to Elf_boy and first gen Ryzen your speed will probably drop to ~2666 at best with 32GB
For most MB 2x16GB may hit a higher speed than 4x8GB but for top quality MB like Asus Crosshair it can be the other way around.
 
Is there any way to have Ryzen and 32GB RAM at 3200 MHz? Maybe newer Ryzen processor or any specific motherboard?
 
Yes and since you have a low quality MB by comparison to Elf_boy and first gen Ryzen your speed will probably drop to ~2666 at best with 32GB
For most MB 2x16GB may hit a higher speed than 4x8GB but for top quality MB like Asus Crosshair it can be the other way around.

That's confusing. Most shitty mobos will have higher speed with two 16GB sticks. But premium product like Asus Crosshair will have actually lower speed with two dual rank sticks?
What is then the recipe for highest achievable speed with 32GB RAM on Ryzen? I am really determined to get 32GB, I may actually purchase different Ryzen with new mobo to achive that. I just don't want 2400 MHz or something like that.
 
Asus Crosshair will have actually lower speed with two dual rank sticks?
No it should be the same or better Although some ITX MB may do better as they only have two RAM slots.
Top quality MB like the Crosshair just do substantially better with 4 sticks thanks to a thicker PCB and a lot of work put into layout of the wires between RAM\CPU and the BIOS.

This is what one person found using B-die, Ryzen 2 and a Asus Crosshair
2x8GB 3733Mhz
4x8Gb 3333Mhz
2x16GB 3000Mhz
4x16GB 2666Mhz

With a cheap MB the 4x8GB would likely be slower than 2x16GB due to its thin PCB ect.
 
Why is 3200 so important?

I get the [h] do the best you can thing, I am just wondering why you need 3200. Depending on the use more but slower ddr can be better for performance.

What do you use the system to do?

I've read your top ddr speed is very dependant on your individual cpu. Not all infinity fabrics are the same.

Post a few days ago about new 32gb ddr4 dimms. Maybe you should look at that? Gonna be pricey though.
 
I've done benchmarks when I built this rig. All results were showing me, that 3200 MHz is the way to go. With gaming benchmarks or simple tasks, 3200 MHz was winning. I don't want to compromise on that, just because I want to add more memory.

And why I need more memory? Because of my current use:
https://imgur.com/a/JkNk2DB

Applications like Zoom, Steam, Winamp, Google Cloud, Mega, Skype, Slack, Firefox, Telegram, Whatsapp, Signal, Facebook, Firefox (two profiles), Thunderbird, Meta Trader, one of two VirtualBox sessions. Most of applications nowadays are consuming 500 MB or close to 1GB (!) per app. Firefox, Signal and Slack are absolutely worst in terms of memory consumption. But I still need to use all of them, because I work from home, I have three monitors to work, and I dont' want to compromise on my productivity because I have too slow PC.
So either way, this is going to be solved. Either Ryzen is going bye bye to eBay, or I will get this 32 GB working there nicely :sneaky::sneaky::sneaky:
 
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It is pot luck. Literally depends on each individual chip in each dimm and how close to spec it is.

There is no way to know except by trying. Your individual CPU and other systems specifics all affect the system.

The apps listed are not going to be appreciable affected by minor changes in your DDR speed. There is a whole lot of room between 3200 and 2400.

My system runs at 2933 and performance is just fine.

With that many applications running are you sure you would not be better served with more cores/threads?
 
Thanks for your explanation. I just hope I will get that better chip.

Watch this guy:
He made benchmarks between 3200 and 2933. Results are varying from 0% up to 7% performance increase (especially in synthetic test and Ashes of Singularity benchmark). But he used slightly less threaded CPU for this test. For me, you are right, probably is no difference. But I do gaming as well. I just need to turn off half of these memory hogs first before I launch a game :D My favourite is Skyrim which is memory latency and bandwidth sensitive.

Next week I will purchase 2x 16GB sticks and see how that goes. If it's success, I will stay with it, at 3200 or 2933. If it's only 2400 or something like that, I will return sticks and most likely rebuild my rig into something else:)

Regarding CPU usage, it's actually all right. In this moment, Ryzen is handling all of that mentioned above, three cryptocurrency proof-of-stake mining nodes and GPU mining at the same time, no issues with CPU. Usage is between 10 and 20%. That would mean one or two logical cores are actually saturated, rest is idling; in real world load is spread into all cores and latencies and delays are minimal.
 
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Just FYI, I've got:
G.SKILL F4-3200C14D-16GFX 16 GB (8 GB x 2) Flare X Series DDR4 3200 MHz PC4-25600 CL14 Dual Channel Memory Kit - Black

And it's working 3200 MHz at 14-14-14-34-48 1T. No adjustments necessary, after first boot (it's 2400 MHz at first boot) you chose 3200 MHz, save, reboot and that's all.
I just verified settings in Ryzen Master :)

EDIT: I started reading more and more about Ryzen and their first ever DDR4 CPU line, first Ryzens. I went to BIOS, overclocked memory to 3400 MHz, saved... And I am back just like nothing happened, everything smooth and no hiccups. I will do some Prime95 now:)
 
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The problem with running 4 sticks is that it's electrically harder for the IMC on the cpu to drive. I am running 2 sticks of TridentZ 16GB CL14 at 3133 (fails prime95 after a few hours at 3200 and I can't be arsed to fool with it). I haven't seen too many reports at 4 sticks (elfboy is one of the rare ones), in theory you aren't guaranteed more than 2666. In practice if you could get anywhere near 3000 (2993, whatever) I'd declare victory if I were you.

