[SOLVED] Can´t use higher RAM frequency

[Popkos]

Hello guys,

I´ve just build a new pc:

AMD Ryzen 2600X
Patriot ViperX 16 GB 3200 MHz
Asus Dual GTX 1060 6 G
MOBO MSI B450M GAMING PLUS

I have a problem with RAM.
RAM is running at 2133 MHz, and when i try to use XMP in bios ( two profiles, one 2933 MHz, second 3200 MHz ), the PC does not boot.
There is a function in bios called "Memory Try It", where i can choose from a long list, which frequency and timing i wanna use. 3200, 3000, no chance of booting.
When i tried from that list 2800 MHz, PC has booted, but there were bluescreen after while, when booted into windows.

I´m quite frustrated, that i cannot use RAM at higher speed.
Do you have any TIP for getting maximum juice from that RAM?

Thank you.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

BIOS most recent?

 

[thx1138v2]

Looking at the specs for that mobo, 2667MHz is the highest non-overclocked speed for that board.

You don't seem to understand what overclocking is. Overclocking is, by definition, working beyond the guaranteed operational parameters of the system. It may work. It may not. And it depends on the exact hardware you have - not generally speaking- but specific to the physical components in your machine.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You don't use "try it" settings. You enable the XMP profile for the memory in the BIOS under the memory settings.

But before you do that, you do as DLOT has suggested and make sure you have the most recent BIOS version installed. Then try enabling the XMP profile.

Is your memory kit made up of 2 x8GB or 4 x4GB?

Are your memory modules installed in the A2 and B2 slots, which are the second and fourth slots over from the CPU socket?

 

[Popkos]

BIOS most recent?

Yes, i´ve updated it to the most recent non-Beta build.

 

[Popkos]

You don't use "try it" settings. You enable the XMP profile for the memory in the BIOS under the memory settings.

But before you do that, you do as DLOT has suggested and make sure you have the most recent BIOS version installed. Then try enabling the XMP profile.

Is your memory kit made up of 2 x8GB or 4 x4GB?

Are your memory modules installed in the A2 and B2 slots, which are the second and fourth slots over from the CPU socket?

My bios is updated to the latest non-Beta build. With the new version nothing changes. Still wont boot, if i turn on XMP profile 1 or 2.

I have 2x8GB kit.

My version of mobo has only two slots.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450M-GAMING-PLUS/Specification

 

[Darkbreeze]

Good point. Kind of hard to put them in the wrong slots on a two slot board ain't it?

Try resetting the BIOS by doing a hard reset as follows:

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS, and try the 2933mhz XMP profile again.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

What is the exact model number of your memory kit?

 

[Popkos]

Good point. Kind of hard to put them in the wrong slots on a two slot board ain't it?

Try resetting the BIOS by doing a hard reset as follows:

Power off the unit, switch the PSU off and unplug the PSU cord from either the wall or the power supply.

Remove the motherboard CMOS battery for five minutes. In some cases it may be necessary to remove the graphics card to access the CMOS battery.

During that five minutes, press the power button on the case for 30 seconds. After the five minutes is up, reinstall the CMOS battery making sure to insert it with the correct side up just as it came out.

If you had to remove the graphics card you can now reinstall it, but remember to reconnect your power cables if there were any attached to it as well as your display cable.

Now, plug the power supply cable back in, switch the PSU back on and power up the system. It should display the POST screen and the options to enter CMOS/BIOS setup. Enter the bios setup program and reconfigure the boot settings for either the Windows boot manager or for legacy systems, the drive your OS is installed on if necessary.

Save settings and exit. If the system will POST and boot then you can move forward from there including going back into the bios and configuring any other custom settings you may need to configure such as custom fan profile settings or other specific settings you may have previously had configured that were wiped out by resetting the CMOS, and try the 2933mhz XMP profile again.

In some cases it may be necessary when you go into the BIOS after a reset, to load the Optimal default or Default values and then save settings, to actually get the hardware tables to reset in the boot manager.

