I have some questions about improving my desktop PC computer. I bought a Noctua NH-U12A CPU cooler to replace the stock AMD (Wraith?) that it was built with. I haven’t installed it yet because I also want to add some RAM and I figure it will be easier to do them at the same time. The computer is mainly for video production using the Adobe suite. I had it custom built in early March 2020 (right at the start of COVID).
Some basic specs:
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X
MoBo: ASUS TUF x570
GPU: GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 3600 2x16 GB (32GB)
I want to double that amount of RAM to 64GB . There’re a total of 4 RAM slots. I have read up on this and found (surprise, surprise) different opinions on how to go about this.
It seems to me that I basically have two choices to get to 64 GB: buy two more 16 GB sticks of the exact same RAM I already have or buy two new 32 GB sticks. Some sources say having all 4 slots used is better than only 2 slots used, other sources say the opposite.
The easiest thing for me would be to buy 2 more identical G.Skill 16GB sticks but I might want to “start fresh” with two new 32GB modules if the new RAM sticks would be appreciably “better” (faster). The MoBo has a total 128GB limit.
I have moderately decent understanding of PC specs and parts but I could use some help. It seems the memory timings are one important spec and I can’t totally wrap my head around those. There are so many exceptions to the rules.
I really hope this thread can provide some general help to anybody dealing with computer upgrading. I hate the idea of a thread being all about me and my particular needs. In fact, I sometimes think we should have a computer sub-forum for this stuff.
Reddit has all sorts of threads about this stuff but I never know just how to go about dealing with that board plus I trust the SDMB in general and feel comfortable with the advice offered here.
Thank you in advance for any help you Dopers can offer!
Thank you for that. I’m not setting out to overclock. It is not my goal. I’m not playing games where I need every last bit of speed. OTOH, any extra capability would be useful for the massive renderings I do. But I’m more concerned about stability than overclocking.
I’d like to do it “by the book” because that will help prevent little issues down the road. Meaning: I don’t want to set out to stress the RAM to the limit but I do want to have the correct timings and settings. I want to understand more about the timings.
If you’re not overclocking, the general wisdom is that you don’t need to go above 3600 MT/s for the 3000 or 5000 series Ryzen. On 3000-series chips, you even can start paying a penalty going up higher. (Technically, the specs say to use 3200 MT/s, but 3600MT/s usually works fine.)
There really isn’t much difference in running 2 or 4 sticks of RAM on these, either, as the consume chips only offer dual channel. But if there is any difference, 4 sticks are generally going to be faster.
There are some caveats, though. It can sometimes be hard to find the exact same RAM again. And while the chance is small (i.e. I don’t know anyone who has ever had this problem), technically the XMP rating for 4 sticks of the same RAM can be different than for 2, meaning you’d have to do some extra fiddling to get all the timings right. If you get a new 64 GB kit, (whether containing 2 sticks of 32GB or 4 sticks of 16GB), you’d be guaranteeing that wouldn’t be a problem.
But such a problem is quite rare. I would definitely buy two more of the same sticks. (In fact, that’s exactly what I did a while back) and just use them. The only way I’d consider the larger sticks is if I think I might run 128GB RAM some time relatively soon. By the time you replace your motherboard, you’ll need DDR5 or better. So your RAM only needs to last you as long as your current board.
Thank you. I have heard (I think on a Linus Tech Tips YouTube video) that 4 sticks stresses the CPU more than two. In the video he didn’t make much of that though. Still, I’ve been looking all over trying to find out what is the difference between say, 4x16 64GB RAM vs. 2x32GB RAM. I haven’t come up with much.
I do plan to go all the way to 128GB at some point so it’d be nice to know what’s a better strategy for getting there with an interim plateau of 64GB for a spell.
I’d like to know if the RAM technology itself is appreciable better now in 2023 than when I had this built in 2020. I know that DDR5 is better tech than DDR4 (what I have) but I think I have to stay with the DDR4.
If I buy an all new 2x32 (64GB) kit then I could have faster timings than my current RAM but would it cost a lot more than staying near my current sticks’ timings?
If you definitely plan on upgrading to 128GB of RAM on that same motherboard, and you can afford it, then I would probably go with buying two sticks of 32GB RAM, running at 3600MT/s. You could then later buy two more sticks of the same RAM to get you up to 128GB. Or, heck, you could try putting back in your old sticks, and trying out 96GB. This is not guaranteed to work without tweaking settings, but it’s worth a try, especially if you match the timings.
There haven’t really been any significant changes in DDR4 RAM. There is stuff that can run faster than 3600 MT/s, but again, that’s not recommended if you’re not overclocking. And you’ll wind up paying a lot more for it–like double the price, despite little to no benefit.
And, yes, it’s technically true that the memory controller will work a harder with more sticks of RAM. But all that really will do is make them run a little bit hotter. It’s not a major concern.
Oh, and as for timings: that is usually a set of four numbers, separated by dashes, so something like CL16-19-19-39. (The letters CL may not be mentioned.) It would be good to know those numbers for your current RAM. If you can’t find them anywhere else, the easiest way I know to find them is to use HWiNFO. It will list the numbers under “Timing” in the middle section of the summary.