I have an MSI B450 Tomahawk Max II motherboard paired with a Ryzen 7 5800X, and I've installed the latest BIOS version. I found a great deal on Corsair Vengeance RT 2x16 4600MHz CL18 RAM sticks, which are priced similarly to 3600MHz kits. My motherboard supports up to 4133MHz with XMP enabled. If I buy the faster RAM, will it only operate at 4133MHz, or can I actually utilize the 4600MHz?
1 Answer
It's not very likely that your CPU's memory controller will manage 4600MHz RAM, even if your motherboard can support it. For Ryzen CPUs like yours, you get the best performance when the Infinity Fabric clock (FCLK) is half the effective RAM speed, which typically ranges from 3600 to 4000MHz. Going higher might actually hurt performance instead of improve it. If you want that fast RAM, be prepared for some custom tuning, as XMP alone won't get you there.
So, it sounds like sticking with a 3600MHz kit is the smarter choice then?