Samsung B-Die important?

polonyc2

Fully [H]
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Oct 25, 2004
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I'm in the planning stages of a new build and have a general question...how important is Samsung B-Die when choosing memory?...I keep hearing it's the best...I want to get 32GB of total memory for my upcoming Zen 3 (or maybe Zen 2) build...I found a 2 x 8GB pairing (16GB total) which uses Samsung B-Die...but I really want to get 32GB of total memory (2 x 16GB) but they don't have 2 x 16GB with Samsung B-Die...is it fine to get 2 x 16GB non-Samsung B-Die?

2) with AMD builds do I need to stick with 2 sticks of memory for best performance or is 4 sticks OK?...I found a 4 x 8GB (32GB total) Samsung B-Die kit but I always heard it wasn't good to fill up all the memory slots for optimal performance
 
If you are looking to OC the RAM b die will allow you to tighten down timings and subs more than any other RAM for maybe another 5% CPU performance vs a tweaked kit of Micron chips. Maybe more with Zen3.

Newegg has 3200c14 2x16GB kits starting at $188 these should all be using Samsung b die.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007611 600327642 600561668 600546709&Order=1

Or Crucial Ballistix $139 which uses Micron chips.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007611 600327642 600561668 600528730 50001455&Order=1

In a MB that is not T-topology so all current AMD MB 4 sticks will typically reduce the maximum OC a little more than two sticks but Ryzen usually hits the IF limit at ~3733 while the memory controller can usually go beyond that with a half decent MB when running 4 sticks making it less of a issue.
 
1. Got this G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB (2x16) 3200 CL14 kit for my current x570/3950x. Is B-Die and runs 3600CL14 all day long @ 1.46v with "Fast" tuning from the Ryzen Ram Calculator. Would go higher, but my 3950x IMC kinda doesn't like 1833 and up so whatever.

2. Don't do 4x8gb when 2x16gb is an easy enough to find.

3. Went for the longest time with garbage CL16 3200 stuff. Huge regret. Wish i had gone with the good stuff way earlier.
 
according to a Samsung B-Die website those kits you linked do not use Samsung B-Die...I prefer to use G.Skill memory as I've always had good luck with them

https://benzhaomin.github.io/bdiefinder/
Then one of us are not using it right as all the G.skill 3200c14 kits listed in my first link are in the b die finder.
F4-3200C14D-32GFX
8GB sticks are single rank and 16GB sticks are dual rank which basically means double the number of b die chips on the PCB.
 
Then one of us are not using it right as all the G.skill 3200c14 kits listed in my first link are in the b die finder.
F4-3200C14D-32GFX

Not sure what OP meant by that. You linked him 3200CL14 kits. Which CL14 3200 kit woudn't be B-Die? None.
 
Then one of us are not using it right as all the G.skill 3200c14 kits listed in my first link are in the b die finder.
F4-3200C14D-32GFX

Not sure what OP meant by that. You linked him 3200CL14 kits. Which CL14 3200 kit woudn't be B-Die? None.

my bad...you're right...but I forgot to mention I'm looking for 3600 not 3200
 
3200c14 can OC to ~4000
Like the above guy I have 3200c14@3600 14-15-15 only I am using 4x8GB in a T top MB
Two sticks of Ripjaws V and two sticks of Flare X.
 
1. Got this G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB (2x16) 3200 CL14 kit for my current x570/3950x. Is B-Die and runs 3600CL14 all day long @ 1.46v with "Fast" tuning from the Ryzen Ram Calculator. Would go higher, but my 3950x IMC kinda doesn't like 1833 and up so whatever.

so the kit you linked to is better then the one I linked below?...meaning is 3200 at CL14 better then 3600 at CL16?

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232195?Item=N82E16820232195&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gJM323/gskill-memory-f43600c16d16gvk&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-GfHdP3ANjuTUIcC.ykCIUg
 
3200 14-14-14 is about equal to 3600 16-16-16 b die but usually cheaper.
3600 16-19-19 will be Hynix or Micron
 
my bad...you're right...but I forgot to mention I'm looking for 3600 not 3200

The G.Skill 3200/c14 and 3600/c16 are the same IC's. The key here are that the timings are matched, ie. all main timings are c14 or c16, etc. The dram that is 14-16-16 or 16-19-19 are not B-dies.
 
