Ram limit

I am looking at getting 3200 MHz ram for my MSI B450 gaming pro carbon with ryzen 2600 processor. Is there much difference if I get 2400 vs 3200mhz to pay more?

Ryzen supposedly cares more about ram speed than Intel would. Some sticks of ram are purportedly designed to work better with amd over intel and vice versa.

For the least concern of stumbling into issues with compatibility make sure your ram is on the memory compatibility list at this link.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-GAMING-PRO-CARBON-AC#support-mem-14

And you want to make sure to click the "Memory by Rx-2x00" Pinnacle Ridge compatibility category.

Faster should be better, how much I'd have to do some research to get an idea of.. but I'm seeing a difference of about $20-$30 between the lowest cost of either speed. CAS Latency might be another factor in cost.. lower = faster in regards to CAS latency.

Can't say it will make the biggest difference but you can probably find threads from ryzen users on the subject if you search.

*Edit* just double checking myself (i tend to do so) and I"m not sure if there's another pro carbon than the model I listed. If not you might want to double check your model number and find it on that site.

Ryzen benefits a lot from faster RAM.

https://tekeverything.com/ryzen-ram-test-2400mhz-vs-3000mhz/

You should get at least 3000MHz with CL15 or lower.

The sweetspot price/performance is somewhere around 3200MHz and a CL15 latency.

You can get lower latencies but the price will skyrocket if you want 3200 towards CL12.

As a tip from a systembuilder: 2 modules cause less headache than 4 <--> 2x16GB is easier to tune than 4x8GB ( my own rig included ). The higher the speed and the more modules the more hairy it gets and you must be willing to tinker with it for days, weeks or months over many Bios' to come. So if you overdo it, say 4x8GB 3866MHz you should be knowing what you are doing whereas a 2x16GB 3200MHz-CL15 will run most likely in any board out of the box if you hit the DOCP switch in Bios.

The newer the Board and chipset, the bigger the chances that modules wont work if you overdo it. A board and chipset that has matured is more likely to accept many different brands and modules. This doesnt mean you can mix modules and RAM kits, you better dont the higher they run. You will hardly find 2 matching 16GB-2x8GB_3600 kits that have been bought months apart. Even if you buy them same day, you better pick a 4x8GB kit over 2 x 2x8GB. Sad but true. It may run, it may not run as intended and you would only find out after you tested them.

Hence my advice, buy 2x16GB-3200 CL16 or better. best if in QVL.

I keep hearing about stability problems with the ryzen series with RAM and bios updates all the time because of bugs and problems. Is it better just to go for an intel since it’s been around for a lot longer or still go with ryzen? I don’t want to have to fuss around just use out of the box stock. I’m not comfortable overclocking since I have no idea and afraid of overheating. I already bought a EVGA gtx 1070 so not worried about integrated graphics. Such a hard decision.

I keep hearing about stability problems with the ryzen series with RAM and bios updates all the time because of bugs and problems. Is it better just to go for an intel since it’s been around for a lot longer or still go with ryzen? I don’t want to have to fuss around just use out of the box stock. I’m not comfortable overclocking since I have no idea and afraid of overheating. I already bought a EVGA gtx 1070 so not worried about integrated graphics. Such a hard decision.

You can by a Ryzen processor with confidence. The RAM problems/BIOS updates occurred during 1st gen Ryzen rollout - Ryzen 5 1600, 1800X, etc. I have the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon AC and run DDR 4 3200 without a problem. I use G.Skill Trident Z, but the latency and timings of this RAM are more relaxed - CAS Latency is 16, and the timings are 16-18-18-38. The board BIOS had a profile set up for this memory and worked first time at 3200 - I had heard stories about people not being able to get above 2933 but I never had a problem.

G.Skill also has Trident Z DDR 3000 which has tighter timings: Latency of 15, 15-16-16-35. I'm not sure which is better - higher frequency or slightly lower frequency with less latency.

One note, if you don't want to mess with overclocking, it might be better to pay an extra $20 and get the 2600X - its like a 2600 that AMD has overclocked for you already. And it comes with a much better cooler. My understanding is at least right now, the faster CPU is better for DCS.

I keep hearing about stability problems with the ryzen series with RAM and bios updates all the time because of bugs and problems. Is it better just to go for an intel since it’s been around for a lot longer or still go with ryzen? I don’t want to have to fuss around just use out of the box stock. I’m not comfortable overclocking since I have no idea and afraid of overheating. I already bought a EVGA gtx 1070 so not worried about integrated graphics. Such a hard decision.

ehhhh, yeah, if you REALLY want RAM problems, you take the Intel board !

You are better off with AMD in that regard, just dont overdo it. 3200-CL15 is a sure bet, 2x16GB modules. Dont do 4 unless you really really have to.