[LFLee]

Hi all, this is the follow up post of my post regarding building a PC with Ryzen (building a new PC with AMD Ryzen - PentaxForums.com)

Thanks for your suggestion, I ordered the following:
CPU - Ryzen 1800X
PSU - EVGA SuperNOVA 750W G3
SSD - Samsung 960 EVO 256GB M.2 NVMe
CPU cooler - Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4
PC case - Phanteks Eclipse P400S PH-EC416PSTG_BK Silent Edition
Video card - EVGA GeForce GTX 1070

I need help with motherboard and RAM selection.

Motherboard:
I have filter down to this two MoBo:
1. ASUS Prime X370-Pro AM4 AMD X370 - $160
2. ASRock X370 Taichi - $189

Initially I don't plan to do overclock but after watching this video (

You Tube

You Tube

), I found that Asus have pretty good app to "automate" the overclocking process for novice like me, so I wanted to do it now (not extreme overclock though). I wanted the ASRock Taichi board, but the above video make me want to get a ASUS board for it's easy overclocking process. I tried to search similar "automated" overclocking process from ASRock, but result is not as convincing as the ASUS video show. So, what is your experience on overclocking on ASRock board? MoBo for Ryzen are basically sold out everywhere (except BIOSTAR MoBo), so I still have couple days to learn about this.


RAM selection:
I ordered this RAM:
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Intel Z170 Platform / Intel X99 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-2400C15D-32GVR - Newegg.com

But now thinking if I should get the 3200 one instead (only $10 more)
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Intel Z170 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-32GVK - Newegg.com

I understand both MoBo that I have narrowed down support native 2400 and 3200 for overclock. My question is, will I make the overclock process easier if I use the DDR4 3200 RAM instead of DDR4 2400 RAM? or I should keep the DDR4 2400 RAM?

Thanks so much!

Lee

[lightbox]

The dirty secret about "performance" RAM for gamers and overclockers is that it's all really the same DDR4 memory. You're not paying for faster memory. What you're paying for is regular DDR4 memory that has been tested and "binned" to various timings and voltages. They then sell this memory at a premium according to how fast it can be clocked, and they put a warranty on it.

In practice you are very hard pressed to notice any difference in real world performance. What it gets you is higher scores on synthetic benchmarks and bragging rights.

Personally I say go for the cheapest RAM that meets or exceeds the specs for your motherboard. But if you're all set on overclocking then go for it and have fun! That's something that you can do with desktop PCs.

[LFLee]

The dirty secret about "performance" RAM for gamers and overclockers is that it's all really the same DDR4 memory. You're not paying for faster memory. What you're paying for is regular DDR4 memory that has been tested and "binned" to various timings and voltages. They then sell this memory at a premium according to how fast it can be clocked, and they put a warranty on it.

In practice you are very hard pressed to notice any difference in real world performance. What it gets you is higher scores on synthetic benchmarks and bragging rights.

Personally I say go for the cheapest RAM that meets or exceeds the specs for your motherboard. But if you're all set on overclocking then go for it and have fun! That's something that you can do with desktop PCs.

Thanks for the input! I have a question that googling didn't help...

Can I overclock CPU and not overclock RAM?
for example even the MoBo support DDR4 at 3200 (overclock), I use the DDR4 2400 RAM, will doing this affect my CPU overclock ability?

[VoiceOfReason]

I'd go with the DDR4 2400 and the Asus mobo. I prefer MSI myself, but between the two I'd do the Asus.

[ZeljkoS]

If you are choosing between Asus and Asrock mobo, I would go with Asus.

Related to memory, you will not see any real world difference between 2400 vs 3200. It's just some benchmarks that show the difference.

Related to overclocking, I would invest in a good cooling solution (liquid cooling), if you want to do this right.
If you don't want to mess with that, just leave it at stock, I bet it will be more than fast enough.

