Well guys, so far so good but with a minor issue. It seems my rig becomes unstable when my RAM kit runs with its advertised 3600MHz frequency speed also when XMP is on. For now to have no issues, I have to dial down the frequency speed to 3200MHz instead since that is also the designated optimized frequency assigned with my 3700X.
I might want to do a reset of my CMOS just to see it might be needed since after all, I replaced my Trident Z Neo 16GB with a Hyper X Fury Beast 64GB, and I know instability should not be an issue, unless dialing down the frequency was the right thing to do.
Kind of sucks, but I will take an overall working and stable PC all day than a BSOD nightmare-filled unstable mechanical monstrosity.
my board’s BIOS is already at its recent version, but I will do check its QVL for I have not done that yet. I hope it is compatible, if not, welp I am screwed and might as well let it run with lower speeds.
This is becoming more and more common as Ram speeds stretch into higher and higher territory - you can buy two of the same DIMMs, with identical part numbers, model numbers, speed ratings, CAS latency, timings, etc. If you didn’t buy them as a matched two channel kit, odds are you will have to run them a little slower for proper stability. Matched two channel kits are tested specifically to run XMP at rated speeds together, where single DIMMs aren’t really checked for this (and may, in fact, be sold individually because they failed to “match” with any other sticks).
Remember that XMP is by definition an overclock, and might not be stable, even if “supported”. If you have any overclocking experience, you might be able to find the timings and speeds for the XMP profile for this model, and feed it into the UEFI manually, and test for stability - dialing down slowly if you experience any gremlins.
Yeah but what sucks about my current kit is that, both are the same model pretty much though I did bought them separately due to my carelessness of not reading the description on the item that I am getting back then, for I thought I was getting a 2x16GB kit, instead I got a 32GB single stick. That’s pretty much the thing on why I have a 64GB RAM kit and they are identical, both have the same frequency speed and the same CAS latency and timings.
I might give that shot, enter the timings, etc. manually along with the frequency speed and see how it goes. if it doesn’t, I might do a CMOS reset just to be sure or you know just stick with a lower frequency speed of 3200MHz.
If you do it manually, and it seems to check out, remember to put the memory through a rough test or two - system benchmarking tests that include memory tests. While a benchmark is running, open up the basic calculator app, and try some straightforward arithmetic. Faulty basic math is one of the first very subtle signs that a system is on the edge of stability but not yet showing significant gremlins. If a benchmark that vigorously tests memory is running, and you can patience your way through a few basic calculator inputs, and they check out, then you’re likely good to go. OTOH, if a benchmark is running, and suddenly calculator thinks 10 divided by 2 is somehow equal to 17, then dial it down a little, because you’re on the edge, just waiting for an actual failure in the middle of a game.
This might sound like an odd question, but did you pass over a bunch of BIOS updates to get to the most recent version? Ryzen can be finicky when it comes to that. If you did, I’d suggest rolling back to the oldest BIOS version that you can safely go back to and then slowly update every 2-3 updates, checking to make sure everything works properly as you go, until you are on the latest version again.
That’s my first thought for what could be causing your instability. Assuming, of course, that the RAM is on the QVL. Because I would expect that a 2x32 3600 would be fine on your setup. I wouldn’t think you’d run into issues unless you tried to add another 2x32 kit to make it 4x32. That would likely play havoc with your CPU’s IMC and getting it to run at 3600 would very possibly be a nightmare. But unless you just got really unlucky and your specific 3700X has a weak IMC, 2x32 should run 3600 at reasonable timings.
Yeah I will do that, thanks for the tip, for I don’t want this 64GB kit that I worked my ass off for go to waste for this one has been an expensive set of RAM sticks, let alone buying two of them just because of my previous screw up for I cannot see myself running a single stick of 32GB RAM all day, for I would have preferred a dual-channel 32GB kit instead, but I didn’t get it due to me buying a single stick 32GB.
Yes I did, out of the box the B550 board I got is only compatible to 3000 series Ryzen chips, and I did a BIOS update to its most recent one just to have it able to run with 5000 series chips. Also I checked the QVL for my board and it seems the only maximum memory that seems to be fine with it would be 32GB max and I have not seen a 2x32GB compatibility with it.
I believe that’s how I was able to tighten the timings on my RAM as much as I did. It’s rated for 2666 15-17-17-35 1.2V. Couldn’t get it to run any faster (but that’s 1st Gen Ryzen for you), but i got the timings tightened to 14-16-14-30 1.2V. They are single rank, but I don’t remember what difference that’s supposed to make.
