Fast DDR5 RAM for AMD-Build
Posted by Harambo1337@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 21 comments
Looking for the best RAM for my future PC-Build. As CPU I chose the Ryzen 9 9950X3D but I’m not sure which Mainboard to pick. It’s mainly going to be for gaming and rendering. I’ve seen that the RAM heavily depends on the MB you choose so I’m looking for advice which Board and RAM to buy. Had good experience with ASUS and MSI Boards.
psimwork@reddit
Not really. QVL exists, but doesn't actually mean much (i.e. RAM kits listed on the motherboard's QVL have been shown to have basic functionality on very specific circumstances. But a kit that isn't listed doesn't mean it won't work).
Generally, I look for 6000MHz CL30, preferably with an EXPO profile.
Buying more expensive brands/models in all likelihood will not provide you any significant value (unless you're trying to buy something like 128GB of RAM and run it at 6000MHz, in which case you should absolutely buy a 4x32GB kit, preferably listed on the QVL. But for a two-stick kit, it generally doesn't matter at this point).
Unless there's some specific feature you're needing, my go-to recommendation recently has been the MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wifi. As for RAM, the Silicon Power Zenith Gaming series is usually a good option in 32GB, 48GB, or 64GB capacities.
If you're looking for a 96GB kit, I'd look at the G.Skill Flare X5.
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Been more of an intel guy my whole life. Currently have a i9-14900k on an asus rog dark hero with 128GB DDR5 running at 6400MHz. Reason for my new build ist that AMD works way better for rust than intel because of the cache. So buying a X870 board is also kinda stupid?
psimwork@reddit
Getting 128GB running at 6400MHz on an AMD CPU is going to be basically impossible. As long as you know that, you'll be fine. Running two sticks is generally no problem. Running four sticks on an AMD CPU is very, VERY difficult.
The chipset doesn't really matter all that much. Spending extra on a motherboard is VERY unlikely to provide you with any significant difference, unless there's a feature on a higher-end board that you need (of course, the same is true for your Asus Dark Hero motherboard).
As long as the board can provide sufficient power to the CPU (and the 9950X3D only using ~200W under max load just isn't that high of a requirement), then honestly unless there's a feature you need, the cheapest A620 board will perform very similarly to a $1200 MSI X870E Godlike.
If you need a particular feature in an X870 board that you're considering, then by all means go for it. But an MSI B850 Gaming Plus Wifi will also likely suit your needs.
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Thanks for your help! I think I’ll go for a B850 board then, all I need is the CPU and RAM to run smoothly on it and for it to support 2x4TB Samsung 9100 Pro M.2 SSDs and my MSI RTX4090 suprim. Everything else is basically irrelevant
psimwork@reddit
Supporting two PCIe5 drives is going to be a somewhat tall order. My go-to recommendation for motherboards recently is MSI's Gaming Plus Wifi, but even with the X870E board, it only has PCIe5 support for a single drive. Supporting 2 (or more) drives on PCIe5 with four lanes each is a feature that they're going to bend you over on the price, so I'd REALLY advise making sure that you NEED two PCIe5 drives. One PCIe5x4 and One PCIe4x4 is no problem at all. But 2x PCIe5x4 is a pretty tall order.
In my (admittedly short) searching, the cheapest board I found that supported what you're needing is the Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite Wifi7.
Mazaura@reddit
Not just x3d apparently issues between the 7 8 and 9000 series cpus
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Oh holy, that’s good to know haha. Yeah made bad experiences with Gigabyte in the past years anyway. They used to be super reliable boards but idk what happened. I mean a 5.0 and 4.0 would do too but since im building a new rig I thought why not go for the newest technology on both SSDs. Basically I move all my clips that I want to keep from one to the other SSD and when it comes to that I’m very inconsistent and often it’s a few hundred GB that I’ll transfer
psimwork@reddit
All brands commonly go through good and bad periods (the one exception to this that I'm aware of being EVGA - RIP). Circa 2017 I was using MSI exclusively and would just buy an MSI board anytime I upgraded. Then when it came time to build my most recent one, I was looking for a B650 or B650E motherboard, and MSI didn't make a B650 board nor did they enable PCIe5 on the primary SSD, even though it was possible on the B650 Chipset. If you wanted any PCIe5 option, you HAD to use their X670E chipset boards, which I thought was pretty shit.
Then Asus has long since had their problems, the worst of which being a couple years ago when the 7800X3D came out. There was a bit of a crisis in that all motherboard manufacturers could burn up the 7800X3D (much like ASRock is having now), but Asus' response was absolutely HORRIBLE. So bad that to this day, it's commonly referred to as the "Asus 7800X3D problem", even though all motherboard vendors could have it.
ASRock was a board manufacturer I was heartily recommending up until recently with the X3D troubles, which apparently they haven't really acknowledged or done much to try and fix.
My best recommendation would be that if you aren't constantly versed in this kind of thing to just ask in a sub that would know. Gigabyte, to my knowledge, is more-or-less fine right now. I like MSI's Gaming Plus Wifi series, but that's just for the moment. If ASRock fixes their BIOS issues with the X3D's, I'll go right back to recommending them as their feature-to-price rate is absolutely fantastic.
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Went for the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk. Great Board, good price and I can uses 2 Pcie M.2s
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Also found a Board that has 2 PCIe 5.0 4x Slots for M.2 SSDs with 2280 Key: MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk WiFi
if I use both slots with PCIe 5.0 the 40G USB-C won’t work because the second M.2 Slot and the 40G USB-Port share the same Lane which is kinda whack
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Always bought EVGA GPUs and I’ve never seen that well built GPUs ever again. To me they were the best of the best. Never had issues, reliable af and you could also overclock them with ease. Never knew or thought about why they went bankrupt
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Yeah that’s true, all brands go through bad and good times. I’ve had my problems with the i9-14900k and the ASUS Dark Hero Board too. The board ruined my cpu because the longtime max voltage that was set on the ASUS as standard was too high for the CPU. At first everyone thought that the 14th gen of intel was fucked but in the end it was the boards settings. Intel yet replaced my broken cpu before they knew who was at fault. Gotta admit that their service is great! I’ve sent it from Germany to the Netherlands on Friday and received my new cpu within a week. Asus on the other hand took a long time to release a BIOS-Update. Still, I think their boards are good and well built but I’ll see what the future brings haha
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
I think 96GB should me more than fine for gaming and some rendering
aragorn18@reddit
Just buy the cheapest DDR5-6000 CL30 RAM kit you can find. That's the sweet spot for AM5 and they will all perform the same.
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Ok, so DDR5-8000 is basically useless?
aragorn18@reddit
Yes, completely. AMD CPUs don't work well with higher speed RAM. This is because some of the internal clock speeds are tied to the speed of the RAM. When you go above a memory speed of 6000 MT/s, the internal clock speeds (UCLK) have to run at half speed. It's much better to just use RAM that will run at a 1:1 ratio.
psimwork@reddit
Worth noting is that 8000MHz would be great if you could get it actually running at that speed, which is so rare that it might as well be impossible.
CUDIMMs will likely change that, but who knows when that support is coming (and whether or not OP's 9950X3D will support it at all)
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Would be nice to have such a setup haha but as you’ve said it’s almost impossible
aragorn18@reddit
Agreed
SterlingArcher824@reddit
Msi B850 tomahawk is my suggestion.
Harambo1337@reddit (OP)
Will look into it