Question Possibly defective RAM - - - G.Skill Trident Z5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 ?

[Bankrupt Barnacle]

Last year I purchased two G.Skill Trident Z5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 RAM sets (totaling 64GB) for my PC, built by MicroCenter. I attempted to optimize RAM performance by enabling XMP I in the BIOS, but this caused major system instability, particularly during gaming. A MemTest86 run revealed 489 errors before even completing half the tests, indicating severe issues. Restoring BIOS to its optimized defaults stabilized my system, but reduced RAM speed back to it's default of 4000 MHz. Is there anything that can be done here, or is the most likely case that I have defective RAM? Here are my system specs.

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-E
• Processor: Intel Core i9 12900K
• RAM: G.Skill Samsung DDR5-6000
  • Part Number: F5-6000J3636F16G
• Default RAM Specs (as per ROG CPU-Z):
  • Channels: 4 x 32-bit
  • Memory Controller Frequency: 1000 MHz
  • NB Frequency: 3600 MHz
  • DRAM Frequency: 2000 MHz
  • FSB;DRAM: 1:20
  • Latency (CL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS, tRC): 34, 34, 34, 63, 97 clocks
  • Command Rate (CR): 2T
• SSDs:
  • Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 (MZ-V7S2T0B/AM)
  • Samsung 870 EVO 1TB SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5"
• Capture Card: Elgato Game Capture 4K60 Pro HDR10 2160p PCI-Express
• HDD: Seagate BarraCuda 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III 6Gb/s 3.5" OEM Internal CMR
• Power Supply: Corsair HX1200 1200W 80 Plus Platinum ATX Fully Modular

I'm emailing Gskill about the problem as well, but figured I'd shoot my shot here too. Thanks for any help.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Which slots are the ram sticks populating? Which BIOS version are you currently on? What cooler are you working with?

 

[Bankrupt Barnacle]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Which slots are the ram sticks populating? Which BIOS version are you currently on? What cooler are you working with?

They're populating the four DDR5 memory slots on the mobo. BIOS version is American Megatrends Inc. 2305 3/10/2023. The Lian Li GA-360B Galahad AIO 360, temps have never been an issue for my system. All drivers updated.

 

[Deleted member 2838871]

2x 32GB sticks would have been a much better option for stability. The fact you are running 4 and having problems with DDR5 doesn't surprise me.

When I was putting my build together everyone here told me to get 2 sticks instead of 4... so I did... and haven't had any issues with my DDR5-6000 Trident Z5 Neo sticks.

 

[Bankrupt Barnacle]

2x 32GB sticks would have been a much better option for stability. The fact you are running 4 and having problems with DDR5 doesn't surprise me.

When I was putting my build together everyone here told me to get 2 sticks instead of 4... so I did... and haven't had any issues with my DDR5-6000 Trident Z5 Neo sticks.

Appreciate the insight. It appears the 4-stick setup might be the root of the XMP instability. Despite my RAM being XMP-compatible, the ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-E's support page doesn't list 4-socket XMP support for G.Skill products. I'll explore system stability using a 2-stick configuration, though the performance difference may be so minor it might not be worth the effort. 64 GB of DDR5-4000 MHz RAM isn't anything to be upset about.

 

[dwd999]

Last year I purchased two G.Skill Trident Z5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 RAM sets (totaling 64GB) for my PC, built by MicroCenter. I attempted to optimize RAM performance by enabling XMP I in the BIOS, but this caused major system instability, particularly during gaming. A MemTest86 run revealed 489 errors before even completing half the tests, indicating severe issues. Restoring BIOS to its optimized defaults stabilized my system, but reduced RAM speed back to it's default of 4000 MHz. Is there anything that can be done here, or is the most likely case that I have defective RAM? Here are my system specs.

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-E
• Processor: Intel Core i9 12900K
• RAM: G.Skill Samsung DDR5-6000
  • Part Number: F5-6000J3636F16G
• Default RAM Specs (as per ROG CPU-Z):
  • Channels: 4 x 32-bit
  • Memory Controller Frequency: 1000 MHz
  • NB Frequency: 3600 MHz
  • DRAM Frequency: 2000 MHz
  • FSB;DRAM: 1:20
  • Latency (CL, tRCD, tRP, tRAS, tRC): 34, 34, 34, 63, 97 clocks
  • Command Rate (CR): 2T
• SSDs:
  • Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 (MZ-V7S2T0B/AM)
  • Samsung 870 EVO 1TB SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5"
• Capture Card: Elgato Game Capture 4K60 Pro HDR10 2160p PCI-Express
• HDD: Seagate BarraCuda 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III 6Gb/s 3.5" OEM Internal CMR
• Power Supply: Corsair HX1200 1200W 80 Plus Platinum ATX Fully Modular

I'm emailing Gskill about the problem as well, but figured I'd shoot my shot here too. Thanks for any help.

It probably would have been better if you had purchased 1 set with 4 sticks tested together and certified together by the manufacturer. There can be slight differences in 2 sets even if they're the same model. That's why manufacturers produce 4 stick sets.

 

[Bankrupt Barnacle]

It probably would have been better if you had purchased 1 set with 4 sticks tested together and certified together by the manufacturer. There can be slight differences in 2 sets even if they're the same model. That's why manufacturers produce 4 stick sets.

Don't believe any were available at the MicroCenter I was shopping at at the time of purchase, but duly noted and will take this into account in the future.

 

[Zerk2012]

Don't believe any were available at the MicroCenter I was shopping at at the time of purchase, but duly noted and will take this into account in the future.

Set XMP then manually lower the speed to 5600.
If that fails then do the same thing but lower the speed to 5200.

 

[Bankrupt Barnacle]

Set XMP then manually lower the speed to 5600.
If that fails then do the same thing but lower the speed to 5200.

I was considering adjusting DRAM Frequency manually after enabling XMP but I didn't know how that'd work because the timings and everything after enabling XMP are optimized for 6000 MHz, and didn't know if lowering the frequency would cause even more problems. Will I have to adjust the timings and other settings if I were to adjust the DRAM frequency for the XMP profile manually?

 

[Zerk2012]

I was considering adjusting DRAM Frequency manually after enabling XMP but I didn't know how that'd work because the timings and everything after enabling XMP are optimized for 6000 MHz, and didn't know if lowering the frequency would cause even more problems. Will I have to adjust the timings and other settings if I were to adjust the DRAM frequency for the XMP profile manually?

Nothing else needs adjusting.
You bought 2 sets that were not tested to work together so you might get it stable and might not.

Set XMP then manually just change the speed to 5600, if not stable at 5600 try 5200.

 

[Bankrupt Barnacle]

Nothing else needs adjusting.
You bought 2 sets that were not tested to work together so you might get it stable and might not.

Set XMP then manually just change the speed to 5600, if not stable at 5600 try 5200.

Copy that will try it later and thank you for the information!

 

[Misgar]

The extra loading on the memory bus (extra capacitance) means it is very difficult to get the same XMP settings with 4 DIMMs instead of 2. That's why most people don't recommend overclocking 4 DIMMs using XMP.

A good motherboard manual will sometimes suggest the maximum XMP setting to try with 4 DIMMs installed. The XMP figure of 6,000MHz is normally only possible with 2 DIMMs installed, unless you relax some of the other timings manually.

Start at 4,000 MHz or thereabouts with 4 DDR5 DIMMs and work your way up until the system crashes.