What is the exact model number of your memory kit?

Is using jumper on mobo for restarting BIOS meant as hard reset, as you described above?
I used this and the startup screen for setup came on.
BTW when I use XMP profile, there is a boot loop, which has no ending unless i reset BIOS via jumper.

Exact model of my RAMs is:

Patriot Viper 16 GB (2x8 GB) DDR4 - PC25600 3200 MHz
Serial number:
PV416G320C6K

 

[Darkbreeze]

No. Using the jumper does not usually achieve the same result as a hard reset. It does reset the BIOS, but it doesn't always work as intended. Sometimes using the jumper does not actually reset the full Monty so to speak.

It SHOULD, but it doesn't. Even removing the CMOS battery doesn't ALWAYS achieve the same result as removing it an pressing the power button continuously for 30 seconds or so to dissipate any residual power left in the system that might allow the CMOS to retain settings. Normally, it should. But we've seen resets using the jumper just not result in the same thing.

But it CAN, so I'd say try one and if that fails, try the other. Or just do the full Monty from the start just to be sure.

The timings on those sticks SHOULD be ok with your platform, however given the motherboard model I'd be somewhat surprised if you were able to get those sticks running at higher than 3000mhz being as they are not high end sticks. If they were B-die sticks, then you MIGHT have more success.

I'd try going into the BIOS after a hard reset, set the XMP profile and then manually change the memory frequency to 2933mhz. Save settings and exit.

If the system will keep those settings and complete the POST process, you could go back and try them again at 3000mhz. If it will work like that, then try them at 3100mhz. Then 3200mhz. At whatever speed they decide to not work, then go back through the process again and settle on the last speed that worked, and then test for stability by running four passes of Memtest86 as shown below.

Spoiler: Click here for Memtest86 stability testing procedure

Testing your memory configuration to verify stability

Before you decide that this section is not worth your time or get lazy thinking you don't need to test because you you're system "seems" fine, with no obvious blue screens, freezing or restarting, let me make one thing VERY, VERY CLEAR.

ANY amount of instability in your memory configuration is enough to cause what are known as micro errors. This is a very miniscule error which, if it only happened one time might not ever be a factor but when it happens cumulatively in small increments over time, can result in complete and total corruption of your operating system, documents, game files, applications, music, movies, everything, to the point of being a complete and total loss with no chance of recovery.

Memory configurations that are not as close to 100% stable as possible are not a joke. They WILL eventually cause widespread corruption of the entire file system. Don't cut corners because it's simply not worth it. If you are unwilling to do the testing necessary to make sure the system is stable you should simply leave the memory at the default configuration and that includes NOT setting the memory to the XMP profile if the profile of the memory is beyond what the system automatically configures the memory speed and timings to by default. Do the testing. One day out of your life is not going to kill you but not doing it might make you wish you had died if you lose a lot of very important information and personal files that can't be replaced.



Memtest86


Go to the Passmark software website and download the USB Memtest86 free version. You can do the optical disk version too if for some reason you cannot use a bootable USB flash drive.

Create bootable media using the downloaded Memtest86 (NOT Memtest86+, that is a different, older version and is outdated). Once you have done that, go into your BIOS and configure the system to boot to the USB drive that contains the Memtest86 USB media or the optical drive if using that option.


Click here to download Memtest86 USB package

Create a bootable USB Flash drive:

1. Download the Windows MemTest86 USB image.

2. Right click on the downloaded file and select the "Extract to Here" option. This places the USB image and imaging tool into the current folder.

3. Run the included imageUSB tool, it should already have the image file selected and you just need to choose which connected USB drive to turn into a bootable drive. Note that this will erase all data on the drive.


No memory should ever fail to pass Memtest86 when it is at the default configuration that the system sets it at when you start out or do a clear CMOS by removing the CMOS battery for five minutes.

