I'm building a system with a 9950X3D processor, a 5090 graphic card, and a Gigabyte X870E Xtreme AI Top Board. The board claims it can support RAM speeds up to 8800MT/s, but I want to avoid the hassle of manual overclocking. I looked at G.SKILL's QVL list and noticed there are various speed options available starting at 6000MT/s and going up to 8000MT/s, with different timings like CL28 to CL40. My goal is to get the best-performing RAM combo, ideally aiming for 96GB, though I'm open to 64GB or 48GB if it significantly boosts performance. I'm mainly interested in knowing if I should choose low-latency 6000MT/s RAM or higher-latency 8000MT/s RAM. I'm also curious if I should explore other brands for better options and whether ECC RAM would offer any advantages for my setup. Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
4 Answers
If you want to avoid the hassle of tuning, go with the standard 6000 MT/s CL30 RAM sticks. If you're chasing performance, you’ll probably need to dig deep into forums to find specific recommendations from other users who had success with certain brands and setups. Remember, it’s a bit of a gamble — it often takes luck to hit the advertised speeds without tweaking!
Right? It’s frustrating!
For the best RAM performance, consider that your CPU + motherboard + RAM all need to play nice together. The 9950X3D officially supports up to 5600MHz, but many users find 6000MHz to work well without issues. Opting for 6000MT/s with the lowest CAS latency (CL) is typically recommended for the best compatibility and performance. If you don’t want to tweak settings, that’s a solid choice!
But I’ve seen some tests pushing 8000MT/s on the 9950X3D without big problems. Why is that not more common then?
Exactly! What do you think about ECC memory? Should I consider that?
Check out the G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64 GB DDR5-6400 MT/s CL32. Here’s the link: [G.Skill Trident Z5](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/636p99/gskill-trident-z5-rgb-64-gb-2-x-32-gb-ddr5-6400-cl32-memory-f5-6400j3239g32gx2-tz5rk). It’s a well-reviewed option that balances speed and timing nicely.
Thanks for the recommendation! Is that better than a 6000MT/s CL28?
Honestly, 6000MHz with a CL30 rating is a good balance. If you’re comfortable troubleshooting, you could explore higher speeds, but expect possible stability issues. ECC RAM is designed for server use, providing error correction, which could be a plus for critical applications, but it may not be worth the speed trade-off for gaming or regular use.
Interesting point! Why would higher than 6000MHz cause issues if they’re on the QVL list?
I read that ECC unbuffered memory performs similarly, but registered ECC tends to be slower. Is that right?
I can’t believe they market this stuff so aggressively when half the time, you need to mess around to even get it to work right.