AMD have confirmed that along with their newly announced X570 motherboards for Ryzen Zen 2 / 3000 CPUs, their previous generation chipset motherboards will support the new Ryzen 3000 processors, such as the Ryzen 5 3600, Ryzen 7 3700X / 3800X and Ryzen 9 3900X. The chipsets that will support these new Ryzen 3000 processors include the X470, B450, B350 and X370 motherboards, but will require a BIOS update out of the box for it to be compatible.

Therefore, if you want to build a Ryzen 3000 PC with an X470, B450, B350 or X370 motherboard, you will need to pick one with USB BIOS Flashback – to make this BIOS update as easy as possible and for it to be compatible with Zen 2.

In this short guide, we will overview all B450, X470 and X370 motherboards with USB BIOS Flashback, and thus compatible with the new AMD Ryzen 3000 processors in 2020.

AM4 Motherboard (B450, X470, X370) List with USB BIOS Flashback

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Now that AMD Ryzen Zen 2 has finally been released and PC builders are beginning to get their hands on this highly anticipated line of processors, many are asking the same question for their Ryzen 3000 build – what are the best RAM timings for the Ryzen 5 3600, Ryzen 7 3700X/3800X and Ryzen 9 3900X?

Impressively, the new X570 chipset motherboards for Ryzen Zen 2 support very fast memory clock speeds, in some cases DDR4 RAM is supported up to 4666 MHz! For most builders, however, what is important is getting the most performance and value for the money – and picking the right DDR4 RAM and memory timings to get optimum performance from the Ryzen 7 3700X / 3800X / Ryzen 9 3900X build.

Related: Best Graphics Cards for Ryzen 7 3700X Builds

Any RAM kit you do buy for the Zen 2, technically you will be able to overclock it past its claimed rating on the box, which is what the RAM speed guarantees to run at. If you download the Ryzen DRAM calculator it will be possible to manually overclock your RAM past its manufacturer’s rating, or use the XMP technology which makes RAM overclocking far simpler.

In this guide we will show you the best RAM timings to pair with Ryzen 3000 builds – and also offer some recommended DDR4 RAM suggestions for Ryzen Zen 2 builds in 2021. HardwareLuxx did a benchmark testing the Ryzen 7 3700X at different memory speeds, to see which memory timings are the best performing under different tests. We will be using these findings to recommend the best RAM for Ryzen Zen 2 builds.

It is important to note which RAM speeds your build will support is dependent on the chipset & motherboard you build you Zen 2 system with. For example, many B450 motherboards such as the B450 Pro Carbon AC will only support p to 3466 MHz RAM, but the new X570 chipset motherboards will support past 3600 MHz+ – even up to 4666 MHz!

CL14 vs CL16 for Ryzen 3000?

If you’re deciding between CL14 and CL16 memory for Ryzen 3000 / Zen 2 – we would recommend opting for C14 as the best memory rating since it is optimised for tighter timings and utilises B-Die memory from Samsung, which have been known to have better compatibility with Ryzen IMC.

Related: Best RAM for Ryzen 9 3900X Builds

Best RAM for Ryzen 3000 – My Recommendations

Best RAM for Ryzen 3000	Award	Recommended Model	Design	B-Die
DDR4 3600 CL16	Best performance	G.Skill TridentZ RGB		Yes
DDR4 3200 CL14	Best value	G.SKILL TridentZ		Yes

1. DDR4-3600 CL16 – Ryzen 3000 Memory Sweet Spot

According to HardwareLuxx’s recent test where they compared the performance of the Ryzen 7 3700X at different memory speeds, they concluded that DDR4-3600 with a CL18 was the sweet spot for Zen 2 builds, in terms of performance relative to its price.

According to AMD themselves, they recommend 3600MHz CL16 as the sweet spot for Ryzen 3000 series processors, in terms of price to performance ratio, and thanks to the Infinity Fabric technology, memory will scale up at a 1:1 ratio up to 3733 MHz, and above this clock speed it will begin to use dividers, and the performance effects of higher clock timings will become marginally smaller.

