Question AsRock B450 Pro4 and Ryzen 5 3600 memory compatibility

[Vegtam]

Howdy, folks

I'm having trouble finding information about the memory compatibility regarding Asrock B450 Pro4. I'm using this mobo with a Ryzen 5 3600 (matisse). The mobo website (https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450 Pro4/#BIOS) don't have the memory QVL list for this particular CPU.

In the specifications says it does support 3200mhz (not OC) with R5 3600 Matisse, but not which modules like Pinacle Rigde or Summit Ridge have listed. I sent two e-mails in the past two months to AsRock, but no answers yet.

I tried two memory sets already, none of them get past 2133mhz in any way, XMP or whatetver.

My question is, anyone have this particular setting or have any info about it?

 

[Darkbreeze]

QVL doesn't matter. They NEVER list all the compatible memory. They are ONLY a fast, loose guide, to what KINDS of memory tend to be compatible. Using the memory finder or compatibility listings on the MEMORY manufacturers website is a far better method if you want to know that the manufacturer says that one of their products DOES work on a specific motherboard.

Probably WON'T run at 3600mhz, but it COULD. ASRock has not updated the Pro4 page with any Matisse information, only Raven ridge and Pinnacle ridge. Not surprising since often the lower cost motherboards fail to have their product pages updated in a timely manner, if at all in some cases.

So long as they have upated the BIOS to support Zen2/Matisse, then it should support 3600mhz memory although that doesn't necessarily mean it WILL run at that speed. Even on an X570 board, you might, and probably will, run into issues that either require you to drop the speed a bit to 3400/34666mhz or even further in some cases depending on how many DIMMs are installed and what type of ICs are used on the specific DIMMs in question. Many variables that might affect this. To be honest, there is not much proof that anything above 3400mhz is going to translate into a tangible performance gain.

You will almost certainly have to manually configure the memory on that board if you want to use something that is not specifically AMD focused timings. You want even numbered timings, so CL 14, 16, 18, etc., and also you might need to make additional changes manually such as changing the Command rate to 2T if it at 1T by default or playing around with the Gear down or other settings.

The single most important thing you need to do is make absolutely certain you have the MOST recent BIOS version installed, because just about every BIOS update so far on Ryzen, other than those that were to support new CPUs, has had some kind of memory compatibility improvement involved.

 

[Vegtam]

QVL doesn't matter. They NEVER list all the compatible memory. They are ONLY a fast, loose guide, to what KINDS of memory tend to be compatible. Using the memory finder or compatibility listings on the MEMORY manufacturers website is a far better method if you want to know that the manufacturer says that one of their products DOES work on a specific motherboard.

Probably WON'T run at 3600mhz, but it COULD. ASRock has not updated the Pro4 page with any Matisse information, only Raven ridge and Pinnacle ridge. Not surprising since often the lower cost motherboards fail to have their product pages updated in a timely manner, if at all in some cases.

So long as they have upated the BIOS to support Zen2/Matisse, then it should support 3600mhz memory although that doesn't necessarily mean it WILL run at that speed. Even on an X570 board, you might, and probably will, run into issues that either require you to drop the speed a bit to 3400/34666mhz or even further in some cases depending on how many DIMMs are installed and what type of ICs are used on the specific DIMMs in question. Many variables that might affect this. To be honest, there is not much proof that anything above 3400mhz is going to translate into a tangible performance gain.

You will almost certainly have to manually configure the memory on that board if you want to use something that is not specifically AMD focused timings. You want even numbered timings, so CL 14, 16, 18, etc., and also you might need to make additional changes manually such as changing the Command rate to 2T if it at 1T by default or playing around with the Gear down or other settings.

The single most important thing you need to do is make absolutely certain you have the MOST recent BIOS version installed, because just about every BIOS update so far on Ryzen, other than those that were to support new CPUs, has had some kind of memory compatibility improvement involved.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm just trying to set it to 3200 as the memory manufacturer says: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz CMK16GX4M2B3200C16W. This one don't post with anything more than 2133mhz, even with last BIOs and clearing the CMOS.

I tried with TGroup Vulcan Z 16gb (2x8) 3000mhz TLGD416G3000HC16CDC01, but no success too. The max I could get was 2400mhz in DC, and it goes back to 2133 after reboot.

 

[logainofhades]

From experience, with that board, I know this ram will work. You can find the exact model elsewhere. I see no reason it will not work, with an R5 3600. It worked with my 3700x, albeit in an x570 gigabyte board. It is currently sitting in a B450 Asrock ITX board with an R5 1600.

https://www.microcenter.com/product...desktop-memory-kit-f4-3200c16d-16gvkb---black

 

[Darkbreeze]

Have you tried manually setting the four (Three actually, and one secondary) primary timings, the command rate and not setting to speed that Ryzen dislikes. I don't know of many, if any, people that have had success with 3000mhz on any Ryzen system. 2933mhz, yes. 3200mhz, yes. For some reason it does not like 3000mhz, does not like odd numbered timings and it's looking like it might not like 3400mhz either as I've found several people that could get their kits to run at 3466mhz or 3300/3366mhz, but not 3400mhz.

