Which ram for my new build?

[adamCCC]

Hi guys

On the final hurdle with my 1st new gaming build since about 14 years ago! Hoping to get some advice regarding ram. Build is as follows:

9800 x3d
GIGABYTE B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI7

Initially I saw most reccomendations were for 32gb 6000 mhz at CL30, then read 6400 & CL32 is basically the same speed but the latency is more important for the x3d processor?

6400 mhz @ CL32 seems slightly cheaper and more readily available. Are both going to work with this Cpu and motherboard combo?

To get either 6000 or 6400 speeds, do I need to enable expo in the bios? (and should I update the bios?)

Final question, is it still as important to stick to the household brands? (acer Predator is cheaper than the rest, is it less reliable or?)

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Adam

 

[Tetras]

To get either 6000 or 6400 speeds, do I need to enable expo in the bios? (and should I update the bios?)

If you buy low latency/gaming memory, yes. Most gaming memory will boot somewhere between 4800 and 5600, but most commonly 4800.

6000 kits are almost exclusively EXPO, kits above 6000 are more likely to be XMP, or both, though that's changing with time so that every kit is getting XMP and EXPO profiles.

Final question, is it still as important to stick to the household brands? (acer Predator is cheaper than the rest, is it less reliable or?)

I'm sure Acer would be fine, they're a well established company, but I can't speak for their support.

6400 mhz @ CL32 seems slightly cheaper and more readily available. Are both going to work with this Cpu and motherboard combo?

Yes, but 6400 is on the edge of what 9000 series CPUs can do without messing it, so 6000 is safer, see below:

DDR5-6400 and the 1:1 Ratio Advantage
Dropping to DDR5-6400, we see impressive performance that's very close to the higher-speed DDR frequencies, thanks to running at 1:1 UCLK, which avoids the latency penalties of 1:2. At 6400 MT/s, 1:1 is not guaranteed though, it does depend on the silicon quality of the I/O die, and perhaps requires higher SoC voltage.

DDR5 Memory Performance Scaling with AMD Zen 5

Our AMD Zen 5 Memory Scaling Review examines six different DDR5 memory speeds, including DDR5-8000, DDR5-6400 1:1, DDR5-6400 CL28 and others. We looked into how these speeds impact performance in gaming at four resolutions and a wide range of application workloads.

www.techpowerup.com

You can manually change the frequency if 6400 doesn't work, but up to you how much hassle you want.

Initially I saw most recommendations were for 32gb 6000 mhz at CL30, then read 6400 & CL32 is basically the same speed but the latency is more important for the x3d processor?

It is not important, you're going to notice the difference.