It was originally speculated that DDR4 3733 MHz was going to be the fastest RAM for Zen 2, but these tests showed that DDR4 3600 MHz outperformed the higher clock speed rating in many storage capacity tests (Cinebench) as well as in gaming situations, such as Battlefield V and Division 2 FPS tests.

In addition, these results go against the contrary of this Reddit thread discussing the best RAM for Ryzen 3000 – where 3200MHZ CL14 is theoretically the fastest memory when using memory featuring Samsung B-Dies.

Our recommended 3600 MHz CL16 Memory for Ryzen 3000 builds is the G.Skill TridentZ RGB, which features Samsung B-Die DDR4 that helps you overclock this further, timings of 16-16-16-36, and features one of the best-looking heatsinks on any DDR4 memory kit.

If you want maximum performance RAM for your Ryzen 3000 build, or want the best RAM for the X570 chipset – then we recommend going for DDR4 3600MHz CL16 RAM, with Samsung B-Die since these perform exceptionally well on Ryzen systems.

DDR4-3600 CL16 DDR4 Memory List

(Table below has horizontal scrolling enabled – best viewed on a full-width desktop to see all data columns for the DDR4-3600 MHz RAM)

2. DDR4-3200 CL14 – Best Value & Compatible with B450/X470 Motherboards

It has been noted that 3200MHz CL14 is theoretically the fastest memory timings for Ryzen Zen 2 compared to 3600MHz CL17 and 3733MHz CL17 on paper, but the recent test at HardwareLuxx goes against this – or at least for the Ryzen 7 3700X.

Thankfully, the test does show that DDR4 3200 CL18 performs (almost) just as fast as DDR4 3600 and 3733 in FPS tests and Storage tests such as Cinebench – and thankfully the 3200 MHz memory speed will be supported by many more motherboards including the B450 and X470 chipset.

3200Mhz CL14 memory kits are far cheaper than the other memory options I have mentioned for Zen 2 builds, and theoretically, you should be able to overclock your 3200MHz kit to 3733 MHz without breaking a sweat using the DRAM calculator.

The best 3200MHz CL14 B Die Memory Kit for Ryzen 3000 we recommend is the G.SKILL TridentZ series, with a timing of 14-14-14-43 and a voltage of 1.35V.

DDR4-3200 CL14 DDR4 Memory List (B-Die only)

(Table below has horizontal scrolling enabled – best viewed on a full-width desktop to see all data columns for the DDR4-3200 CL14 RAM. In addition, I have only included B-Die memory as these are by far the best performing on Ryzen systems. If I have missed any that should be included, let me know!)

• Related: Best X570 Motherboards for Ryzen 3000 Chipsets
• Related: Best Graphics Cards to Pair With the Ryzen 5 3600
• Related: Best Graphics Cards to pair with the Ryzen 7 3700X & 3800X
• Related: Best Motherboards for Ryzen 7 3700X & 3800X Builds
• Related: List of AM4 Motherboards with USB BIOS Flashback
• Related: Best RTX 2060 Super Aftermarket Cards

The post Best RAM Timings for Ryzen 3000 CPUs (3600 / 3700X / 3800X / 3900X) appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

The wait is over, AMD Zen 2 is finally here. Builders can now begin to spec and build their upcoming Ryzen 5 3600, Ryzen 7 3700X, Ryzen 7 3800X and Ryzen 9 3900X builds – with people wanting to build with the blisteringly fast 3950X will have to wait until September to do so.

We are starting to see builders post, show and review their Ryzen 3000 builds, and these builds are starting to give us some idea on what the best performing components are to pair with the Ryzen 7 3700x and 3800X – such as picking the appropriate motherboard, CPU cooler or the right graphics card to ensure no bottlenecking of the Zen 2 system.

In this guide, we are going to focus on the best graphics for Ryzen 7 3700X & Ryzen 7 3800X builds in 2019 – picking the best-fitted graphics cards that have a relative performance to the 3700X/3800X and will ensure no sort of bottleneck in your upcoming Ryzen 3700X / 3800X build. Without further ado, let’s get to it and show you the best GPUs for Ryzen 3700X builds.