Best method for testing memory is to first run four passes of Memtest86, all 11 tests, WITH the memory at the default configuration. This should be done BEFORE setting the memory to the XMP profile settings. The paid version has 13 tests but the free version only has tests 1-10 and test 13. So run full passes of all 11 tests. Be sure to download the latest version of Memtest86. Memtest86+ has not been updated in MANY years. It is NO-WISE as good as regular Memtest86 from Passmark software.

If there are ANY errors, at all, then the memory configuration is not stable. Bumping the DRAM voltage up slightly may resolve that OR you may need to make adjustments to the primary timings. There are very few secondary or tertiary timings that should be altered. I can tell you about those if you are trying to tighten your memory timings.

If you cannot pass Memtest86 with the memory at the XMP configuration settings then I would recommend restoring the memory to the default JEDEC SPD of 1333/2133mhz (Depending on your platform and memory type) with everything left on the auto/default configuration and running Memtest86 over again. If it completes the four full passes without error you can try again with the XMP settings but first try bumping the DRAM voltage up once again by whatever small increment the motherboard will allow you to increase it by. If it passes, great, move on to the Prime95 testing.

If it still fails, try once again bumping the voltage if you are still within the maximum allowable voltage for your memory type and test again. If it still fails, you are likely going to need more advanced help with configuring your primary timings and should return the memory to the default configuration until you can sort it out.

If the memory will not pass Memtest86 for four passes when it IS at the stock default non-XMP configuration, even after a minor bump in voltage, then there is likely something physically wrong with one or more of the memory modules and I'd recommend running Memtest on each individual module, separately, to determine which module is causing the issue. If you find a single module that is faulty you should contact the seller or the memory manufacturer and have them replace the memory as a SET. Memory comes matched for a reason as I made clear earlier and if you let them replace only one module rather than the entire set you are back to using unmatched memory which is an open door for problems with incompatible memory.

Be aware that you SHOULD run Memtest86 to test the memory at the default, non-XMP or custom profile settings BEFORE ever making any changes to the memory configuration so that you will know if the problem is a setting or is a physical problem with the memory.

After your memory will pass Memtest for 4 full passes, it is still not necessarily stable, but it is a good start and you should move on the the last phase of testing using Prime95. See, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Popkos]

No. Using the jumper does not usually achieve the same result as a hard reset. It does reset the BIOS, but it doesn't always work as intended. Sometimes using the jumper does not actually reset the full Monty so to speak.

It SHOULD, but it doesn't. Even removing the CMOS battery doesn't ALWAYS achieve the same result as removing it an pressing the power button continuously for 30 seconds or so to dissipate any residual power left in the system that might allow the CMOS to retain settings. Normally, it should. But we've seen resets using the jumper just not result in the same thing.

But it CAN, so I'd say try one and if that fails, try the other. Or just do the full Monty from the start just to be sure.

The timings on those sticks SHOULD be ok with your platform, however given the motherboard model I'd be somewhat surprised if you were able to get those sticks running at higher than 3000mhz being as they are not high end sticks. If they were B-die sticks, then you MIGHT have more success.

I'd try going into the BIOS after a hard reset, set the XMP profile and then manually change the memory frequency to 2933mhz. Save settings and exit.

If the system will keep those settings and complete the POST process, you could go back and try them again at 3000mhz. If it will work like that, then try them at 3100mhz. Then 3200mhz. At whatever speed they decide to not work, then go back through the process again and settle on the last speed that worked, and then test for stability by running four passes of Memtest86 as shown below.

Spoiler: Click here for Memtest86 stability testing procedure

Testing your memory configuration to verify stability

Before you decide that this section is not worth your time or get lazy thinking you don't need to test because you you're system "seems" fine, with no obvious blue screens, freezing or restarting, let me make one thing VERY, VERY CLEAR.

ANY amount of instability in your memory configuration is enough to cause what are known as micro errors. This is a very miniscule error which, if it only happened one time might not ever be a factor but when it happens cumulatively in small increments over time, can result in complete and total corruption of your operating system, documents, game files, applications, music, movies, everything, to the point of being a complete and total loss with no chance of recovery.

