Question Ryzen 2700 and RAM, what should I do? Any good known OC settings for CPU?

[TurtleCrusher]

Hi everyone,

This post both has to do with the CPU, RAM and MOBO, so if it need to be moved, I get it. I currently have a 4x8GB DDR4 mixed ram situation here, with 2 dimms a Gskill 3200mhz and 2dimms of ADATA 3000mhz. I'm trying to get the most out of my RAM for my CPU as I don't want it held back. Problem is, my motherboard/CPU doesn't allow past 2666mhz with four dimms. So timings and or changing to a 2x fast kit are my choices. I need 32GB or more as I edit video/photo when there's not a pandemic, and I plan on running multiple layers of VM for scambaiting, but still use it for gaming and streaming throughout the house.

PC Specs:
Ryzen 2700 (non-x) under a Deepcool Captain 240EX closed-loop RGB watercooler
ASRock X370 Pro4 ATX
Radeon RX 590 8GB
32GB RAM (photos for specs)
1TB Crucial NVMe, 256GB Samsung NVMe, 2x 120GB SATA3 SSD's for scratch, 2x HGST enterprise drives, 3TB and 4TB
Intel EXPI9301CTBLK Gig Lan, Intel AX200 WIFI 6
Seasonic Focus GM-850 850W 80+ Gold
32" 1440p AOC 75hz Freesync, 28" Dell 4K 60hz TN







I tried running the ram at 15-16-16-35 but it wouldn't allow me to. How much room do I have to gain with current ram for my CPU, and should I spring for a faster 2x dimm 32GB kit? Are the gains worth it?

Also, is there any tried and true 4Ghz setting for the 2700 while keeping cool? Stability and cool are my priorities, but under an AIO I'm sure there's room as the CPU keeps cool.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shmee]

My best recommendation would be to update your board's UEFI and get a Ryzen 3900X, or even a 3700X. The CPU will be much faster, especially if you get the 12 core, certainly for editing. Ryzen 3k has a much better memory controller, and you should be able to do 3200MHz with some tweaking on your current RAM.

You could take out the ADATA and get another Gskill kit, and run at 3600MHz. BTW, the gskill says 3600MHz on the XMP, and my guess is it may be Bdie given the timings at that speed.

 

[damian101]

Don't buy a new CPU before Zen 3 comes out. I would then probably upgrade to a used 3900X or a new 4700X (if your motherbord supports it). Also, if you are on an old BIOS I would update it. Most users are able to achieve significantly higher RAM speeds on newer Zen2-ready BIOSes, even if you only have a Zen/Zen+ CPU. I would also recommend using the Ryzen DRAM calculator and manually input all the timings, it can give you a significant performance improvement.

 

[Shmee]

My understanding is that 300 series boards would get no Zen 3 support, though it is possible depending on the board I suppose if the maker supplies one. We shall see. You make a good point on the BIOS update and DRAM calculator, and that prices on Zen 2 chips will drop when Zen 3 is out. Zen+ does still have a weaker IMC, however.

 

[DrMrLordX]

If CPU upgrades aren't on the table, I would say pick DDR4-2666 with the tighest timings you can get. Use Ryzen Memory Calculator, and hand-configure with the slower ADATA RAM info you get from Thaiphoon Burner.

As for the CPU

I would shoot for 4.0-4.1 GHz all-core OC. Try maybe 1.2v to start? See how far you can get on that. Dial up voltage in small steps and watch temps carefully. Run Prime95 Small FFTs in short bursts (5-10 minutes) to give you a guess at stability.

 

[damian101]

@Shmee Yeah, the memory controller is a lot weaker, for Zen CPUs only 2133 MHz is guaranteed to work for 4 single rank DIMMs, only 1866 MHz for 4 dual rank DIMMs. Don't know if that changed with Zen+, but Zen+ CPUs usually can achieve much higher RAM clocks. But the 2666 MHz might very well be the limit for this Ryzen 2700 in that configuration.

 

[kschendel]

In your shoes, I'd probably try to sell what you have and get a set of 2x16 3200CL16. You can hope for the 2700 to run it somewhere between 3000 and 3200 MT/s which isn't bad, and if and when you upgrade CPU and/or motherboard, the memory can follow along.

You can try playing around with the DRAM calculator but I've never had any luck with it, other than creating a massive time sink as I attempted to achieve stability.

 

[chrisjames61]

I would not mix ram kits. That is never a good idea. I would only use the better of the 16 Gigabyte kits and work with that. If I needed 32 Gigabytes I would buy a proper set of ram sticks and sell your two kits to offset the cost

 

[TurtleCrusher]

My best recommendation would be to update your board's UEFI and get a Ryzen 3900X, or even a 3700X. The CPU will be much faster, especially if you get the 12 core, certainly for editing. Ryzen 3k has a much better memory controller, and you should be able to do 3200MHz with some tweaking on your current RAM.

You could take out the ADATA and get another Gskill kit, and run at 3600MHz. BTW, the gskill says 3600MHz on the XMP, and my guess is it may be Bdie given the timings at that speed.

