AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs Get Memory Recommendations From ASRock

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(Image credit: ASRock)

AMD recently raised the bar for memory support with the latest Ryzen 3000-series processors, and we know how past Ryzen processors just love speedy memory. ASRock has listed the optimum memory speeds and memory configurations for AMD's Ryzen 3000-series Matisee processors and X570-based motherboards.

The third-generation Ryzen chips arrive with native support for the DDR4-3200 standard out of the box. You can still run faster memory if your processor's Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) and motherboard are up to the task. Take ASRock's flagship X570 Taichi motherboard, which supports memory speeds up to DDR4-4666 and faster with overclocking.

AMD has previously shared other recommendations for the brave that want to pursue higher performance. For the best price-to-performance ratio, AMD recommends consumers to roll with DDR4-3600 CL16 memory modules. If money is no object, AMD's data show that DDR4-3733 is the performance sweet spot for Matisse processors. But there are certain considerations if you're looking for the best plug and play experience with DDR4-3200 memory modules.

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Memory SpeedMemory Slots
A1A2B1B2
DDR4-3200-SR--
DDR4-3200-DR--
DDR4-3200-SR-SR
DDR4-3200-DR-DR
DDR4-2933SRSRSRSR
DDR4-2667SR/DRDRSR/DRDR
DDR4-2667SR/DRSR/DRSR/DRSR/DR

ASRock recommends you only populate up to two memory slots if you aim for DDR4-3200. It doesn't matter if you use single-rank or dual-rank DDR4-3200 memory kits. However, things start to get complicated when you start filling all four memory slots. When all four memory slots are populated with single-rank memory modules, the official memory speed drops to DDR4-2933. And if you use a combination of single-rank and dual-rank memory modules, your best best is DDR4-2667 with a four-DIMM configuration.

Do you have to follow ASRock's recommendations to the letter? Enthusiasts have been defying hardware manufacturers' specifications for ages now. We ourselves have gotten DDR4-3466 memory to play nice with the Ryzen 7 2700X, which is only rated for DDR4-2933. But if you don't feel like playing the silicon lottery or spending time tweaking, then you should probably listen to ASRock's advice though. 

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Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • TJ Hooker
    Uh, this looks less like a 'recommended' or 'optimal' memory config from ASRock and more like the officially rated maximums from AMD. AMD did the same thing for Ryzen 1000/2000, where the rated max speed depending on # of DIMMs/ranks.
    Reply
  • joeblowsmynose
    TJ Hooker said:
    Uh, this looks less like a 'recommended' or 'optimal' memory config from ASRock and more like the officially rated maximums from AMD. AMD did the same thing for Ryzen 1000/2000, where the rated max speed depending on # of DIMMs/ranks.

    Not really ...

    Asrock recommends faster than 3200 RAM, 3600 or 3733 for the "sweet spot" up to 4666 on their high end board, and has let us know the caveat of going with four DIMMS on their boards.

    So if ASRock says their board will support up to 4666, is that the limitation you were referring to?

    I never did personally experience any of the hoopla that you sometimes hear about with Ryzen and ram ... I bought a R7 1700 two years ago, cheap $120CAD MSI mobo, and 2 DIMMS of 8GB 3200 corsair ram, that was not officially supported by AMD, and have been running it at 3200 1t 14-15-15-34 timings (tighter than XMP).
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    joeblowsmynose said:
    Asrock recommends faster than 3200 RAM, 3600 or 3733 for the "sweet spot" up to 4666 on their high end board, and has let us know the caveat of going with four DIMMS on their boards.
    The recommendations for 3600 or 3733 come from statements from AMD. The "recommendations from ASRock" being referred to are just the values in the table, which I'm fairly confident are just the official rated speeds for Ryzen 3000 as supplied by AMD.
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    Yeah this is just going to be the typical supported configs. Nothing really special here.