CPU-Z thinks my FSB:DRAM is way off (3:40) though
So I checked my RAM stick’s model number or whatever the hell you call it, and it’s KF436C18BBA/32. I also checked my motherboard’s support page and compatibility page which is the MSI MPG B550 Gaming Plus, and as I looked at the list, I cannot see a single KF436C18BBA/32 on it, instead I am seeing KF436C18BBA/16 or /8 and I presume those are its 16GB and 8GB counterparts.
Yep, after all of the things I did to make it run at 3600MHz, but the results ended up in failure despite entering the designated timings designed for it. I knew from the get-go despite that they are the same model and parts but I bought them separately, I have pretty much accepted the fact that I won’t be able to run these two with the same frequency speed, therefore just going to pretend that I have a 3200MHz 64GB kit.
This would’ve had not been a problem if I looked enough thoroughly for other RAM kits that consists of 2x16GB back then.
I did some digging, and your kit is Dual Rank SK Hynix AJR. It does show up on the QVL for the Z590 Godlike, so it is likely that it really isn’t verified for the B550 Gaming Plus. What I’d try, when you get time, is instead of enabling XMP, manually set the speed and primary timings to the advertised specs and see if that works. If it does, at least you have those working. And if you are feeling brave after that you can always play with the sub-timings. If it doesn’t work, slowly increase the primary timings by 1 until it does work. Oh, be sure to set DRAM voltage to 1.35 -1.4v and VSOC to 1.1 - 1.15v.
I did tried that earlier, manually setting the speed and primary timings but alas, my PC froze after booting up and I am getting sick of the constant crashes tbh. Also I did updated my BIOS again since there was a new version for this and yet, it didn’t worked for me in the long run. But yeah, maybe I’ll try setting those voltages along with the VSOC, for I mostly leave them auto most of the time for I am a bit intimidated on tinkering some settings.
Anymore, it’s a lot harder to really brick things. The board manufacturers have gotten reasonably good at putting decent safety precautions in to prevent you from killing things. But if you aren’t sure about something you can always ask here, or PM me and if I’m able to help I’m more than happy to.
Necessary step! I forgot to mention voltage in my previous post, but yes, to run faster, you will need to supply sufficient juice. @Michael nice catch!
Most of the settings are at default except for the frequency speed which I set it up to 3200MHz. I am willing to do the things that you guys have told me but in order make sure I know what I am about to do, I need to know which settings should I tinker that are essential so that I can avoid any recurring errors that might happen, and I don’t want my build to become a graveyard anytime soon.
So, the first thing to do is set CPU Core Voltage to Manual and set it to 1.35v. MSI is throwing entirely too much voltage at your CPU at stock settings.
On to memory though: The two settings you are looking for are DRAM Voltage and CPU NB/SoC Voltage. Set those to 1.35v and 1.1v respectively. Then set your DRAM frequency to 3600. Finally, set your primary timings to: 2, 18, 22, 22, 22, 44.
I think part of the problem might be that it’s trying to run your dual rank memory kit at Command Rate “1”. If that doesn’t work though, you can bump DRAM Voltage and CPU NB/SoC Voltage to 1.4v and 1.15v. That should be more than sufficient to get it working. Though I think you should be fine with 1.35v/1.1v along with the other changes.
If nothing I said works though, it may well be that you got bitten by the bad end of the silicon lottery and that particular CPU’s IMC just doesn’t like 32GB DIMMs. That’s also a possibility. Hopefully it’s not the case though.
Have you just tired resetting all your BIOS to “default” ?
Edit: Most games these days are not bottlenecked by hardware. They are bottlenecked by the Developers goal to allow most games to perform on a variety of grades of computers.
F’ing around with BIOS, overclocking, etc. did result in improvements 10 years ago. It’s not really necessary nowadays.
About 4 years ago I built a new high end gaming rig. I held off for about a year from buying a new GPU due to high prices. I ran a 1050 TI that I used on my old build, waiting for prices to drop.
About a year later I finally conceded and spent $1,200 on an EVGA 2080 TI Ultra.
Not long after, NVidia announced the release of the RTX 3xxx - for half the price!
Karma!
I just checked the price of my GPU on Amazon - it’s now priced at over $2,000!