Moreover, all the big software companies will publish patches that will optimize their software/games for the new Ryzen architecture.
Basically, it's plenty fast as it is, software patches will make it even faster as time passes.

[lightbox]

Can I overclock CPU and not overclock RAM?
for example even the MoBo support DDR4 at 3200 (overclock), I use the DDR4 2400 RAM, will doing this affect my CPU overclock ability?

I think so, at least on Intel. My Gigabyte Z170X motherboard allows me to run XMP memory timings without specifying a CPU overclock.

If that's different then it's news to me, too. I haven't experimented much with it.

[ZombieArmy]

The Asus boards have been having bios issues, I know some youtubers have bricked boards already just overclocking, haven't heard such problems with Asrock or MSI. Personally I think MSI has the best AM4 boards out atm in terms of the quality of VRMs and Bios but I'm sure what you have down is perfectly ok.

[aurele]

Hi all, this is the follow up post of my post regarding building a PC with Ryzen (building a new PC with AMD Ryzen - PentaxForums.com)

The setup you choose will almost be an overkill for image processing, when it comes to CPU, RAM, GPU.

For video, it will be plenty good too.

The only bottleneck i see is about hard drive : if you play with massive video files, having a hard drive to read the data, and one to write the output can be a bit better, but that's pretty much it.

I have an "old" Athlon X4 @3ghz, 12 Go of Ram, RAID 0, and i was never able to make the whole thing fall short on processing images, even with 1Go files with masks and layers.

So i think, your setup will be all good.

[LFLee]

I'd go with the DDR4 2400 and the Asus mobo. I prefer MSI myself, but between the two I'd do the Asus.

I think so, at least on Intel. My Gigabyte Z170X motherboard allows me to run XMP memory timings without specifying a CPU overclock.

If that's different then it's news to me, too. I haven't experimented much with it.

both of you prefer msi, is there anything specifically about this vendor that you like? frequent update? good customer service?

---------- Post added 03-13-2017 at 07:54 PM ----------

The setup you choose will almost be an overkill for image processing, when it comes to CPU, RAM, GPU.

For video, it will be plenty good too.

The only bottleneck i see is about hard drive : if you play with massive video files, having a hard drive to read the data, and one to write the output can be a bit better, but that's pretty much it.

I have an "old" Athlon X4 @3ghz, 12 Go of Ram, RAID 0, and i was never able to make the whole thing fall short on processing images, even with 1Go files with masks and layers.

So i think, your setup will be all good.

Yes, I am preparing for doing video editing as well. I also add a Samsung Evo 850 500GB for photo/video ready for processing and will be adding spinning HD for storage at a later stage.

[lightbox]

I think you meant to quote ZombieArmy regarding MSI. I haven't used an MSI board yet, but have had good results with Asus and Gigabyte.

I've also had a couple of bad boards from both Asus and Gigabyte, so I'm inclined to believe that you can get a defective board from any brand and the chances (with gaming class hardware especially) are quite high. So hang on to your receipts!

[VoiceOfReason]

both of you prefer msi, is there anything specifically about this vendor that you like? frequent update? good customer service?

---------- Post added 03-13-2017 at 07:54 PM ----------



Yes, I am preparing for doing video editing as well. I also add a Samsung Evo 850 500GB for photo/video ready for processing and will be adding spinning HD for storage at a later stage.

I have had awesome luck with them, and their 10 year warranty is hard to beat.

[Winder]

$1,600 Ryzen based PC has double the performance in Photoshop than a $5,200 Mac Pro. - DIY Photography

[Winder]

How has your new computer worked out? I have been looking up building a new system to handle these K-1 RAW files and the Ryzen looks like the best value.

[The Squirrel Mafia]

This new Ryzen chip looks quite intriguing & seems to offer a lot of bang for the buck. Do want.

[FoxbatK]

I am absolutely drooling over the Ryzen. Currently using an eight core FX-8350 but the potential with this is just incredible. Also gaming.