I recently bought a 32GB kit made of two 16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro sticks rated at 3600MHz CL18. My existing 16GB kit has been filling up and causing stuttering, so I'd like to run both kits for 48GB total. I'm using a Ryzen 7 5700X3D with an ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Gaming WiFi motherboard, and both kits have the same advertised speed and latency. Basic benchmarks and memory tests completed successfully, but games crash during actual gameplay. Should I lower the memory speed or change another BIOS setting? Would running the RAM at a lower frequency noticeably hurt gaming performance with the 5700X3D?
3 Answers
For gaming, 32GB is generally already enough, so 48GB is unlikely to improve frame rates. With a 5700X3D, dropping memory from 3600MHz to 3200 or 3400MHz should have a relatively small gaming impact, while the added capacity can help if you regularly run memory-heavy applications. If lower speeds and relaxed settings still don’t stop the crashes, the most reliable option is to use only the matched 32GB kit.
The larger modules should be installed in the outer slots of each memory channel, with the smaller modules in the inner slots. For example, use an 8GB-16GB-8GB-16GB arrangement if that matches the board’s channel layout. Disable fast boot temporarily so the system retrains the memory after changes, then test stability. Running 3200–3400MHz is usually a better target than trying to force 3600MHz with mixed modules.
Try lowering the memory speed manually to around 3400MHz or even 3200MHz. Four DIMMs and mixed kits can be harder for the memory controller to stabilize, even when the kits have matching rated specifications. You may also need to leave the timings on Auto or use relaxed timings rather than forcing the advertised settings.
Would dropping the speed noticeably affect gaming performance?
I mainly wanted to fill all four slots, but I’m fine removing the smaller kit if necessary. How long should fast boot stay disabled, and does “odd clocking” mean lowering the memory frequency?