Memory configurations that are not as close to 100% stable as possible are not a joke. They WILL eventually cause widespread corruption of the entire file system. Don't cut corners because it's simply not worth it. If you are unwilling to do the testing necessary to make sure the system is stable you should simply leave the memory at the default configuration and that includes NOT setting the memory to the XMP profile if the profile of the memory is beyond what the system automatically configures the memory speed and timings to by default. Do the testing. One day out of your life is not going to kill you but not doing it might make you wish you had died if you lose a lot of very important information and personal files that can't be replaced.



Memtest86


Go to the Passmark software website and download the USB Memtest86 free version. You can do the optical disk version too if for some reason you cannot use a bootable USB flash drive.

Create bootable media using the downloaded Memtest86 (NOT Memtest86+, that is a different, older version and is outdated). Once you have done that, go into your BIOS and configure the system to boot to the USB drive that contains the Memtest86 USB media or the optical drive if using that option.


Click here to download Memtest86 USB package

Create a bootable USB Flash drive:

1. Download the Windows MemTest86 USB image.

2. Right click on the downloaded file and select the "Extract to Here" option. This places the USB image and imaging tool into the current folder.

3. Run the included imageUSB tool, it should already have the image file selected and you just need to choose which connected USB drive to turn into a bootable drive. Note that this will erase all data on the drive.


No memory should ever fail to pass Memtest86 when it is at the default configuration that the system sets it at when you start out or do a clear CMOS by removing the CMOS battery for five minutes.

Best method for testing memory is to first run four passes of Memtest86, all 11 tests, WITH the memory at the default configuration. This should be done BEFORE setting the memory to the XMP profile settings. The paid version has 13 tests but the free version only has tests 1-10 and test 13. So run full passes of all 11 tests. Be sure to download the latest version of Memtest86. Memtest86+ has not been updated in MANY years. It is NO-WISE as good as regular Memtest86 from Passmark software.

If there are ANY errors, at all, then the memory configuration is not stable. Bumping the DRAM voltage up slightly may resolve that OR you may need to make adjustments to the primary timings. There are very few secondary or tertiary timings that should be altered. I can tell you about those if you are trying to tighten your memory timings.

If you cannot pass Memtest86 with the memory at the XMP configuration settings then I would recommend restoring the memory to the default JEDEC SPD of 1333/2133mhz (Depending on your platform and memory type) with everything left on the auto/default configuration and running Memtest86 over again. If it completes the four full passes without error you can try again with the XMP settings but first try bumping the DRAM voltage up once again by whatever small increment the motherboard will allow you to increase it by. If it passes, great, move on to the Prime95 testing.

If it still fails, try once again bumping the voltage if you are still within the maximum allowable voltage for your memory type and test again. If it still fails, you are likely going to need more advanced help with configuring your primary timings and should return the memory to the default configuration until you can sort it out.

If the memory will not pass Memtest86 for four passes when it IS at the stock default non-XMP configuration, even after a minor bump in voltage, then there is likely something physically wrong with one or more of the memory modules and I'd recommend running Memtest on each individual module, separately, to determine which module is causing the issue. If you find a single module that is faulty you should contact the seller or the memory manufacturer and have them replace the memory as a SET. Memory comes matched for a reason as I made clear earlier and if you let them replace only one module rather than the entire set you are back to using unmatched memory which is an open door for problems with incompatible memory.

Be aware that you SHOULD run Memtest86 to test the memory at the default, non-XMP or custom profile settings BEFORE ever making any changes to the memory configuration so that you will know if the problem is a setting or is a physical problem with the memory.

After your memory will pass Memtest for 4 full passes, it is still not necessarily stable, but it is a good start and you should move on the the last phase of testing using Prime95. See, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you for your time.

I solved the problem by trying different RAMs and they works with that MOBO with XMP on 3200 MHz without any problem.

So I´m now using Corsair Vengeance RAMs and they work absolutely without a problem.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Cool man. I'm glad you got it sorted out. Best luck to you.