I recently bought an MSI PRO B850M-E EVO AM5 motherboard and initially had compatibility problems with a single 8GB Kingston ValueRAM DDR5-5600 CL46 module. The retailer exchanged it for a Kingston DDR5-5200 CL40 module, which works normally. There are now good deals on several G.Skill Trident Z5 kits, and I'm considering one of these: 2x16GB DDR5-8000 CL38 for $187, 2x24GB DDR5-8000 CL40 for $250, or 2x24GB DDR5-8400 CL40 for $257. Has anyone successfully used similar kits with this motherboard? I know the manufacturer's memory compatibility list may not include every kit. Would these speeds work reliably, or would a slower DDR5-6000/6400 kit be a better choice?
1 Answer
For AM5, DDR5-6000 with tight timings—often around CL30—is generally the practical sweet spot. Memory speeds above roughly 6400 can work, but they’re much more dependent on the individual CPU’s memory controller, the motherboard BIOS, and manual tuning. At those speeds, you may need to adjust settings rather than simply enable the advertised profile. The best performance usually comes from keeping the memory clock and memory-controller clock synchronized at a 1:1 ratio; DDR5-6000 to 6400 is typically much easier to run that way than DDR5-8000 or 8400.
If I leave the kit at its default JEDEC speed, or configure the rated speed manually in the BIOS, what kinds of problems should I expect?