    Speaking of my Ryzen 1800x actually has higher performance on 3200 CL14 1T with tight sub timings than with 3466 CL14 1T. I think my motherboard is automatically turning on the gear down mode when I push over 3200 Mhz. This is something that happened after I updated to Gigabytes latest F40 BIOS for Ryzen 3000 support. Fun times.
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    JamesSneed said:
    I think my motherboard is automatically turning on the gear down mode when I push over 3200 Mhz
    What "gear down mode" are you referring to?
    Reply
  • joeblowsmynose
    TJ Hooker said:
    The recommendations for 3600 or 3733 come from statement from AMD. The "recommendations from ASRock" being referred to are just the values in the table, which I'm fairly confident are just the official rated speeds for Ryzen 3000 as supplied by AMD.
    Technically there is only one officially rated speed for x570 -- 3200, just as their is one official speed for z390 which is 2666. I'm not really sure what your complaint was.
    Reply
  • joeblowsmynose
    JamesSneed said:
    Yeah this is just going to be the typical supported configs. Nothing really special here.

    Speaking of my Ryzen 1800x actually has higher performance on 3200 CL14 1T with tight sub timings than with 3466 CL14 1T. I think my motherboard is automatically turning on the gear down mode when I push over 3200 Mhz. This is something that happened after I updated to Gigabytes latest F40 BIOS for Ryzen 3000 support. Fun times.

    Not sure what gear down mode is either, but I have noticed that subtimings can in some instance have notable effects. I've seen tighter timings and slower speed outperform higher speeds and looser timings on Ryzen.
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    joeblowsmynose said:
    Technically there is only one officially rated speed for x570 -- 3200, just as their is one official speed for z390 which is 2666. I'm not really sure what your complaint was.
    Rated memory speed depends on the CPU more so than the chipset. AMD lists a single rated speed, but then provides additional speed ratings depending on # of DIMMs/ranks.
    Ryzen 2K https://www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2018/06/06/2nd-Gen-AMD-Ryzen-Supported-RAM-Speeds-1175/Ryzen 1K https://community.amd.com/community/gaming/blog/2017/03/14/tips-for-building-a-better-amd-ryzen-system
    My "complaint" is that this article is titled "Recommendations from ASRock" but the recommendations aren't actually from ASRock...
    Reply
  • bigpinkdragon286
    TJ Hooker said:
    What "gear down mode" are you referring to?
    Gear-Down Mode is part of the JEDEC DDR4 Rev B Spec. Ryzen supports it. Essentially, at memory speeds of 2666 MT/s or higher, Gear-Down Mode can be enabled to allow the memory address/command, and control buses to run at 1/2 or 1/4 speed, for compatibility in situations where the memory would otherwise be unstable.

    JamesSneed said:
    Speaking of my Ryzen 1800x actually has higher performance on 3200 CL14 1T with tight sub timings than with 3466 CL14 1T. I think my motherboard is automatically turning on the gear down mode when I push over 3200 Mhz. This is something that happened after I updated to Gigabytes latest F40 BIOS for Ryzen 3000 support. Fun times.
    When running in Gear-Down Mode, all timing parameters are rounded up to an even number. This might account for your apparent loss of performance, despite running a higher MT/s rate.
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    bigpinkdragon286 said:
    Gear-Down Mode is part of the JEDEC DDR4 Rev B Spec. Ryzen supports it. Essentially, at memory speeds of 2666 MT/s or higher, Gear-Down Mode can be enabled to allow the memory address/command, and control buses to run at 1/2 or 1/4 speed, for compatibility in situations where the memory would otherwise be unstable.


    When running in Gear-Down Mode, all timing parameters are rounded up to an even number. This might account for your apparent loss of performance, despite running a higher MT/s rate.

    Yeah it's part of the the JDEC spec and if you can still run at 1T disabling gear down mode helps performance on Ryzen 1xxxx and 2xxx. See AMD's fun memory testing doc.
    https://community.amd.com/community/gaming/blog/2017/07/14/memory-oc-showdown-frequency-vs-memory-timings

    So more testing the darn F40 Bios from Gigabyte is not allowing me to turn gear down mode off at all. I'll report it to them.
    Reply