OFFICE & HOME THEATRE
Let’s assume you have an old GPU
from an out-of-date system that
you’re going to be plugging into this
build, because until the Zen APUs
come out, you’ll need a dedicated GPU
to run a Ryzen HTPC or office system.
A single stick of 4GB DDR4 at
2,666MT/s fits the bill perfectly.
Ryzen has always been a bit fussy
with memory, so make sure you go for
a good mainstream brand here, and
stick with 2,666MT/s and above
where you can.HYPERX FURY 4GB (1X 4GB) @ 2,666MT/S, CAS 16 £41–£69
GAMING
That price jump is painful, but we
reckon it’s worth it for this kit. For
gaming, frame rates matter, and
near-instantaneous communication
between Ryzen’s intricate core
complexes certainly helps batter
those low frame rates into
submission, at the very least. With a
super-low latency of 10ns, a
3,200MT/s kit with a CAS latency of
16 will set you back a good £200, but
it’s definitely the best way to game on
Ryzen. Period.CORSAIR VENGEANCE LED 16GB (2X 8GB) @ 3,200MT/S, CAS 16 £180–£220
WOR KSTATION
We’ve opted for more capacity here,
but a slight drop in frequency in
contrast with the gaming
recommendation above. This is
mostly centred around the notion that
the gains from Threadripper’s
memory speed increase (from 3,000
to 3,200) weren’t that impressive.
That said, it’s still a kick-ass kit, and
the latency combo is perfect, if you
can get a kit at a good price. G.Skill’s
Ripjaws V series is the best value
we’ve seen so far.CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 32GB (4X 8GB) @ 3,000MT/S, CAS 15 £330–£370
Feature
MEMORY MATTERS
THE RECOMMENDED SPECS
Now we’ve wrapped up exactly how AMD
benefits from memory speed in particular
(thanks, Infinity Fabric), it’s time we got
down to the nitty-gritty of recommending
some kits and specs. As with the Intel
recommendations, it’s worth noting thatyou don’t need to stick with the brands
we’ve picked out below, because prices are
fluctuating about rather haphazardly at this
point. We’ve just tried to balance, price,
spec, and performance to come up with the
perfect pairings for your AMD-based build.As noted previously, gamers in particular
need to shop around for the best deals,
because today’s high-end games won’t
compromise on their minimum RAM, and
ideally you want to be running slightly over
the lowest recommended specs.