Advice Quality of QVL information?

[Mr Whippy]

I'm just figuring out what RAM and NVME to buy for a 3950x build with a B550 or X570 mobo (itx)

Gigabyte seem to not have any 32gb or 64gb ram kits in B550 or X570 at all, and the Corsair Vengeance Pro LPX kits seem thin on the ground for being qualified by Gigabyte. It's almost like they're testing sticks, not kits, but kits made up of qualified sticks are not shown?

Asus have the Aorus PCI-E nvme in their list, but only in 500gb size, no mention of 1tb and 2tb sizes.



I can't believe Gigabyte haven't done QVL on 32gb or 64gb kits, so am I missing something when I read their lists?

And Asus only testing one nvme from the Aorus nvme range? Is the inference that if they tested one then they should all be ok with these types of devices?



I'm looking for a workstation type build so stability is really important. I know the QVL doesn't guarantee stability but it's a good start.

I'm buying parts from Scan computers in the UK, and it seems sensible to buy all the main core bits from the same place in case there are issues I can just dump all their bits back on them... but their RAM offerings are really limited.


Thanks

 

[AlexTSG]

I've just had a look at the QVL for the Gigabyte B550I AURUS Pro and there are some 32GB Kits listed. However, it looks like Gigabyte lists the capacity of each module (16GB), and they just mark that both DIMM slots were populated.

I do believe that the higher capacity 64GB modules have more limited support. I think I remember the ASUS boards being one of the few to support them.

Here the QVL I checked:

https://download.gigabyte.com/FileList/Memory/mb_memory_b550i-aorus-pro-ax_200520.pdf

and here's a 32GB Kit from Kingston that appears on it:

https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/HX436C17PB3K2_32.pdf

The easiest way to search is to open the PDF and then Ctrl+F to open the find dialog, and paste in the part number (HX436C17PB3K2/32 in this case).

Look for a match in the 5th column.

 

[Neophyte]

Yes, there are quite a few 32GB kits on the QVL, as @AlexTSG said. The thing that annoys me about those lists is that you have to hunt the RAM down by part number. It is easy enough, however, if you know the nomenclatures the manufacturers use. As I was only looking for G.Skill, having had luck with them in the past, it was easy to figure out what I was looking at by learning their schema for naming parts. You can, by the way, figure out if it's in stock at Newegg by just cutting and pasting the part number. I didn't see, in my glance, any 32GB per stick RAM on the list.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Alex you're right, the Asus B550 itx board has support for the 64gb RAM kit that Scan computers sell specifically listed in their QVL.

On the Gigabyte, even just assuming the sticks are valid as a pair, there are no 32gb sticks exposed, so no way to get a QVL 64gb ram setup.


I wasn't sure if the pcpartpicker website is being explicit on support when it exposes different products, or is using user feedback to drive it, or QVL lists or something...


I'd probably be having an easier time if I weren't just choosing parts from Scan computers as I'd be likely to just copy someone else's build knowing they had everything working as expected.
All that being said, Scan computers seem to be building all their systems with that RAM in them, so the compatibility must be pretty solid, or they're only using certain motherboards for their own builds...


Thanks

Dave

 

[AlexTSG]

I'm not sure how widespread support is for the higher capacity 32GB modules.

There seem to be two ways to achieve the capacity: One is to build a double height module that has twice as many ICs, and the other is to use the newer 16Gb memory ICs from Samsung or Micron.

This article from Toms Hardware seems to indicate that BIOS support is required for 32GB modules, so while I think using up to 16GB modules (for a maximum of 32GB) should be fairly well supported, I think you may run into issues if the 32GB modules aren't listed on the QVL.

MSI Z390 Motherboards Now Support Up To 128GB of RAM

MSI's latest BIOS update enables support for up to 128GB of DDR4 memory on its complete Z390 motherboard lineup.

www.tomshardware.com

I'd at least check with Scan if they know if the modules are supported, or if you can return them if they don't work.

 

[Neophyte]

@Mr Whippy, have you contacted Gigabyte's support? Perhaps there are some 32GB sticks they've tested that aren't on the QVL. It's odd that their spec says the board will support up to 64GB (the ITX one, right?) but they haven't tested any RAM that matches that spec.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Thanks for the insight Alex. When it comes down to the technical stuff this is why I wasn't willing to risk it. It's not just a case of all ram being the same, especially on 32gb sticks it seems.

I'd have been sending a motherboard, ram, cpu etc back to the vendor, or having to buy extra ram to test etc... it'd have been a real waste of time and money. Too many technical reasons to not just go with QVL info.


I've gone with the Asus B550 board as it has the RAM specifically listed which Scan also sell. A shame as I'd have gone with the Gigabyte X570 as my preferred choice but hey ho.

Scan also sold out of the Aorus drive so I think I'll get one of those Sabrent ones from Amazon, the specs seem the same as the Aorus, and Amazon should be easier to send something back if it doesn't end up working (I'm sure it will, but nothing is on the QVL for Sabrent... I bet it's just same as Aorus one)


Good show for Asus for making decent QVL materials any way, or at least putting a few 64GB kits on there!


Cheers

 

[AlexTSG]

@Mr Whippy I don't think you can go wrong with the ASUS board, and buying from the QVL does give you peace of mind.

I made sure the HyperX Fury 32GB Kit I chose was on the QVL for my MSI B550I for the same reason, I just want everything to work!

I'm making do with an existing Samsung EVO Plus SSD as I believe Samsung should have a PCIe 4.0 M.2 coming out later this year so I'd like to wait for that. I've been very happy with their drives so far. We're using nearly 100 of them at work, all the way from old EVO 840s which must be going on 6 years now, and still going strong.

 

[Mr Whippy]

I went with an MP600 2Tb Corsair SSD for now. The 0.5tb and 1tb (iirc) are on the Asus B550-i QVL, and the price was best on this one.

As you note, I didn't want to over-spend on a fancy pcie3 Samsung now when I know they'll have a decent pcie4 drive along soon which I can then splash out on.
Though if I'd even notice the difference would be another thing, but Samsung will be the one's to make it obvious, as if anyone can then it'll be Samsung... all their previous SATA pro ssds have been game-changers at the time in my view.