Again, make sure you have the latest BIOS version. Also, if you've had other memory installed, it is a good idea to do a hard reset of the BIOS, and THEN try manually configuring the memory. You can even try setting the speed manually and leaving everything else on auto as a last ditch. The Ryzen calculator, if you haven't tried it, seems to work for a lot of people as well.

The Pro4 is a very basic budget board though, and while it is a good option for the price, it's not going to be as capable or offer the same level of compatibility with all configurations as a higher end board.

Still, if all else fails I'd contact ASRock because there might be something wrong with the board.

Also, and this is important, if you are not using the second and fourth DIMM slots, you need to do that. Ryzen will often not work at all when memory is installed in other slots and the A2 and B2 slots are the two DIMM slots that SHOULD be used, for ALL dual channel motherboards, anyhow, when two DIMMs are installed.

 

[Vegtam]

Have you tried manually setting the four (Three actually, and one secondary) primary timings, the command rate and not setting to speed that Ryzen dislikes. I don't know of many, if any, people that have had success with 3000mhz on any Ryzen system. 2933mhz, yes. 3200mhz, yes. For some reason it does not like 3000mhz, does not like odd numbered timings and it's looking like it might not like 3400mhz either as I've found several people that could get their kits to run at 3466mhz or 3300/3366mhz, but not 3400mhz.

Again, make sure you have the latest BIOS version. Also, if you've had other memory installed, it is a good idea to do a hard reset of the BIOS, and THEN try manually configuring the memory. You can even try setting the speed manually and leaving everything else on auto as a last ditch. The Ryzen calculator, if you haven't tried it, seems to work for a lot of people as well.

The Pro4 is a very basic budget board though, and while it is a good option for the price, it's not going to be as capable or offer the same level of compatibility with all configurations as a higher end board.

Still, if all else fails I'd contact ASRock because there might be something wrong with the board.

Also, and this is important, if you are not using the second and fourth DIMM slots, you need to do that. Ryzen will often not work at all when memory is installed in other slots and the A2 and B2 slots are the two DIMM slots that SHOULD be used, for ALL dual channel motherboards, anyhow, when two DIMMs are installed.

I managed to make this Corsair sticks to work, but now I got another problem:

The memory works at 3200mhz, but is very unstable. Lots of blue screens and crashes. Did a MemTest86 scan, and I got 1414 errors (Dual channel, 3200mhz). But when I go on lower clocks, it doesn't show any errors whatsoever. I tested all slots with single rank and scanned with Memtest86 on all of them, got no errors.

So, the problem is running these modules at 3200mhz. I am able to run at 3133 flawless (so far), but I want to squeeze every bit of FPS from these sticks. Does anyone have a solution to that?

 

[Darkbreeze]

For future reference, when testing memory, the second there is even ONE error, stop, because you are wasting your time to go any further. ANY errors are the same as one thousand errors. One error means "this ain't gonna work", whatever "this" IS. There is NO "acceptable" amount of errors when it comes to testing memory. One, and done. Go fix the problem or make a change, and then retest. Usually, we see these for one of three reasons.

1. Memory is bad and has a physical problem.

2. The configuration is not compatible, such as one or more timings, or there is not enough DRAM voltage for the configuration to be stable, or something in the makeup of the memory module simply does not work with the board or chipset. In some cases, things like the number of ranks on a module, the density of the memory, or other considerations regarding what was used to assemble that specific memory could be the problem. Basically, it just does not want to play nice with that board or platform.

3. The memory is simply not compatible with the motherboard OR the motherboard needs a BIOS update because there is an issue with errata or microcode that must be patched for there to be stability and compatibility.

And in some cases, a fourth reason, which is that there is a hardware issue such as bent pins on the motherboard or CPU, a short to the motherboard somewhere such as a standoff that is in the wrong place between the board and the case, or a CPU cooler that is unevenly tightened down and is causing the CPU to be cocked in the CPU socket which causes it to ACT as if there were bent pins because some connections lose contact or contact where they shouldn't.


Since they run fine at a lower clock speed, try increasing the DRAM (Memory) voltage slightly. Use increments of between .005-.020v, depending on what the smallest increment is that your board will allow you to increase the existing DRAM voltage by, and try increasing by that amount, save settings, test. If an error shows up, go back and increase again, Rinse and repeat. If you cannot get them to be stable by the time you get to 1.4v (And usually long before then) then there is a problem related to one of the four issues I indicated above.