The DDR4-3600 RAM Shootout: Do Timings Matter, plus RGB Comparison & AMD "Gear Down Mode" Tweak!

While RAM manufacturers are eager to sell you higher-frequency RAM, it's not all made equal, because timings do in fact matter! In this shootout, I take three 16GB DDR4-3600 kits and run the benchmarks on a Ryzen 9 3900X and a Core i9-9900K to find a winning price/performance combination. I also pick a winner for best RGB lighting and share a special performance tweak for AMD users!

Here are the three kits I tested:
Winner, Best Price/Performance: Patriot 2x8GB Viper RGB DDR4-3600 (17-19-19-39) - https://amzn.to/3eNoXZW
DRAM Components: Samsung B-die: K4A8G085WB-BCPB
Don't want the RGB? Then pick up the awesome-looking Patriot Viper Steel version and save even more money! - https://amzn.to/2ZXQbIY

Winner, Best RGB: Corsair 2x8GB Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3600 (18-19-19-39) - https://amzn.to/30CiDj0
DRAM Components: Micron E-Die D9VPP

Corsair 4x8GB Dominator Platinum RGB DDR4-3600 (16-18-18-36) - https://amzn.to/3hq9T6f
DRAM Components: Samsung B-die: K4A8G085WB-BCPB
Note: I used just two sticks from this kit during testing; here's the product page for the 2x8GB kit: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categor...

For those who really want to go down the rabbit hole with RAM turning, check out this great resource suggested by viewer TheMist: https://github.com/integralfx/MemTest...

Here are the two test systems I benchmarked on:
AMD:
Ryzen 9 3900X: https://amzn.to/32KrWA2
Asus X570-E Gaming: https://amzn.to/30GjVcP
EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Black: https://amzn.to/3fZxc6K
Corsair MP600 1TB: https://amzn.to/39oDKsR

Intel:
Core i9-9900K: https://amzn.to/39lFLpS
Asus Z390 Maximus XI Hero WiFi: https://amzn.to/3htRFkj
EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Black: https://amzn.to/3fZxc6K
Samsung 970 Pro 1TB: https://amzn.to/2ZW6PJ8

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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro - Why I'm doing this
00:39 - The timings being tested
02:23 - Intel and AMD test platforms
02:52 - A look at the kits
03:24 - A look at the RGB effects
04:29 - The critical AMD "Gear Down Mode" Tweak for odd-numbered CL timings!
06:49 - Synthetic and Content Creation Benchmarks
09:25 - Gaming Benchmarks
12:02 - Conclusions