Best Graphics Cards for Ryzen 7 3700X (& 3800X) Builds – My Recommendations

Best Graphics Cards for Ryzen 7 3700X & 3800X	Design	Retailer
AMD Radeon 5700 XT
Nvidia RTX 2070 Super
Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti

1. AMD Radeon Navi 5700 XT

The newly released AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is aimed to rival the also newly-announced RTX Super series, specifically the RTX 2070 Super and above. AMD hasn’t always been on a level with Nvidia in terms of their graphics card performance, but we think this may have now changed with the introduction of their Navi range of graphics cards.

The Navi 5700 XT is built on a new 7-phase design, 7nm process an RDNA architecture, claimed to produce 25% more performance per clock than its brother, the RX Vega 64 – whilst having less bandwidth and fewer compute units. This powerful card is cooled with a chunky blower style cooler, but we have yet to see aftermarket 5700 XT cards cooling styles – which we imagine can improve on the cooling further and thus performance.

Connectivity wise, the Navi 5700 XT features 3 DisplayPort connectors and one HDMI 2.0 connector and lacks a USB Type C connector as seen in the new RTX Super series graphics cards, as well as VirtualLink – which is a technology we are a big fan of.

If you’re looking to build a Ryzen 3700X PC and want a great performance graphics card to pair with this Zen 2 processor, offering fantastic value for its specs – them we recommend the Navi 5700 XT for the Ryzen 7 3700X and 3800X.

It would be great if AMD were to bundle the 5700XT with the Ryzen 7 3700X, and offered some sort of combo discount – that way many builders would likely build with this graphics card instead of Nvidia.

2. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super

The new RTX Super series of graphics cards by Nvidia is an update on their Pascal based RTX cards, and are welcomed by many PC builders with a decent improvement on performance. This new generation of Nvidia graphics cards now offer even better value for money than the previous generation, and making the RTX Super graphics cards good options for future Ryzen Zen 2 builds.

The new RTX 2070 Super is a great graphics card to pair with the Ryzen 3700X or 3800X, for those looking to game at 1440p or even 4K – with this graphics card claimed to perform 2% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti in real-world applications – meaning that this graphics card retailing at $499 offers enthusiast-grade performance even for those on a budget.

The RTX 2070 Super is due to release in July 2019, and specs wise has a base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, with a memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s, and a rated TDP OF 215W.

We think the RTX 2060 Super is also a good graphics card to pair with the Ryzen 7 3700X, but we think the 2070 Super is perfectly aligned to the performance of the 3700X, whereas the RTX 2060 super is a great card to pair with the Ryzen 5 3600X (as outlined in this guide).

3. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

If money is of no object, then we recommend pairing the Ryzen 7 3700X with the RTX 2080 Ti – which will create a monstrous 3700X build that will be capable of pushing out some serious benchmark scores and high framerates. Right now, the RTX 2080 Ti is the absolute best consumer-grade graphics card on the market right now, and if you have the money to afford a Ryzen 7 3700X + RTX 2080 Ti build, then we say go for it.

If you want to be gaming at 1440P 100Hz or 4K 60Hz in your Zen 2 build, then the RTX 2080 Ti is the graphics card to pair with your Ryzen 7 3700X in 2019.

In terms of which RTX 2080 Ti card to go for, there are plenty of aftermarket cards to pick from, although due to availability and demand they all command quite the premium over the retail price. We have a standalone guide to the best RTX 2080 Ti aftermarket cards here, but right now in 2019 our favorite RTX 2080 Ti is the ASUS ROG Strix edition.

The reason this is our pick is due to its fantastic and efficient power delivery, mammoth triple fan cooling setup, and extremely high stock base and boost clocks – with room to overclock further. If you can get your hands on the ASUS RTX 2080 Ti Strix, then get this card for your Ryzen 7 3700X build.

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