Help me overclock my RAM? I clearly have no clue what I'm doing... (Ryzen 9 3900x)

dr.stevil

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I built this rig in February of this year and just recently realized that my memory was only running at 2133mhz, well below the advertised 3600mhz, and I'm aware that faster memory does have an impact on performance on this platform, which is why I opted for 3600mhz memory in the first place. Once I noticed the actual speeds I was running at, I tried using the built in XMP profile which shows all the correct specs for the RAM, and upon reboot, hear some clicks and lots of memory training (fans ramping up/down), only for it to default back to the SPD memory speeds once it posts.

So far, by adjusting the memory multiplier to 33 (everything else set to the default/auto), I'm able to get it up to 3333mhz but that's a hard limit. If I push it to up to 34 (for 3400mhz) it defaults back to the SPD speeds like I described when using the XMP profile. I've tried upping the voltage to see if that's causing the issue but it doesn't seem to have any affect on it which doesn't surprise me as the stock voltage of 1.2v seems enough for 3333mhz. I haven't overclocked anything on my PC's since the Q6600 days and having not followed it too closely over the past decade+, I realize how out of the loop I am.

I looked through the EFI to manually set all the memory specs myself to see if that will have an effect, but there are FAR too many variables in there that I have no idea what they're doing. Does anyone want to give me a hand attempting to get 3600mhz out of this RAM?

Ryzen 9 3900x
64GB G.Skill Ripjaws V (F4-3600C16Q-64GVKC)
Gigabyte x57 Aorus Elite
BeQuiet DarkRock Pro 4
850w Corsair PSU
AMD Vega 64
 
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Is your ram on the QVL?
Ryzen's memory controller is very picky. Someone with more ambition than I will likely look up your sticks and let you know what you should expect, but IIRC anything but samsung B die ram struggles to hit (or flat out fails) advertised overclock speeds. 3333mhz might be all you get.
If you have B-die chips, i would be surprised, they typically just hit speeds with XMP.

Oh, and dont be afraid to add a few mV... you'll need it to overclock.
 
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My board is listed as compatible with the memory from the memory website, but not the other way around. However, I just assume that’s due to gigabyte not thoroughly testing every possible combination with their boards.


It seems odd to me that memory marketed as 3600mhz memory wouldn’t be able to reach 3600mhz, but like I said, I’ve really been out of the loop on all of this. If 3333 is all I can get out of it then it is what it is, but 3600 would be ideal.

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Thats been a complaint since ryzen launched. Lots of chips cant hit their advertised overclock speeds. Much salt has been spread because of this.

Now the fact G.Skill has it on their webpage as supported, that sounds like an email to support to me. They might be able to help you out with what bios version you should use, etc...
or if you're feeling like it, RMA? maybe you just got a bad module?

Personally i'd try upping the voltage a bit and see where that gets you. When you're manually overclocking you often have to set the timings manually as well. Google should help you with what timings your ram will like best at a given clock speed, thats outside my area of expertise.

You might also be able to just add some voltage and then try to set XMP as well.
 
Thanks for the help. If I don’t get any results online I will contact g.skill support, that’s really good advice!

I also checked the gigabyte website again for QVL’s and it IS on there, but it only lists it as an 8GB stick, not 16GB... not sure if that matters at all
 
Also make sure that you change the memory voltage to 1.35V, most faster memroy wont work if you leave it at default voltages. XMP wont set the voltage it needs to run at.
 
Also make sure that you change the memory voltage to 1.35V, most faster memroy wont work if you leave it at default voltages. XMP wont set the voltage it needs to run at.
That’s good to know! I’ll give that a shot
Edit: no dice :( I even bumped it to 1.4 and still get the same behavior
 
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Might want to check if there is a bios update also, there have been several AMD updates for memory over the last year. That may help with getting your ram to run at the correct speed.
 
Manually set timings to 16-19-19-39 in BIOS and voltage to the specified 1.35V for the kit. Do not use XMP and leave the rest of the RAM timings to Auto. Or try the Ryzen DRAM calculator for all the timings to set. And as suggested check for latest BIOS for your board.
 
Thanks, I tried that this morning and still get the same behavior unfortunately. For shits and giggles, I wanted to see what my memory timing defaults to using 3333mhz via the memory multiplier and holy cow, that doesn't seem right. 24-23-23-55.

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Also, BIOS is up to date with latest from Gigabyte (F30).

edit:

So I set the XMP profile to 3600mhz and kept the memory multiplier at 33.33 and it improved the timings to what I'd expect. Making some progress!

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So I can’t help but come to the conclusion that 3333mhz is a wall I won’t be able to get past for whatever reason :(
 
Just checking the AMD website, they list memory support "up to 3200mhz". I expect your simply fighting with Ryzen's memory controller and infinity fabric limitations. You may well be right.
 
You're running 4 sticks which is a known difficulty with Ryzen, even 3rd gen. I'm impressed that you managed 3333 MT/s. With first or second gen, you'd be lucky to get past 2666.

Fortunately, the real world difference between 3333 and 3600 MT/s will be just a percentage point, or less, in most uses. Zen 2 isn't as memory frequency sensitive as Zen 1 and Zen+ were.
 
You are using a 4x16GB configuration for RAM. AMD officially only supports speeds up to 2666MHz or 2933MHz using four modules depending on whether the RAM is single or dual ranked. Most Ryzen compatible motherboards are built using a daisy chain topology for the memory trace layout. This is not ideal for using four modules. T-Topology would be better for running four modules but the trade off is that T-Topology boards still don't clock RAM as high as their daisy chain counterparts. Many of the issues running four modules disappear though.

It is possible to achieve higher speeds using four modules in some cases, but its a crap shoot. Some modules work better than others for doing this but it really comes down to your specific Ryzen's memory controller and the motherboard you are using. PCB design, firmware, etc. all come into play. For that board, I don't think DDR4 3333MHz is all that bad. Anything over 3200MHz is essentially a gift with this platform.
 
I appreciate the feedback guys. Didn't even consider that it could be a result of populating all 4 ram slots but that actually makes plenty of sense and not sure why that didn't dawn on me earlier.

Anyway, I think I'll be happy with 3333Mhz and will call it a win. Thanks for taking the time to help me out with this.
 
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It can be done. I had to get lucky with my 3950X, choose specific memory modules and go for a very expensive motherboard to get it done.
 
Very nice! I'm certainly not that gung-ho about hitting higher speeds to start replacing parts, but good to see that it IS possible with the right combo of hardware and luck haha

Enjoy!
 
Right now I have a terrible pc and my CPU is the bane of my existence. I can’t get anywhere near finishing projects because my computer will buffer and crash even when everything is on draft mode.

If I buy a new pc with a 3900x, will I ever even have to think about the CPU again? Or should I go with a more high-end CPU?
Start your own thread. Tell us there what your current cpu is, and what programs crash.
 
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