I'm saving up to get a 5700X3D around Christmas, upgrading from a 5600G, but I want to make sure I prepare properly before I do the swap.
The RAM I bought couldn't match the C18 @ 4000 M/Ts advertised and still remain stable, but I managed to manually overclock to C16 @ 3666. Should I drop to JDEC specs before I upgrade, or is it a non-issue?
This is a pretty general statement without having more information.
If you're only changing the CPU, I wouldn't worry about it. It shouldn't affect the stability of your memory but at worst it won't boot and you'll have to go into the BIOS and change your settings.
3666 produces a good latency with C16, and I was able to boost Infinity Fabric up past the default to 1967 (it's complicated, but it's something you can do under certain circumstances). I had to get the highest speeds I could manage, because the original build was a stopgap before GPU prices dropped.
Unless I can get the RAM to work at C14 @ 3600, it won't be much of an improvement over what I have currently.
My stability suite is a mix of OCCT, TM5, and Prime95. Takes about 3-4hrs to get through all of them. 😅
I'd definitely take the opportunity to make sure the BIOS is up to date (just to be sure you're running one that supports the newer CPU), or just default everything if you're already on the current version before pulling the 5600G and dropping the new one in. Then after you've confirmed the board recognizes the 5700X3D it's just a matter of changing your settings back and dialing in the memory timings.
I know it's tedious, and probably not strictly necessary, but I figure it's better to start off with a clean slate whenever you swap out a CPU or reconfigure your memory, just so something you didn't think about doesn't come back to bite you later on.
I usually just go through all the BIOS screens where I've made changes and take photos with my phone, then use those as cheat sheets to refer back to.
It should rember the RAMs clockspeed but watch out when taking the cpu out.
If you got the 5600g when it released the thermal paste might be hard as concrete by now. I had to rip my CPU out the socket and pry it off the cooler afterwards with a scary amount of force.
I dunno what AMD uses for thermal paste but we should be using it to construct megastructures rather than a thermal compound.
I also forgot to update my BIOS so had to put the old CPU back in again to do the upadate. So definitely check your BIOS versions CPU compatibility first. Updating the BIOS will wipe out all your configurations though
Every motherboard I've used resets the ram speed, and everything else back to default when I've swapped the CPU (or even just removed it sometimes). But if your board supports saving "profiles" those may be saved, and if you can save them to a flash drive then even better.
But honestly just take a picture on your phone of the memory timings screen.
You're going from a monolithic die CPU to a standard chiplet config. Whilst your current profile doesn't sound too demanding, I think the IMC behaviour here will be quite different.
You may have to gear down slightly or tweak your primary timings a little.
(Sorry for the late reply. My instance had fallen behind yours until recently.)
Yeah, that was kind of my suspicion. I pretty much only did primary and secondary timings, but I did raise the Infinity Fabric to 1967, so there's definitely some changes that could affect the IMC.
This was my first PC build, so it will be my first CPU upgrade, and I have no paradigm of what to expect! Sounds like I might just have to back up the timings and drop to JDEC for the upgrade. And who knows? Maybe the new CPU will be able to support the XMP from the manufacturer.
I think a reasonable assumption to make is that silicon quality improves as a process matures; a later batch Vermeer X CPU (like the 58/5700 X3D) may perform in some ways above and beyond it's original spec.
With that said, I feel it's unlikely to reach your kit's profile (anything north of 1900 running stable on the fclk for an am4 chiplet CPU is practically unheard of) but I'd be interested in how the testing goes, since I've not tried to tune on a new AM4 system in some time now.
If you're able to identify the exact memory ICs in your kit, you may have some better expectations; f what primary and secondary timings would work best. The only way I've been able to do this in the past is by looking up the memory kit part model or using janky, windows specific software called thaiphoon burner (which isn't always accurate in any case).