Updating the bios requires me to update is many times as Asrock doesn't allow a "jump-to-latest" and even then they say I need a Bristol Ridge to do so. I'm spooked out.
I appreciate the input everyone. Looks like a new kit is in order and waiting for Zen 3 for a new board and CPU.

Sadly anything over 2 DIMMS and the memory speed is capped at 2666mhz.

Don't buy a new CPU before Zen 3 comes out. I would then probably upgrade to a used 3900X or a new 4700X (if your motherbord supports it). Also, if you are on an old BIOS I would update it. Most users are able to achieve significantly higher RAM speeds on newer Zen2-ready BIOSes, even if you only have a Zen/Zen+ CPU. I would also recommend using the Ryzen DRAM calculator and manually input all the timings, it can give you a significant performance improvement.

If I buy a new CPU I'll definitely be getting a newer board. Zen 3 with quad-SMT is looking quite appealing. Editing video and VM's would love that.

My understanding is that 300 series boards would get no Zen 3 support, though it is possible depending on the board I suppose if the maker supplies one. We shall see. You make a good point on the BIOS update and DRAM calculator, and that prices on Zen 2 chips will drop when Zen 3 is out. Zen+ does still have a weaker IMC, however.

The reply above also goes for this one. I tightened to 16-16-16-35 but anything less is unstable at 1.35V, so I just bought a 2x16GB 3200 CL16 kit. TLZGD432G3200HC16CDC01

If CPU upgrades aren't on the table, I would say pick DDR4-2666 with the tighest timings you can get. Use Ryzen Memory Calculator, and hand-configure with the slower ADATA RAM info you get from Thaiphoon Burner.

As for the CPU

I would shoot for 4.0-4.1 GHz all-core OC. Try maybe 1.2v to start? See how far you can get on that. Dial up voltage in small steps and watch temps carefully. Run Prime95 Small FFTs in short bursts (5-10 minutes) to give you a guess at stability.

As my BIOS lacks LLC manual control it turns out I'm super limited. I put it to 4Ghz 1.35V and had spikes to 83C and it was quite unstable. 3.9Ghz 1.3V was unstable. 3.9Ghz 1.35V was stable but loaded temps on CPU reached 78C. My AIO fans didn't seem to kick up much and I didn't like the heat. 3.8Ghz 1.325V is stable and my temps go up to 73C. I might have a dud but I can live with that for now. It benched 6% faster single core and 13% faster multicore in GeekBench 5. In 100% multithreading that gives me an extra core worth of performance.

@Shmee Yeah, the memory controller is a lot weaker, for Zen CPUs only 2133 MHz is guaranteed to work for 4 single rank DIMMs, only 1866 MHz for 4 dual rank DIMMs. Don't know if that changed with Zen+, but Zen+ CPUs usually can achieve much higher RAM clocks. But the 2666 MHz might very well be the limit for this Ryzen 2700 in that configuration.

I'm stuck at 16-16-16-35 @1.35V with both kits. I just bought a 2x16GB 3200 CL16 kit to replace the both. I'll keep the better 16GB kit for my next upgrade, as 48GB of 3200/3600 CL16-18 should be fast enough and enough quantity for Zen 3. TLZGD432G3200HC16CDC01

In your shoes, I'd probably try to sell what you have and get a set of 2x16 3200CL16. You can hope for the 2700 to run it somewhere between 3000 and 3200 MT/s which isn't bad, and if and when you upgrade CPU and/or motherboard, the memory can follow along.

You can try playing around with the DRAM calculator but I've never had any luck with it, other than creating a massive time sink as I attempted to achieve stability.

I tried the DRAM calc and it turns out I was already at the limit. As noted in the reply above I did just what you recommended. I will keep the faster 16GB kit for when I upgrade my CPU/MOBO to Zen 3. 48GB 3200/3600 CL16/18 should do the trick.

I would not mix ram kits. That is never a good idea. I would only use the better of the 16 Gigabyte kits and work with that. If I needed 32 Gigabytes I would buy a proper set of ram sticks and sell your two kits to offset the cost

I did just that and it comes in tomorrow. See the above replies.

 

[DrMrLordX]

@TurtleCrusher

Sounds like that 2700 is a bit of a dud. LLC is nice, but you can live without it in many circumstances (though you may suffer in other ways, if the board has similarly-bad VRMs). If you push temps that high @ 3.8 GHz then that isn't one of the better Pinnacle Ridge chips available. Still, 3.8 GHz isn't awful. If it's faster than stock, good on you.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

@TurtleCrusher

Sounds like that 2700 is a bit of a dud. LLC is nice, but you can live without it in many circumstances (though you may suffer in other ways, if the board has similarly-bad VRMs). If you push temps that high @ 3.8 GHz then that isn't one of the better Pinnacle Ridge chips available. Still, 3.8 GHz isn't awful. If it's faster than stock, good on you.

It is quite the dud. This Ryzen chip was clearly binned close silicon spec. Coretemp reports 118w at full 3.79Ghz load. That's rough.

I bought a set of 2x16GB 3200mhz CL16 ram and my single core Geekbench went up 4% higher than the 2666mhz setup I had. It's about as close to a stock 2700x that I'll get.