Beware the con job...

[Thinder]

  

AMD like Intel gamers wants more performances from their P.C but there aren't so many ways to squeeze those perfs from your machine, so we'll usualy look "in the internet" in search of the golden part that will save us money and give us more FPS.

 

This is where internet gurus makes their dosh, I'll give an example and compare with Intel technician methods for Over-Clocking RAM.

 

People generally think that when you increase frequency you end up systematically with a performance gain, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

 

In reality there are many reasons for this not to happen:

 

First, CPU controllers doesn't always allow for this, in some case, they are limited below 3200MHz and will cause your P.C to fail to boot after working your timings on BIOS, so if you're planning to O.C your RAM, first thing to do is to check compatibility, Chipset, CPU and RAM kit.

 

SECOND: RAM kit not having the necessary die and timing range to achieve stability and performances, if you're lucky enough to escape a boot failure you will see an overal performance loss or zero performance gain at best.

 

But since there are two categories of P.C users, the consumers and the seasoned gamers, this doesn't stop manufacturers to try to sell wooden chariots for rolls Royces in the form of videos or articles, and they have their advertizers in the form of moneytized Youtube channels or writers praising the qualities of their produts, consumers will buy anyway and the sad thing is, they are the majority.

 

Only if you are aware of the big "rock'n'Roll swindle" will you be able to read between the lines, at least if you chose the cheap option, you'll know what to expect (in my case I bought such a kit as stop gap), in the worst case, you'll end up with an overvlocked RAM kit that doesn't give you any performance gain if you're lucky or a loss as was my case.

https://www.igorslab.de/en/crucial-ballistix-3200-mhz-cl16-test-can-microns-house-brand-keep-up-with-the-b-the-top-dogs/

 

On the other hand of the spectrum, there are professionals who knows what they are doing and no one is better placed than techies at AMD or Intel to know what to do of their RAM kits when it comes to increasing a PC performances.

 

To that effect, Intel released an article on their web site: How to Overclock RAM.

https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/gaming/resources/overclock-ram.html

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they had done it to shut down the few "internet gurus" I just mentioned and inform gamers properly, their article gives the necessary informations such as Frequency, Timings, method, and if you look carefuly, the RAM kit they used for their tutorial...

 

Quote

Increased latency will reduce the performance and potentially eliminate the gains from a higher frequency, depending on the size of the frequency increase.

 

So in one corner, we're sold a cheap RAM kit which is supposed to equal a premium one by allowing you to O.C it, on the other, we can see what this is all about and it's nowhere near as simple as the advertizing suggest it is.

 

In short, the cheaper option indeed allows you to overclock it, but just doesn't have the range of timing to take full advantage of this increase in frequency and this is a con.

 

There is no technical explaination or system test result there to let you know about what you just bough and done to your P.C, you wanted higher frequencies, you got them for cheap but there is no way this leads to a performances gain for the reasons given by Intel.

 

In one case, your RAM is going to run at 4300MHz Cl19, on the other, 4297.9MHz Cl14 minimum with a CAS of 13 achieved during test by Intel techies (see screenshots of their CPU-Z results), this is where Intel warnig "Increased latency will reduce the performance and potentially eliminate the gains from a higher frequency" starts to make sense.

 

Guess what happens to the cheaper and "faster" RAM?

 

Well I run AMD and had a Crucial Ballistix 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Desktop Gaming Memory (Black) BL2K16G32C16U4B, calling this kit "Gaming" give the swindle away, "Engineered using leading-edge Micron die" as well advertised as "capable of extreme Over-Clocking" as well. Forget about it, what is extreme is the way they advertize their products, not the performances.

 

Running tests on 3D Mark Pro validated with CPU-Z (same procedure as used by Intel technicians looking at the icons of their desktops), I figured I lost just above 1% overal performances after O.Cing it to only 3600MHz, not what one want to do with a gaming P.C supposed to give you performances under heavy load.

 

Increasing RAM frequencies will only work with the right RAM and it is NOT cheap, reason for Intel to use a B.Die, Cl14 kit for their tests (see pictures), only those have the quality, the stability the timing range to allow you to O.C your RAM and see results worth mentioning, the rest is only commercial and doesn't work.

 

Crucial Ballistix 3200 MHz CL16 Review – Can Micron’s own brand keep up with the B-Die Top-Dogs? (ARFFFF!!!).

 

 

 

How to Overclock RAM (Intel).

 

 

If this is not clear to you then nothing will, but after experiencing the difference in performances on my AMD, knowing that higher latencies and other material than B.die  doesn't allow for good, stable performances, I chose to splash my dosh into a G.Skill kit even before I knew about this article, and guess what? Intel techies used the same RAM kit.

 

Hope this help those willing to spend a little more money in solving their RAM bottleneck and use issues or generally increase the performances of their PC without getting conned.

 

Just a reminder: Again if you plan to O.C your RAM, check compatibilities of chipsets, CPUs and RAM before commiting to a purchase.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Thinder

[Gumbie]

I would have to agree here I use G.SKILL Trident Z Neo (For AMD Ryzen) Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin RGB DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600  and lets just say with its built in OC profile I see a big increase in FPS.      I thou do not recommend doing any O.C if your not familiar with it will shorten the life span of the device as time goes by or you could brick it of the start this is why I like those parts with those Nice profiles that just need to be turned on in side Bios menu at start and I agree there they do a great job at doing them.

[Thinder]

42 minutes ago, Gumbie said:

I would have to agree here I use G.SKILL Trident Z Neo (For AMD Ryzen) Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin RGB DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600  and lets just say with its built in OC profile I see a big increase in FPS.      I thou do not recommend doing any O.C if your not familiar with it will shorten the life span of the device as time goes by or you could brick it of the start this is why I like those parts with those Nice profiles that just need to be turned on in side Bios menu at start and I agree there they do a great job at doing them.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Same here.

 

I alrerady posted the results of back-to-back tests from my old Crucial kit to this one and it is obvious that even without O.C there is a clear advantage in using this kit, especially under heavy load, as I was looking for performances at higher settings in view of playing DCS in V.R.

 

 

But the Intel CPUs doesn't take advantage of low latency the way Ryzen CPUs (more so the 5000 series) does, they respond more to higher frequencies and this is where this kit also shines for them and the reason why Intel uses this kit for O.Cing it, an Intel system will gain from this, they are able to increase frequencies without losing latency and it makes all the difference.

 

Agreed on the principle of O.Cing as well, I really appreciate gaining this much CPU speed without having to O.C anything, it saves warranty and lifespan especially that of the CPU, just like was your case, I installed it, set my BIOS to OC profile for 3200 MHz and got the best timings without having to tweak anything straight away.

 

In both case, if an AMD or an Intel gamer wanted to increase his PC perrformances I'd recommand this kit.