Compatibility Dilemma

[archipelag0]

First post so apologies if I miss anything out

After an mobo failure on my 13 year old (!) build, I finally took the plunge to upgrade the motherboard and consequently the CPU and memory.

I now own a Ryzen 5 3600, Corsair vengeance LPX (2 x 8gb) and an MSI B450-A PRO MAX. But, the motherboard arrived damaged and I've just returned it. About to order an identical replacement I realised the memory I bought runs at 3600MHz (C18). Nothing was flagged on ************ but I've since found that the board sensibly tops out at 3200-3400 MHz so would need overclocking. Corsair's compatibility checker only recommends the C14 version.

This time around I'm not planning to push heavy games (graphics card is a 5-year old GTX 960), I really just want a quiet-ish machine that allows me to use BIM software and doesn't overheat. But getting some longevity and future-proofing would be good.

My question is should I return the memory too and just settle for adding some 3200 MHz sticks when I order the motherboard, or look at a better motherboard now?

For a similar price point it would be a low-end X570, which sounds like a bad idea and nobody on the planet can find a B550...

 

[bremen1874]

You can run memory slower than it's rated speed. You might need to set the timings manually rather than using XMP, but that's not too difficult.

Faster memory is more likely to remain useful for a longer period.

 

[archipelag0]

Good to know, thank you. Sounds like I should stick with what I have for now then.