Question DDR4 ram huge differences in price

Ozbro89

Junior Member
Aug 8, 2016
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Hi,

I am ready to buy a new PC (ryzen 3800x, Asus x570-pro), only question remains, which RAM to buy?

G. Skill 32gb 3600 (175 dollar)
G. Skill 32gb 3600 (285 dollar)
G. Skill 16gb 3600 (~ 190 dollar, I can't seem to find these on Newegg, similar prices in the Netherlands for all RAM)

I don't seem to understand why there is such a price gap between, for a noob, the same RAM. All 3600 mhz, only the chip manufacturer is different. Which RAM should I buy? And can you please explain to me why the prices differ so much?

Thanks in advance!
 

tamz_msc

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2017
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The second and third one seems to be Samsung B-die with tighter timings. That is the reason why the prices are much higher. In short they're better for overclocking.
 

Ozbro89

Junior Member
Aug 8, 2016
13
1
71
Thank you for your reply! Would these tighter timings be worth it? Which one would you buy? I am mainly using my PC for gaming btw.

Not planning to overclock in the near future.
 

tamz_msc

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2017
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As to which one you should buy, 3200CL14 is the sweetspot for Ryzen, but it is expensive B-die. You could probably take the first kit and run it at 3200 with tighter timings(16-18-18-36) and get more than enough performance for gaming. Thus the first kit would be my recommendation. Just set the timings manually using the Ryzen DRAM calculator.
 

DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
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For a 3800x, DDR4-3200 is not the sweet spot . . . DDR4-3733 is. DDR4-3600 is just fine though.

The best deal out there is Micron E-die, which can run DDR4-3600 16-x-x-x pretty easily, and can be had in cheaper kits.

Code:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/c421ul/micron_edie_new_best_performanceprice_ratio_with/
 

tamz_msc

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2017
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For a 3800x, DDR4-3200 is not the sweet spot . . . DDR4-3733 is. DDR4-3600 is just fine though.

The best deal out there is Micron E-die, which can run DDR4-3600 16-x-x-x pretty easily, and can be had in cheaper kits.
Micron E-die doesn't provide as tight secondary timings as Samsung B-die. 3200 CL14 is better overall latency than 3600 CL16. Besides, faster RAM only makes a difference up to a certain point, I doubt that there is much performance uplift to be seen from 3200 CL16 to 3200 CL14 to 3733 CL16 in GPU limited gaming.

Edit: Agree with you on price though. Micron E die can't be beat in terms of value. This might just be the best choice for OP.
 
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DrMrLordX

Lifer
Apr 27, 2000
21,633
10,845
136
Micron E-die doesn't provide as tight secondary timings as Samsung B-die. 3200 CL14 is better overall latency than 3600 CL16.

True! Which is why I run DDR4-3733 CL 14. But I had to pay out the posterior to get that RAM, and it's only 2x8GB . . .

Edit: Agree with you on price though. Micron E die can't be beat in terms of value. This might just be the best choice for OP.

The two killer value propositions I see these days are 2x16GB E-die kits and those Samsung M-die 32GB DIMMs. B-die can be had for decent prices, but let's face it, scarcity is going to keep prices high.