Hello

Hello everyone!

I'm Dawelio, a 24 year old new swedish member to this forum.

A little background around my PC history; During last year I totally fell in love with SFF builds. I have basically been on every platform there is today and gone back and forth during the years. On another forum, people said that I changed systems and cases within a year, more often than they changed a single component.

I started out back in 2012, when I was in my last year of high school. I was doing the electrician program, but then changed the direction within the program to computers during the last 6 months. And that is when I really started to fell for PCs in general, as at the time I had a quite slow and bad PC overall. I remember that I was able to play Battlefield 3, at the lowest settings with 1-5 fps. It literally took about 30 seconds for the soldier to lay down on the ground after I had pressed the button on the keyboard. As you all can imagine, it was just unplayable.

But then I told my teacher that I wanted to be able to play Battlefield 3, so then he ordered, which the school paid for, an entire, top end, i7 2600K system for me. Which I then built (as part of the course) and got to keep.

That was the start of my journey and have ever since been into and loved PCs. Both building them and watching others build them as well.

I have gone sort of in this order: ATX -> mATX -> mITX -> mATX -> and now ITX again.

The reason I went back to mATX from ITX was cause at the time the max amount of RAM that the ITX platform could handle was 16GB. But then that changed to 32GB, so I also changed back again to ITX and have stayed here ever since.

And last year, I was completely taken by one of the smallest cases on the market; The new Dan Case A4 SFX. And in May lat year, I backed up the new Kickstarter campain, of the new Dan Case A4 SFX version 2. Which will arrive within the next few weeks.

Here are my current specs:

CPU: Intel Core i7 6850K
MB: ASRock X99E-ITX/ac
GPU: ASUS GTX 1080 Strix
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB
HD: Samsung 960 EVO 1TB
Cooler: Asetek 545LC + Noctua NF-A9x14
PSU: Corsair SF600 with custom cables
Case: Dan Cases A4 SFX V2 Black (Soon)

Keyboard: Roccat Isku FX
Headset: Sennheiser GSP 300
Mouse: QPad DX-20
Monitor: ASUS PG348Q + BenQ 24" GW2406Z

I have also just ordered these parts, which I will try out. I'm a bit worried/concerned regarding the whole BIOS updating things which you need to do with AM4 motherboards. But that is the only cringe I have of actually switching over to Ryzen.

AMD Ryzen 7 1700X, ASUS ROG X370-I Strix and EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3 Black Edition.

Thank you all for taking your time reading my wall of text and thanks for being a part of this forum!

Best regards,
Dawelio

 

[Phuncz]

Hi and welcome ! The DANcase A4 SFX v2 is certainly a good case to look forward to !
If you need any help with the Ryzen configuration, just come by one o the relevant topics.

One tip is the memory overclocking: you can't just set any kit of modules to their max rated XMP (or DOCP or AMP) profile and have it work flawlessly. The Ryzen platform is much more sensitive to the choice of memory chip manufacturer:
- Samsung B-die works very well at DDR4-3200 settings, with DDR4-3466 and 3600 also worth a try.
- SK Hynix usually tops out at DDR4-2933, some can get 3066 stable and almost nobody has a stable system with DDR4-3200.
- Micron seems to perform like the Samsung B-die but I rarely see people mention using these.

The Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB most likely means it's SK Hynix, so I'd start with DDR4-2666 for install and try if it runs at DDR4-2933 when you're sure it runs well. In the end it's overclocking and almost all people's issues with Ryzen have been related to too high memory clocks.

 

[HeroXLazer]

Hello, welcome to the forum!

 

[Dawelio]

Hi and welcome ! The DANcase A4 SFX v2 is certainly a good case to look forward to !
If you need any help with the Ryzen configuration, just come by one o the relevant topics.

One tip is the memory overclocking: you can't just set any kit of modules to their max rated XMP (or DOCP or AMP) profile and have it work flawlessly. The Ryzen platform is much more sensitive to the choice of memory chip manufacturer:
- Samsung B-die works very well at DDR4-3200 settings, with DDR4-3466 and 3600 also worth a try.
- SK Hynix usually tops out at DDR4-2933, some can get 3066 stable and almost nobody has a stable system with DDR4-3200.
- Micron seems to perform like the Samsung B-die but I rarely see people mention using these.

The Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB most likely means it's SK Hynix, so I'd start with DDR4-2666 for install and try if it runs at DDR4-2933 when you're sure it runs well. In the end it's overclocking and almost all people's issues with Ryzen have been related to too high memory clocks.

Hello Phuncz!

Tank you very much for your long and interesting reply!

I can not tell you enough of how excited I am and the wait is literally killing me for the case to arrive! When I first saw it, I fell in love straight away and wanted/needed one!

Just come by one of the relevant topics? What/which relevant topics exactly?...

Umm okay, interesting... Mine are rated at 3000MHz, wich have also concerned me a little bit. Since I’ve read that the ”sweet spot” for Ryzen is 3200MHz. Not sure how much of a difference my 200MHz will do?...

So I can’t just set the XMP then and be done? Like on Intel?... Do I need to stress test the memory if highten the speed? Like you need to stress test a CPU if you have overclocked it?.

Seems like a rather much confusing around the Ryzen platform, especially when it comes to memory.

Hello, welcome to the forum!

Hello HeroXLazer! Thank you very much for the warm welcome!

 

[HeroXLazer]

Hello Phuncz!

Tank you very much for your long and interesting reply!

I can not tell you enough of how excited I am and the wait is literally killing me for the case to arrive! When I first saw it, I fell in love straight away and wanted/needed one!

Just come by one of the relevant topics? What/which relevant topics exactly?...

Umm okay, interesting... Mine are rated at 3000MHz, wich have also concerned me a little bit. Since I’ve read that the ”sweet spot” for Ryzen is 3200MHz. Not sure how much of a difference my 200MHz will do?...

So I can’t just set the XMP then and be done? Like on Intel?... Do I need to stress test the memory if highten the speed? Like you need to stress test a CPU if you have overclocked it?.

Seems like a rather much confusing around the Ryzen platform, especially when it comes to memory.



Hello HeroXLazer! Thank you very much for the warm welcome!

I'd recommend posting in the What did you today? thread in Off-Topic, it's pretty fun, and a fun way to start "meeting" the people on this forum.

 

[Dawelio]

I'd recommend posting in the What did you today? thread in Off-Topic, it's pretty fun, and a fun way to start "meeting" the people on this forum.

Yeah, thanks for the tip. Will definitely give it a look, haven’t gotten into the whole forum just yet. Still exploring!

 

[HeroXLazer]

Yeah, thanks for the tip. Will definitely give it a look, haven’t gotten into the whole forum just yet. Still exploring!

If you need help with the actual forum, we all can help.

 

[Dawelio]

If you need help with the actual forum, we all can help.

Thanks HeroXLazer for the offering of help, much appreciated and will definitely keep it in mind, if I get stuck somewhere on the forum!

Shall I send a PM in that regard or post in a thread?...

 

[Phuncz]

Umm okay, interesting... Mine are rated at 3000MHz, wich have also concerned me a little bit. Since I’ve read that the ”sweet spot” for Ryzen is 3200MHz. Not sure how much of a difference my 200MHz will do?...

So I can’t just set the XMP then and be done? Like on Intel?... Do I need to stress test the memory if highten the speed? Like you need to stress test a CPU if you have overclocked it?.

There's a difference in performance but it's not huge. Optimally indeed DDR4-3200 (not MHz, since it's clocking in at 1600 MHz) with CAS latency 14 is best, but @MarcParis has also achieved DDR4-3466 and I believe even higher, but you generally tend to need to give it much "looser" timings to remain stable which might cost more performance depending on use case.

You will need to stress-test it to be sure it's stable, I've had my system crash when I set it too high, but you definitely don't want instability ruining your data when storing files. AIDA64 has a system stability test that can also stress the memory specifically.

If you don't want to have any hassle, look at the part number of your memory and look it up on the motherboard vendor's QVL (Qualified Vendor List) for the rated speed that's tested to work. If that doesn't turn up anything, you can look online, Reddit is a good resource for this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/

Seems like a rather much confusing around the Ryzen platform, especially when it comes to memory.

I don't find it all that confusing: if you have SK Hynix memory (usually DDR4-3200 with CAS 16 or DDR4-3000 with CAS 15), start at DDR4-2666, hope for stable 2933 and don't expect much else.
If you have Samsung B-die or Micron, you should expect DDR4-3200 speeds with CAS 14 or even higher clocks but also with higher latencies.

