RAM upgrade - advice requested

[Derek Smith]

I use my desktop for image and video, incl audio, editing (Affinity, Resolve Studio, and various audio software), with a bit of 3D modelling (Blender). Other than that, it’s word processing, browsing and watching Prime video.

My desktop:

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X AM4, on an Asus Tuf Gaming B550M-PLUS DDR4 mATX motherboard with 2 x 32gb DDR4 2400MHz Corsair Vengeance for RAM.

I have a GeForce RTX 3030 12GB GDDRS.

I have a 2TB SSD for OS, with 1TB+ not being used.

I’ve been told my RAM is slowing my video processing by a self-proclaimed computer expert, with 3600MHz being recommended.

Is my RAM throttling my processing? Rendering of video is fast. I get no hangs or blue screens. I’m happy enough, but have £100 or so sloshing about in my computer fund which, if it will speed up my computer noticeably, I’m willing to sacrifice.

I’ve been a bit of a computer nerd in the past, building my own for my first Windows 94 desktop, and updating it every couple of years until 2020, but I’ve fallen behind of late and would appreciate help.

[BlueMR2]

No experience myself however this gives an idea of performance differences based on ram speed and timings.

I linked to the end conclusion but you can go back to see more info.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-zen-2-memor...

[Derek Smith]

BlueMR2 said:

No experience myself however this gives an idea of performance differences based on ram speed and timings.

I linked to the end conclusion but you can go back to see more info.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-zen-2-memor...

Thanks for the link. When I was populating the motherboard, I was told by the shop that, as in the penultimate paragraph of your helpful link, that the 'clock' only went up to 1700–1800 MHz, and anything above might not be value for money for me. I got it as a good price, and went from a Ryzen 7 to 9 with the money over.

Cheers.

[xeny]

One upgrade that might be worth considering would be to snag a 2nd hand 5950 from a gamer who has upgraded to a 5800X3D or similar.

This would be more than £100, but is likely to be the only thing that would give you a perceptible improvement.

[maffski]

It would be faster, but not enough to make a worthwhile difference.

It's correct that the maximum memory clock is 1700/1800 but the first D in DDR stands for Double - it sends data on both the start and end of the clock tick, so DDR4 3400/3600

[mmm-five]

According to Puget Systems benchmarks on some common video editing tools (Premiere Pro, Davinci Resolve, After Effects, and a NeatBench test), the difference can be as little as 0% to as much as 10% between 2666Mhz and 3600MHz.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/does-ra...





Depending where the 'bottleneck' is in the workflow, you might get a bigger increase with a CPU upgrade (if it's multi-core, IPC workload) or a GPU upgrade (if there's a lot of GPU-accelerated workflow).

Generation to generation CPU change might only offer 10-15% gain (so 3900 to 5900), but going to a 5950 might give you 15-20% gain due to the extra cores and better IPC of the Zen4 architecture over the Zen3.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/amd-ryz...

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 17th September 11:25

[Derek Smith]

mmm-five said:

According to Puget Systems benchmarks on some common video editing tools (Premiere Pro, Davinci Resolve, After Effects, and a NeatBench test), the difference can be as little as 0% to as much as 10% between 2666Mhz and 3600MHz.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/does-ra...

I appreciate that, and all the advice guys.

I think I've got it. I understand the upgrade to the GPU, but I'm wary of going second-hand. I have a budget of £300pa for computer bits and I might wait until the New Year and see what's on offer.

My concern was my advisor was so certain; always a scary sign.

Thanks again, guys. Very helpful advice.

[rodericb]

I would check that things in the BIOS which should be turned ON, or should be AUTO actually are so you're not missing anything there. Check that the RAM is in the correct slots (slot 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 - depends on the motherboard but will be in the instructions). See if there's any resource-sapping processes going on in the background. The usual system tweaking things...

[eeLee]

sounds like a classic case of a solution looking for a problem.....