Cannot overclock RAM, System refuses to post

[Zharradan4]

Hi all, i have a frustrating problem. I recently upgraded my motherboard to a Ryzen chip which meant a new motherboard. The RAM i have is 3000MHz which should give sufficient performance. After building, i went into bios and found that my RAM was only running at 2133MHz, which i read is what DDR4 defaults to. Problem is, when i try and activate a XMP profile to bring it back up to 3000MHz, my computer will restart, and refuse to post back up. The fans will spin up and there's sounds of life, but my display will not connect or my keyboard/mouse will not initiate either. The only way I can fix this is by removing my CMOS battery and resetting the BIOS, allowing me back into the system. CPU temps are normal 30°C at idle.

I have also tried to manually change the voltage to 1.45 before i bring the ram speeds up but with no success either. Any help would be appreciated as my system doesn't seem to be getting the right performance in games. My BIOS is also at the latest on the website.

Thanks:

CPU: Ryzen 5 1600x
Motherboard: MSI B350 Tomahawk
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16Gb (8x2)
PSU: Cooler Master 550W

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

You may have to try 2933MHz (or lower). I don't have a Ryzen system but that was what I heard a lot of users saying. Your MSI board should have a Try It! memory feature that you can select the speed you want and it will adjust timings and voltage accordingly.

--> Also, be sure you have the latest BIOS update from MSI. That should allow your memory to work at full speed.

 

[Zharradan4]

Thanks for the response. I do have the latest BIOS update and no luck. My motherboard doesn't have a try it as far as I know, and i've tried every single ram speed under 3000MHz and no luck.

 

[Zharradan4]

Update. I've found the memory try it. After going to 2933MHz, my computer repeatedly turned off and on without posting by itself. Then it powered itself and is now staying on. But it refuses to post again

 

[IInuyasha74]

By chance do you have another DDR4 system you can test the RAM in?

The RAM may simply be defective and unable to operate at the speeds it is supposed to.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Also, are you sure the timings and voltage are changing when you increase the speed?

 

[Zharradan4]

No only the one DDR4 system. Ram could be faulty but memtest has no issue with it. And definitely, the timings and voltage are increasing. I have even experimented with manually changing both myself. Maybe it's a faulty motherboard? When i first got the board it was struggling to restart and post/boot when installing windows before i updated the BIOS.

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

Can you tell us the exact model of your memory?

 

[Zharradan4]

Exact model is Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15W Vengeance LPX

 

[IInuyasha74]

Did you run the memtest at the 3000MHz speed?

It could be the motherboard, but I'd hate to recommend seeking an RMA until we are more sure. These kinds of issues suck, because they can be hard to trace down. You may do that and then find out it is the memory controller in the CPU, the RAM, or just a BIOS glitch.

 

[Zharradan4]

Can't get into windows when I set my memory to 3000MHz

 

[IInuyasha74]

Right, but can you get to the BIOS at 3000MHz? If so, you can boot to Memtest86+ off a USB key and run the test to see if the RAM is stable that way.

 

[Zharradan4]

Tried but when overclocked it does not even post. no beeps so cannot boot into anything off a USB