It's RAM overclocking nonetheless, the Intel Core platform is very forgiving and manufacturers developed for the Intel platform in general.

 

[MarcParis]

@Dawelio, as @Phuncz mentionned, i’ve experienced a lot ram speed and timings (and sub timings) with my ryzen device.
To sum up, my advice will be quite simple : if you can play with sub timings (depends on motherboard), stick on 3200mhz with agressive subtimings.
If not (you just have access to cas (5 mem values)), try to push your speed to 3600mhz cas 16 or 3466mhz.

Overall it’s VERY important to make sure memory timings and sub timings are not generating windows architecture error (whea). Hwinfo64 is monitoring them (last). This type of unstability is really insidious as it didn’t lead to instant crash.
As software to test stability, i advice you intel burn test for quick test and memtest64 for long one.

 

[HeroXLazer]

Thanks HeroXLazer for the offering of help, much appreciated and will definitely keep it in mind, if I get stuck somewhere on the forum!

Shall I send a PM in that regard or post in a thread?...

If you post, you'll get more points of view, but you can PM if you want. I don't have a preference.

 

[Dawelio]

There's a difference in performance but it's not huge. Optimally indeed DDR4-3200 (not MHz, since it's clocking in at 1600 MHz) with CAS latency 14 is best, but @MarcParis has also achieved DDR4-3466 and I believe even higher, but you generally tend to need to give it much "looser" timings to remain stable which might cost more performance depending on use case.

You will need to stress-test it to be sure it's stable, I've had my system crash when I set it too high, but you definitely don't want instability ruining your data when storing files. AIDA64 has a system stability test that can also stress the memory specifically.

If you don't want to have any hassle, look at the part number of your memory and look it up on the motherboard vendor's QVL (Qualified Vendor List) for the rated speed that's tested to work. If that doesn't turn up anything, you can look online, Reddit is a good resource for this: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/


I don't find it all that confusing: if you have SK Hynix memory (usually DDR4-3200 with CAS 16 or DDR4-3000 with CAS 15), start at DDR4-2666, hope for stable 2933 and don't expect much else.
If you have Samsung B-die or Micron, you should expect DDR4-3200 speeds with CAS 14 or even higher clocks but also with higher latencies.

It's RAM overclocking nonetheless, the Intel Core platform is very forgiving and manufacturers developed for the Intel platform in general.

@Dawelio, as @Phuncz mentionned, i’ve experienced a lot ram speed and timings (and sub timings) with my ryzen device.
To sum up, my advice will be quite simple : if you can play with sub timings (depends on motherboard), stick on 3200mhz with agressive subtimings.
If not (you just have access to cas (5 mem values)), try to push your speed to 3600mhz cas 16 or 3466mhz.

Overall it’s VERY important to make sure memory timings and sub timings are not generating windows architecture error (whea). Hwinfo64 is monitoring them (last). This type of unstability is really insidious as it didn’t lead to instant crash.
As software to test stability, i advice you intel burn test for quick test and memtest64 for long one.

Haha wow, now I’ve gotten afraid of actually taking the step to Ryzen ... Seems like there’s a lot of tweaking involved with Ryzen and I’m not exactly that type of tweaking person.

Since I’ve tried CPU overclocking, but turned out that I don’t have the patience for it really...

If you post, you'll get more points of view, but you can PM if you want. I don't have a preference.

More points of view? What is that exactly?...

 

[HeroXLazer]

Haha wow, now I’ve gotten afraid of actually taking the step to Ryzen ... Seems like there’s a lot of tweaking involved with Ryzen and I’m not exactly that type of tweaking person.

Since I’ve tried CPU overclocking, but turned out that I don’t have the patience for it really...



More points of view? What is that exactly?...

You have more people answering you.

 

[MarcParis]

Haha wow, now I’ve gotten afraid of actually taking the step to Ryzen ... Seems like there’s a lot of tweaking involved with Ryzen and I’m not exactly that type of tweaking person.

Since I’ve tried CPU overclocking, but turned out that I don’t have the patience for it really...



More points of view? What is that exactly?...

You can live without overclocking on ryzen also.. it’s pretty flexible..