I am going to upgrade my 8gb desktop pc. I have 2 free slots and 2 slots with 2x4gb 2400Mhz. I will buy 2x8gb with 3600 MHz. Should I put them together and have 24gb at 2400Mhz or should I remove the 2x4 in favor of the 3600Mhz.
I’m asking because I read that when you have 2 different ram speeds it will default to the lower one.
Edit: it’s for gaming and I have a Ryzen 3 1200 with a b350m as a motherboard
First generation Ryzen struggles with higher memory speed. You very likely will not get the full 3600MT/s. There’s no real reason to buy slower, just be aware you’re likely going to hit a ceiling.
For gaming you might see bigger improvements from upgrading the CPU, maybe to an R5 3600. That and the memory are both going to offer big performance improvement.
Can they not run an X3D processor? I’m in love with my 5800X3D, best processor I’ve had since the 2500k. I miss overclocking but the performance is fantastic stock.
Some B350m models did get Zen 3 compatibility. Not all, if I remember correctly, though I could be wrong. So whether it’s compatible I think is model dependent. Whether an old B350m has the VRMs for a chunkier CPU would also be a reasonable question.
I mentioned the R5 3600 because the prices on them are great. A 5800X3D does perform better, but I see completed eBay listings at $225+. They also needs a cooler. I see one 3600 that went for about $50 and several that went for $60, which isn’t too much more than a 16gb kit of DDR4.
I would definitely consider a Zen3 CPU for this upgrade, depending on budget.
I’m 99% sure his 350 board and processor don’t support 3,600 anyhow. My ryzen 5 and 350 board doesn’t.
Yeah, even the better boards struggled to break 3,000MT/s with Zen 1. They sure were fun to play with, though, one of the last times I felt like tinkering was actually getting me something.
I’d be curious how the more modern “default” 3600 kits do, I didn’t have a Ryzen system by the time they were popular and cheap.