[SOLVED] Enabling XMP makes my boot cycle different - Is this normal?

[liberty610]

Hi all,

I built my current PC a few years ago and after several BIOS updates over the years, I decided to give a go at turning XMP mode on for my RAM, as previous BIOS versions cause instability with XMP mode on and caused crashes. So far, since turning XMP mode on with the latest BIOS version, everything has been solid. I ran a blend test with Prime95, a 10 minuet cinebenach loop, and played a couple games without any crashes or issues (so far).

I have the Gigabyte X570 xtreme motherboard running the latest BIOS version (F38) with a Ryzen 9 3650 X CPU, and 32 gigs of Ram on a Windows 11 install. My ram kit is a G.Skill Trident Z RGB (model F4-3200C16Q-32GTZR). Motherboard link here: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X570-AORUS-XTREME-rev-10#kf

I have several RGB lights on my system fans and on the ram, and these are the indicators that XMP mode being turned on makes my system behave differently with both ups and restarts.

WITH XMP MODE OFF: When I boot up my system, as soon as I hit the power button, all my RGB lights come on ( and stay on), it does the boot cycle, beeps at me once, and we're off to the races. If XMP is turned off, and I do a system restart. all my RGB lights stay on, everything stays powered up, and it does a full restart.

WITH XMP MODE ON: I hit my power button to turn my system on, all my RGB lighting turns on for a moment, and then goes 100% dark as if the power is cut, then a second or two later everything kicks back on and boots like normal. When I do a restart from windows, it does a full power off/black out shut down as well, and then boots back up.

Everything works fine in all instances, but the way it behaves with XMP turned on compared to when it's not turned on is off to me. The only other times all my RGB goes 100% dark in a boot or restart cyclke when I was not using XMP was when I would flash the motherbvoard BIOS to a new version. Since enabling XMP in the BIOS, the RGB goes to 100% dark mode with every single boot up and restart.

Is this normal behavor for simply turning on the XMP mode? I know this is what is causing this behavor, because as soon as I turn XMP off, it stops doing it and goes back to the regular behavor I have been use to. If my post is some what confusing, I can shoot a video and post it on my youtube channel to demonstrate the differences in boot behavior between XMP being on and off.

Thanks in advance for any helpful insite!

 

[bill001g]

I would first run a program called cpu-z or hwinfo. What you want to confirm is your memory is actually running at the speeds you think it does. Sometimes the bios will detect errors and turn the memory back to the default speeds.

I do not know why that would affect the RGB lights on the machine though.

A better test of memory is memtest86+. The one that boots from USB does a much more intensive test. I would let it run overnight and if you get no errors with this software nothing is going to crash your memory. This tends to be a very good tool when the XMP stuff does not just work and you need to manually tweek the settings just a bit.

 

[liberty610]

I would first run a program called cpu-z or hwinfo. What you want to confirm is your memory is actually running at the speeds you think it does. Sometimes the bios will detect errors and turn the memory back to the default speeds.

I do not know why that would affect the RGB lights on the machine though.

A better test of memory is memtest86+. The one that boots from USB does a much more intensive test. I would let it run overnight and if you get no errors with this software nothing is going to crash your memory. This tends to be a very good tool when the XMP stuff does not just work and you need to manually tweek the settings just a bit.

I've already made sure the speeds are correct. I ran CPUz and check in task manager. Tee speeds are at 3200 as opposed to the stock speeds. And CPUz shows XMP 2.0 listed under "SPD Ext."

Nothing abnormal happens when I am running my PC. No crashes, no issues (so far). Just the boot and restart cycles behave differently at their starts. The only reason why it is alarming to me is because it seems as if full power cycles are happening at every boot/restart when XMP is turned on.

 

[bill001g]

So I assume you really mean expo if it is a AMD cpu.

I am not sure if DDR4 has the same issue as DDR5. I remember seeing a lot of discussion of long boot time because the bios/cpu is doing memory training. It seems to be worse when you run 4 sticks.

Not sure if everything actually functions correctly after the boot is complete it is mostly just a inconvenience. It been a while since I had a AMD cpu.

 

[liberty610]

So I assume you really mean expo if it is a AMD cpu.

I am not sure if DDR4 has the same issue as DDR5. I remember seeing a lot of discussion of long boot time because the bios/cpu is doing memory training. It seems to be worse when you run 4 sticks.

Not sure if everything actually functions correctly after the boot is complete it is mostly just a inconvenience. It been a while since I had a AMD cpu.

I've gotten a reply on a couple other forums with users who have the little brother version of my board, and they say that their boot up behavior with XMP turned on is the same.

I know AMD has Expo now, which is similar to XMP, but in my bios it's labeled XMP even with the latest BIOS update because Expo didn't really start becoming a thing until DDR5 was released.

 

[--SID--]

Have you tested with only 2 sticks in slot A2 and B2?

 

[liberty610]

Have you tested with only 2 sticks in slot A2 and B2?

Yes I did. It still did it with just 2 sticks loaded in. I am assuming it was a ram compatibilty ordeal of some sort. Here is why...

Part of the reason why I started to investigate this was because I was shopping around for more ram. I wanted to jump from the 32gb to a 64gb kit, I settle on a Corsair Vengeance Pro kit that was a dual channel instead of the quad channel. Model number CMW64GX4M2E3200C16

Since changing out the ram to this new kit, the boot cycle is no longer doing the full shut down ordeals that I found odd, even with XMP mode turned on. So it did indeed have something to do with the quad channel kit and XMP mode. With the new 64gig dual channel kit, it's booting and restarting normally.

Thank you to all who replied to this.