Memory and Storage

Best RAM for AMD Ryzen 3000 Processors: Impact of Memory Frequency on Gaming Performance

When it comes to AMD’s Ryzen 3000 processors, the memory speeds and latency have a greater impact on performance than Intel’s Coffee Lake processors. This is because of the Infinity Fabric linking the various chiplets of the CPU. It’s ideal to have the memory and the Infinity Fabric running at the same frequency (as high as possible) with 3700MHz being the upper limit. As per AMD, 3600MHz is the sweet spot for memory speed. If you go below this, the latency between the various chiplets and the IF will increase whereas if you go higher, the Fabric and memory will be decoupled, running in a 1:2 mode which isn’t exactly the ideal situation.

Best Memory Speed for AMD Ryzen 3000 Processors for Gaming

In this post, we’ll be testing the impact of memory speeds on the gaming performance in case of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X. We’ll test two DX12 titles at the most popular memory kit speeds and analyze how the gaming frame rates are affected and how much should you actually spend on RAM or memory.

Test Bench

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (read the review here)
  • GPU: GeForce RTX 2080
  • Motherboard: ASRock Taichi X570
  • Memory: Trident Z Royal 16GB @ 3600MHz
  • PSU: Corsair HX1000i
  • HDD: WD Black 4TB
  • Games tested: Shadow of the Tomb Raider & The Division 2 (Ultra)

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Memory Benchmark: Gaming Performance

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12)

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Ryzen 7 3700X seems to be running into a CPU bottleneck at 1080p with 125 FPS being the ceiling, and as such, the impact of memory speed isn’t that pronounced. However, switching from 2666MHz to 3000MHz does grant a hefty boost of almost 20 FPS or 20%.

At 1440p, the performance scaling is more uniform with a solid FPS boost at every step till 3200MHz. Using a 2400MHz kit, you get just 85 FPS using a Ryzen 7 3700X. On moving to 3200MHz, you gain a whole 10 FPS and another couple of frames when topping out at 3600MHz. To no one’s surprise, the game is more or less GPU limited at 4K, pretty much taking out the CPU and memory out of the picture.

The Division 2 (DX12)

The Division 2 being an AMD partner title is well optimized for the Ryzen 3000 CPUs. Going from 2400MHz to 3000MHz doesn’t really grant a notable boost, but on switching to a 3600MHz memory kit, you see an uplift of 7 FPS over the 3200MHz memory.

At 1440p, the game appears to be limited by the GPU. However, on moving from 2400MHz to 3200MHz, you do gain a couple of frames. At 4K, the memory speed once again seems to be more or less irrelevant.

Conclusion: Best Memory for AMD Ryzen 3000?

As you can see, the impact of memory will vary from game to game and resolution to resolution. Most games as AMD recommends, perform the best at 3600MHz on the Ryzen 3000 chips with 3400MHz being more or less on par. There’s a small delta between 3200MHz and 3600MHz kits, but if you have a look at their prices, there’s a major gulf. (Modafinil) Most 3000MHz and 3200MHz memory kits (dual-channel) cost around 9-10K INR, while the 3600MHz ones cost over 20K. Not really a worthy upgrade unless you’ve got a lot of spare cash lying around. Basically, if you are looking to buy a memory kit for your 3rd Gen Ryzen processor, go for a 3200MHz kit and overclock it to 3600MHz for the best results.

Areej Syed

Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have been writing about computer hardware for over seven years with more than 5000 published articles. Started off during engineering college and haven't stopped since. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Divinity, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so much more... Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
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