Question overclocking G.skill 4x8gb ram to 3200 but bios shows 2133

[P3RsIaN]

Hi everyone, new here to tom's hardware and looking forward to gain some knowledge.
I've got a msi z170a m5 with a intel 6700k skylake cpu. I've recently added 2 additional sticks of ram to have a total of 32gb. in total there is 4 x 8gb 3200mhz. 16x8x8x8
I have xmp enabled and although i put the vram to 3200mhz, the bios only reads 2133 mhz. However, cpuz shows 3200 (1600mhz) on each slot

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I've got a msi z170a m5
What BIOS version are you on at this moment of time?

I've recently added 2 additional sticks of ram to have a total of 32gb. in total there is 4 x 8gb 3200mhz. 16x8x8x8
Can you pass on a link to the ram kit you're working with? By recent, how far apart were the purchases?

However, cpuz shows 3200 (1600mhz) on each slot
Please pass on a screenshot of what you're seeing on the memory tab. We don't allow hosting of files here, which is why you're advised to host your images on a site like Imgur or their ilk and then pass on a link to the image for us to see.

 

[P3RsIaN]

thanks for the reply. It's been a few days that i grabbed the new sticks. All the sticks are G.skill Ripjaws V serries. F4-3200c16D-16GVK DDr4 3200mhz. also, i made a mistake. They are 16-18-18-38

SPD
Memory
bios
OC

 

[Bob.B]

thanks for the reply. It's been a few days that i grabbed the new sticks. All the sticks are G.skill Ripjaws V serries. F4-3200c16D-16GVK DDr4 3200mhz. also, i made a mistake. They are 16-18-18-38

SPD
Memory
bios
OC

What does task manager/perf/mem show for speed?

 

[P3RsIaN]

What does task manager/perf/mem show for speed?

same as bios. 2133mhz

 

[Bob.B]

same as bios. 2133mhz

Use just the orig 2 sticks in the proper slots....what does task mgr show?

 

[P3RsIaN]

Use just the orig 2 sticks in the proper slots....what does task mgr show?

it shows the same thing 2133mhz. xmp is enabled and frequency set to 3200mhz
currently stick are put in slot 2 and 4

 

[P3RsIaN]

since i opened the case i took pictures of all 4 sticks.
The two upper sticks are the new once i purchased few days ago and the 3rd and 4th sticks are the once i purchased when i built my pc.
memory sticks
bios dram frequency setter

 

[Bob.B]

it shows the same thing 2133mhz. xmp is enabled and frequency set to 3200mhz
currently stick are put in slot 2 and 4

Use just one stick of ram in slot a2....test.

If no help try a different stick of ram....test

 

[logainofhades]

I would do a full on CMOS reset, then try to enable XMP again.

 

[P3RsIaN]

I did the following tests.
I enabled Memory Try it! and the options were micron, Hynix and Samsung.
Hynix and Samsung did have the 3200mhz option so i put it on Hynix at 3200 mhz. Xmp enabled and Dram frequency at 3200.

I tried each individual stick on slot 2 and out of 4 sticks only 2 sticks bios was able to read 3200mhz
Once i knew which sticks were reading 3200mhz than i put those two sticks in slot 2 and 4 and kept the options the same. Memory try it, Hynix 3200 and Dram frequency 3200mhz.
however, bios and winodws were only reading the two sticks at 2133mhz

The other two sticks were not able to read 3200 at all.

I'll do a cmos reset and retest everything, but i am wondering with bios update.
Does the latest update hold all other bios updates from MSI, or do i need to install each update individually?

Options under memory try it
single stick in slot 2 was able to read 3200mhz only on two seperate sticks
bios OC settings for Dram

 

[COLGeek]

A couple things to be aware of. Mixing memory makes/models often doesn't perform well. Devices will revert to base DDR4 memory speeds. Memory is sold in pairs/sets for a reason.

In addition, populating 4 slots often means you need to lower the XMP speed (3000 vice 3200, for example).

Sometimes, you need to bump up memory voltage to get reliable higher speeds with all four slots in use.

Last, not all memory will work at rated speeds in all systems. Just too many variables/factors for this to work 100% of the time.

 

[P3RsIaN]

A couple things to be aware of. Mixing memory makes/models often doesn't perform well. Devices will revert to base DDR4 memory speeds. Memory is sold in pairs/sets for a reason.

In addition, populating 4 slots often means you need to lower the XMP speed (3000 vice 3200, for example).