I guess it may come down to money. If cash is no object, I'd sell your existing RAM and try for a pair of 16GB sticks, using the theory that it's marginally easier to drive dual rank on a single stick than it is to drive single rank on separate sticks. If your last name isn't Gates or Buffet or whatever, I guess I'd try adding two more sticks of what you have, try to tune it as best you can, and see what happens. Worst case is that it's a disaster, you run at 2133, you post here and educate the rest of us, and you sell the lot and buy different RAM. Meanwhile your PC runs 10% slower...
 
Anyone bored enough to do Heaven/3DMark at different DDR speeds?
Done it before it makes jack all difference
Heaven is GPU bottlnecked and 3Dmark is small and consistent making it easily predictable by the cache so it doesn't have to wait on RAM very often.
 
I have 4 sticks of Flare X on a 2700X and I run 3200mhz, Cas 14, 1T all day long without issues.
 
I bought another 2 sticks 8GB each so I will have 4 sticks in total, exactly the same ones.
Worst case I will purchase 2x 16GB and install it, if it's any faster than 4x 8GB, then I will return the two 8GB I just purchased and sell used old ones. Package arriving around monday from Amazon. Fingers crossed.
 
I have 4 sticks of Flare X on a 2700X and I run 3200mhz, Cas 14, 1T all day long without issues.

Jealous :) My motherboard is far more basic, but I still been running 2x 8GB @ 3200 MHz for last 1.5 years or so, with Ryzen 1600X.
We'll see how that goes with 4x 8GB.
 
Jealous :) My motherboard is far more basic, but I still been running 2x 8GB @ 3200 MHz for last 1.5 years or so, with Ryzen 1600X.
We'll see how that goes with 4x 8GB.

I think you'll be ok. The memory controller on the 1600x I used to have was much better than the one on my 1700 (non-x). Would definitely run better memory speeds and timings.
 
I just stumbled upon a problem with my motherboard. Since last BIOS update, VSOC Voltage has raised on Auto setting to 1.2V. I changed it back to non-default "Normal" and it's now 1.087V. Can you check in HWinfo64 or in your BIOS, what is your VSOC Voltage?
 
I just stumbled upon a problem with my motherboard. Since last BIOS update, VSOC Voltage has raised on Auto setting to 1.2V. I changed it back to non-default "Normal" and it's now 1.087V. Can you check in HWinfo64 or in your BIOS, what is your VSOC Voltage?

1.137V on Auto
 
Code:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GAAB350/comments/9f1lol/32gb_ram/

Check this thread, people. Everybody who have same motherboard as me, especially.
That's thread I've created to ask about same as here, but one person told me about that VSOC chip dangerous voltage.
1.137V or 1.2V could be too high for VSOC chip and it might be not necessary to keep it that high.
 
Hi guys, finally comes the day of update. Additional 2 Flare X modules have arrived and they are exactly the same like previous ones.
I installed them carefully in the case:
https://imgur.com/a/PumJRFf

Turned PC on, with 2400 MHz at first..Went up to 2666 MHz, booted ok.. Went higher... and higher.. And finally I've landed where I were. 3200 MHz @ 14-14-14-34-48-1T ABSOLUTE MONSTER.:punch::punch::punch:

https://imgur.com/a/wQJGOlV

I didn't needed ASUS Crosshair high-end mobo to end up with excellent result. Stunning. Now I have 32GB RAM and can leave Eveeeeerything open.:D:D:D
 
Hi guys, finally comes the day of update. Additional 2 Flare X modules have arrived and they are exactly the same like previous ones.
I installed them carefully in the case:
https://imgur.com/a/PumJRFf

Turned PC on, with 2400 MHz at first..Went up to 2666 MHz, booted ok.. Went higher... and higher.. And finally I've landed where I were. 3200 MHz @ 14-14-14-34-48-1T ABSOLUTE MONSTER.:punch::punch::punch:

https://imgur.com/a/wQJGOlV

I didn't needed ASUS Crosshair high-end mobo to end up with excellent result. Stunning. Now I have 32GB RAM and can leave Eveeeeerything open.:D:D:D
Did you do a cold boot check (turn off PC remove power (1 minute) ?
 
The ability to use DDR4 at higher speeds is specific chip dependent with Ryzen, more so that MOBO.

I am glad for you that you got a good one.

Do keep an eye out over the next month for reboots or other odd behavior just in case.
 
Did you do a cold boot check (turn off PC remove power (1 minute) ?
I haven't yet. Good tip, thanks. Will do probably in few weeks, as my machine works 24/7.

The ability to use DDR4 at higher speeds is specific chip dependent with Ryzen, more so that MOBO.

I am glad for you that you got a good one.

Do keep an eye out over the next month for reboots or other odd behavior just in case.

Yes I am so happy that it worked :) Normally people can use 2 sticks at 3200 MHz, some not even that. I here, got 4 sticks :) Tricky Ryzen has been tamed. I must have a one good chip here.
As my PC is stable 24/7 I will notice straight away at first BSOD, if something goes wrong.

Thanks for all your coments and tips people. Thanks to you I purchased right kit! :)
 
If you run into trouble with the cold boot raise the voltage (1,355V 1.36V steps if possible) and or set the "training" memory setting a little higher.
 
What is "training" memory setting, and where I can find it? I still yet to reboot my computer.
 
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