Choosing DDR4 for OC

[AshtrayWasp]

Hi, I've just bought some Corsair Vengeance Samsung B Die (or at least it says ver 4.31) 2x16Gb 3200 16-18-18-36 off ebay but I can only seem to get it to 3800 18-20-20-36 2T (which is only 1 to 2 ticks less than my previous 2x8 C Die). My question is, should I sell these sticks and buy some brand new G Skill 2x8 3200 CL14 B Die (F4-3200C14D-16GFX)? From what I've read it seems I just got a terrible bin and those G Skill sticks are quite good so will OC much better.

I have a 9700K on an Asus Z390 Prime P, where I'm already running a 5GHz OC. I mainly use the PC for gaming and Ableton, so no idea how much the 2x16 makes a difference over the 2x8 even if the timings are looser.

 

[MartinPrince]

Sorry to tell you but your Corsair 3200 C16 are most definitely NOT B-Die. Which would explain why you can not tune it very well.

3200 will only be C14 to be B-die. So those GSkill are definitely B-Die and should tune accordingly.

2x16Gb B-Die will be better as those will be dual rank whereas 2x8Gb are single rank. Plus for Ableton I would want 32Gb minimum.

If you can get a decent speed out of the memory then the improvement will depend on exactly what you are doing, though if I remember correctly in some situations you can see up to ~20% improvement.

 

[AshtrayWasp]

I see, I thought it'd be B-Die as the version number is 4.31, but it must be different for dual rank sticks. I have the option to get some 2x16 B-Die brand new for just £30 more than the 2x8.

I do also use the computer for some enthusiast competitive overclocking and as I'm buying a new computer next year this one is gonna be relegated to overclocking and maybe living room console in the down time. So should I go for the 2x16 (F4-4000C19D-32GTZSW) or get the 2x8 (F4-3200C14D-16GFX), assuming they're both B-Die. From your recommendation I'd probably get the 2x16 for my ableton use before I get the new computer but will it overclock nicely? I've read dual rank is a lot harder on IMC and can't clock as high.

 

[MartinPrince]

I see, I thought it'd be B-Die as the version number is 4.31, but it must be different for dual rank sticks. I have the option to get some 2x16 B-Die brand new for just £30 more than the 2x8.

No it's nothing to do with them being dual rank and version number has nothing to do with it. Simply, Corsair never made any 3200 C16 RAM using B-Die. Generally if you see 3200 C16 it is normally not B-Die as the only people to use B-Die at 3200 C16 is GSkill and they only used it on one set of RAM that I know of.

So should I go for the 2x16 (F4-4000C19D-32GTZSW) or get the 2x8 (F4-3200C14D-16GFX), assuming they're both B-Die. From your recommendation I'd probably get the 2x16 for my ableton use before I get the new computer but will it overclock nicely? I've read dual rank is a lot harder on IMC and can't clock as high.

I would guess that the 2x8 would overclock better, because as you say there is less strain on the controller and the 4000 C19, though it is B-Die, is a poorer bin as it is more common to get at least 4000 C16.

I normally aim for at least a 4000 C15 overclock on B-Die as that should be readily achievable if all the other ducks line up.

 

[AshtrayWasp]

Ah I see, I thought the whole thing with finding B-Die in corsair was the version number. But yeah the numbers seemed very poor for it to be B-Die so I was just being hopeful as I got the sticks pretty cheap.

So I'll get the 2x8 sticks, as my computer planned for next year is going to have 2x16 Hynix DDR5 anyway so that'll work wonders for ableton and overclocking, though the 7800X3D might hold me back from what I've seen Buildzoid do.