Sometimes, you need to bump up memory voltage to get reliable higher speeds with all four slots in use.

Last, not all memory will work at rated speeds in all systems. Just too many variables/factors for this to work 100% of the time.

Thanks for the tips.
Dram V is set to 1.345v, i also have included a picture above that shows all ram sticks are the same kind.
i was pretty surprise to find out only two sticks out of four can read 3200mhz when using alone.
I have tried using different settings than 2133mhz or 3200hz but had no luck and it only reads as high as 2133mhz.

could you tell me if the latest update hold all other bios updates from MSI, or do i need to install each update individually?

 

[COLGeek]

There are some motherboards that require some sequential installation of BIOS updates (size issue). I don't believe that is the case with your configuration.

I don't see any versions notes to say otherwise, so you should be able to skip right the most recent full release version.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/z170a-gaming-m5/support

 

[P3RsIaN]

the latest version is 7977v1I but when it's unziped it shows (1I0) which i am running

 

[Bob.B]

the latest version is 7977v1I but when it's unziped it shows (1I0) which i am running

Did you reset the bios?

 

[P3RsIaN]

Did you reset the bios?

Tbh i didn't until now, as i was giving up hope thinking either something is wrong with the ram sticks or the slots of the board for the ram after the last test for each stick.

However, since you posted this i thought lets give it a try.
I did two tries. The 1st round i reset the cmoc and after going into bios i set xmp on, and memory try it on Samsung 3200 mhz since the ram chipsets are Samsung. The board didn't like that and it wouldn't even boot and i wasn't able to go into bios. So i reset the cmoc again but this time i set the xmp on and set the Dram on 3200mhz.

That actually worked and now task manager and bios is reading 3200mhz.

So, the bios reset did actually work.

Thank you @Bob.B and @logainofhades for the diagnostic methods

Taskmanager

 

[P3RsIaN]

ok so weird crashes happen or even if the pc goes to sleep. I left the pc on and went to the gym, when i come back the pc seems to be on but the monitors are not and pressing keyboard keys or moving the mouse won't wake the pc up. I know this is due to power management settings and i have reset the settings for power management to fix this.
Reset button won't do anything and i have to do a hard shutoff. When i turn the pc back on i get the msg for alt+L or f1 to go to bios. Going to bios than it shows that i'm back at 2133mhz. However, the settings are still the same.

scenerio two, is that the games i play crashes in which i went to bios and just turned the xmp off and the dram settings to auto. Now its giving me 2400mhz

i know that this pc has served me 10 years and it has been a blast. I wanted to do some upgrades and after researching for days on i9 14900ks and intel, i decided not to upgrade the pc but rather just upgrade the video card to 4070ti and added the two additional sticks of ram.

Now i am coming to conclusion that the components of the pc are just not working well together.
intel 6700K on msi gaming m5
740w psu
originally i had a Geforce RTx 1070 seahawk but upgraded to 4070 ti super
cpu is cooled with corsair H100i

I have been wanting to build a new pc and am just wondering what would you guy think would be a good build to last another 10+ years.
I do use the pc for my work, and i do play games. No particular game, but i like action 1st player games, sometimes i play multiplayer games like league of legend, dota 2 or cs2. I do like to have the ability to play 4k games since i have the upgraded video card and a 4k gaming monitor.

I also use premiere for video editing and photoshop.

My original plan was to get a i9 14900ks with either msi, gigabyte or asus. on the Z serries and ddr5 ram with a 1000w psu but after all the reasearch and the problems with the i9 14900 than i decided to go with AMD Ryzen 9 9950x. I do like Intel better since i've had intel for the last 10+ years and so i did more research and found out that by adjusting the Voltage than the i9 14900ks can be more stable, but i lose a bit of power and with AMD, well for starter it would be cheaper and i wouldn't lose the power.

Sorry for just going off on this and asking multiple different questions, but i'm just stock and not sure what i should do.

Budget on a new build is not a problem and i rather build a new pc and put back the 1070 in this pc and give it to my folks as it would be a very strong machine for what they do.

I just want to have a strong machine that can handle games. workload and anything i want to do.
ps, i have read many threads on this forum and watched many youtube videos about this topic.
i know there is mixed feeling between ppl with AMD and Intel lol!.
I also know amd x3d is better for gaming and or intel 285k chipsets are better for video editing or photoshop.
i also was very keened on Intel but there is no point of spending more and than needing to adjust the power levels just to make it stable which obviously you also lost a bit or power.