AMD: ZEN3 architecture finished – expects 15% faster IPC

I might as well also say my Ryzen 2700 was definitely not capped to 2900MHz RAM speed either. It had no issues running 3600MHz XMP2 profiles, and with the set I ended up using, I used 3500MHz with much tighter timings than most 3600 kits. 2900MHz is an anomaly and something was obviously wrong.

As for this topic... at this point I'm starting to worry a bit that prices will be too high if Intel can't beat AMD until 2022 or later. But 15% is good stuff, if they keep pumping out IPC improvements like that without security issues slowing it down later with patches, having a low frequency might not matter for long in single threaded tasks if Intel has nothing to answer with.

Still butthurt that the advertised turbo speeds were effectively lies by marketing department.

 

You must have got a real dud. My Ryzen 1200 on AB350 Pro4 runs my RAM at 2933 mhz C16 with one early BIOS update. Ryzen 2400G on B450 Pro4 runs it's RAM at 3200 mhz C14 with no BIOS updates. And I think my memory controller is weak on the 1200.

 

My r5 1600 with some hynix mfr 3200mhz kit maxes out at 3000mhz ram and refuses to stabilize any higher no matter what I do and the same kit refused to go any higher on my r5 2600 so it could be more about the ram than the CPU I tested my Samsung b-die kits on both CPU's and both worked no problems.

 

The machine is fine and exhibits none of the problem symptoms with boosting or clocks, nor does it have stability issues*. This is a production machine first and foremost (though I do some 2d games and occasionally 3d games aside of the one I create content for). I will update the BIOS when I have spare boards in stock but not right now, as I wish not to lose a day driving to Micro Center if something goes south - can't afford it this month (well could, but would be tighter than I wish). Please respect my judgement that is different when it comes to a machine that earns me some cash. If it was a gamer, I'd have updated it the day I got it. Right now several people's income streams depend on me being ready and able at the machine "to computer" when they say "computer!".
*My long-dying RX 480 8gb went to the big tower in the sky this morning, as I booted up waking up from what was a power failure. It's been dying for 6 months though (and is the reason this machine was built), so I have had warning, and had it down-clocked for months. That is the first time I've seen the 'We're sorry, Windows has encountered an error :*(' screen though on this machine.
When I am all done with my computer-ing, over the holiday I'll update it. Not on a day when Micro-center is closed, though.
On the topic of RAM speeds...
Ryzen RAM speed was a bit of a bummer when it first came out in 2017. Not all chips would do proper speed; be it the IMC being weaker on some dies than others, weak IF clocks, or the motherboard BIOS + RAM or Chip's IMC + RAM + BIOS not getting along, and also board traces got progressively shorter and better shielded, as the later models of motherboards came out (as it was necessitated).
Later models of Ryzen (such as 12nm 2xxx and especially 7nm 3xxx) had much better luck with memory speeds and IMC better yields. Also, as time progressed, manufacturers / board vendors got more RAM working (motherboard manufacturers via BIOS updates) and RAM manufacturers produced sticks designed to handle the new Ryzen better, labeled Ryzen Ready or 'AMD compatible', etc. While this is normal and expected for both a new process AND an entirely new socket/platform and CPU architecture, it was a lot of 'new' at once. This is normal for these things to happen, and for veterans who lived through the 'nForce chipset' era of Core 2 Duo (the only hope of SLI machines), this is something that was all-too-familiar. I will say with the internet now-a-days, it was much easier to find RAM that Ryzen liked VS those hit-or-miss nForce boards back in 2006~2008. So where intel often makes very small changes to architecture, and process - and does so one at a time normally... those baby steps are easy to keep up with. But leap-frogging to a whole new design - yes - it's not going to be all peaches and cream. I have a friend who can't get his 2933mhz RAM to 2933 with a R5 1600 chip on an Asus Prime B350 board to save his hide. I by contrast merely set XMP BIOS on my paltry 3000mhz CL-15 'on sale' Micron sticks (2x16gb), and it was off to the races with it. What a difference two years of technology maturity makes. So while yes, there were quite some issues to iron out with RAM speeds, that's very old news now UNLESS you have a board without manufacturer updates for the BIOS. Without updates, please refer to the QVL (as many folks DID NOT) to avoid the problems the QVL-ignoring folks had. Don't take this as a fight or argument, it's unintentional if you feel that way. Just please agree to disagree if you must - but these things happen in PC land. We ALL know it's not all rosey ALL the time.

@K.S. The first time I was at Micro Center was this summer. I walked out with over 800$ in parts and a whole new Ryzen system in two bags of stuff (when intel ruled the roost 5 years ago, it was 50% more expensive!). Picked up a used Fractal full tower I won at auction for best-offer buy-it-now of 50$ (was a 200$ case!!!), and was so happy I didn't even care I had to sit in an hour of Atlanta-to-Chatanooga traffic on the way back. I think they like me there, but yes, it's a little slice of heaven walking in there. I am glad it's four hours away though - if only for the sake of I like having money in my bank accounts and my bills paid! If I am good, when I die I won't go to heaven, I'll go to Micro Center.

on-topic... finally...
I'm just super-happy that this new architecture will likely be drop-in compatible with boards, just as I was to see Zen 2 stretch it's legs. I think only the Core 2 and original K-7 series / Athlon Slot A series had me this giddy for hardware updates (cpu-wise) in the last 25 years of PC hardware. Though even if I don't update for years, I'll be happy until Windows does the 'Chugga-Chugga' (slow!), then we all know what that means...
Competition = yay! I buy who-ever's got the best bang for the buck on the newest or close-to-newest platform. There's no sense buying something dated if you're going to run it to the gill making things or gaming. You'll be glad you did years down the road when you update parts of the machine, if you weren't from the start already. Just make sure it has everything you need, otherwise it's not worth buying.