You really don't want to use a 4x8GB configuration to get 32GB of RAM. 4 sticks will limit your clocks to a fairly significant degree.
 
I certainly don't feel the need to pay any kind of B-die tax when Hynix and Micron make memory that will run the same speed at slightly looser timings for $60-80 less. I have a set of Hynix 3600 Cas 19 that tightens to Cas 16 without issue. Unless you're playing synthetic benchmark games you will never notice the difference. I will notice the extra money in my pocket.
 
I certainly don't feel the need to pay any kind of B-die tax when Hynix and Micron make memory that will run the same speed at slightly looser timings for $60-80 less. I have a set of Hynix 3600 Cas 19 that tightens to Cas 16 without issue. Unless you're playing synthetic benchmark games you will never notice the difference. I will notice the extra money in my pocket.
I agree. Unless you chasing benchmarks skip the b-die and put the money towards a better GPU. Beyond 3600 cas 16 you start reach the point diminishing returns. It is even less important on Intel systems.
 
Is it good value? well it depends on how you look at it.
3900XT and 10900K cost a lot more than Ryzen 3600 but as far as most current games go they don't provide any more performance than a high speed kit of RAM tuned up vs a 3200c16 kit at stock.
The faster CPU or the faster RAM wont be all that noticeable on there own but put the two together and the % increase is enough that you can start to see a noticeable improvement.

So it really depends on the rest of your system are you just going with a Ryzen 3600 and stock HSF then trying to save up that little bit extra cash for the next step up in GPU? or do you have a good GPU and need some extra CPU performance for some badly threaded games.

And I have to disagree with the importance of faster RAM for Intel in my mind it is more important as you are already paying a premium over AMD for that little bit extra performance per thread and while the performance per MHz may be less it can benefit from speeds around 4400+ vs ~3733.
The extra frequency is only meaningless if timings go to hell which they usually do at XMP.
 
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I heard Samsung will no longer be making B-Die memory so this is the end of an era...
 
I heard Samsung will no longer be making B-Die memory so this is the end of an era...
Rather old rumor as they stopped selling sticks with b die memory on them but they are still making and selling the chips at least until they swap production to DDR5 I guess.
 
Rather old rumor as they stopped selling sticks with b die memory on them but they are still making and selling the chips at least until they swap production to DDR5 I guess.

so after B-Die, what is considered the best memory chips- Hynix C-Die?
 
That or Micron E die.
Although there may be some other samsung chips that do ok but are not as cheap\common.
 
so after B-Die, what is considered the best memory chips- Hynix C-Die?

b-dies only important if you are gonna oc them. If you are not gonna do that it doesn't matter what IC they are as long as the brand makes a kit that works as advertised. That said, I've had great luck with OLOY's ram and I don't even know wtf they stick in there yet it works w/o fail. With Corsair, its a cringe every time.
 
There are/were two different B-die Samsung chips. The lesser-grade ones are native DDR3-2133 parts while the ones that most of us at the [H] are discussing are native DDR4-2400 parts. And I was wrong about my 32 GB G.Skill CL16 RAM kit being Samsung C-die. It was actually a B-die, but of the lesser grade that's natively DDR3-2133 speed. No wonder why it needed 16-18-18-38 timings at 3200 speed while the better-binned ones are rated to run at 14-14-14-28 @ DDR4-3200.
 
b-dies only important if you are gonna oc them. If you are not gonna do that it doesn't matter what IC they are as long as the brand makes a kit that works as advertised. That said, I've had great luck with OLOY's ram and I don't even know wtf they stick in there yet it works w/o fail. With Corsair, its a cringe every time.

Lol
Just purchased the OLOYS as well without knowing who the fuck they are, but they work just fine.
 
Lol
Just purchased the OLOYS as well without knowing who the fuck they are, but they work just fine.

Nice. I have two 2x32gb 3200mhz OLOY kits running on a 1600x on a spare machine w/o one issue. It's hilarious that it runs at docp/xmp w/o a hiccup on ryzen 1 no less.
 
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