Question Really weird behavior with 4266mhz Gskill 2x32gb really need some help!

Hankdp26

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May 27, 2019
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Hey guys! So I really need some input on the following cause its driving me crazy.

My former spec:

Intel I7-11700KF
RTX 3080 EVGA FTW 3 ULTRA
2X16 Corsair Dominator RAM @3200mhz
Asus TUF Gaming Mobo B560M Plus Wifi
Cougar 850+ Gold PSU

My current spec

Intel I7-11700KF
RTX 3080 EVGA FTW 3 ULTRA
2X32 GSkill Trident Royal Elite RAM @4266mhz
Asus Prime B560M-A AC (I know its a downgrade, long story short, I short circuit my TUF Gaming mobo because I did not set as I should one of the Dominator sticks and it even started to smoke, so I bought the first thing a supplier gave me access to)
Cougar 850+ Gold PSU


So, once the Asus Prime board was installed and I updated the BIOS (1601 latest) I enabled XMP on the EZ mode, restarted, computer booted perfectly fine. However, I was trying to play Hell let Loose and 5-6 mins into the game, it crashed... I was like, please dont be a faulty mobo, then I tried COD Cold War and same thing, CTD with an error code that when googled the possible problems ranged between faulty ram, corrupted drivers, hardware, etc... so I then assumed XMP might had to do something with this, so I used Windows Memory Diagnostic and to my surprise, indeed the "There is a hardware problem please contact your manufacturer" appeared, before I even tried to do the whole Memtest86 to look for further info, I just disabled XMP and re-ran the Windows MD tool... bang! No errors....

So, the board manufacturer says that it supports all the way to 5000mhz(OC) which I know the (OC) is like the best case scenario and there are no guarantees, however, I am so confused on why is it that 4266 is causing such inestability issues, there has to be some sort of compatibility cause the PC always booted fine and there was no BSOD. My cpu says it natively supports up to 3200mhz (not sure if I needed to overclock it before enabling XMP??)

So what I need to know is that if I just spent a hefty amount for the Gskill and I am stuck at default speeds (2666mhz) and just basically wasted 64gbs or RAM because they will never run at their max potential being that apparently my MOBO doesn't support it... or is there anything I can kinda do in BIOS to maybe make it work? (I have no idea about voltages and latency or intel gears or anything of the sorts, any help would be super appreciated) OR should I try to sell/trade my Gskills for other Trident but around 3200-3600mhz?

Thank you for bearing w me and hopefully I can get some guidance!
 
Hey guys! So I really need some input on the following cause its driving me crazy.

My former spec:

Intel I7-11700KF
RTX 3080 EVGA FTW 3 ULTRA
2X16 Corsair Dominator RAM @3200mhz
Asus TUF Gaming Mobo B560M Plus Wifi
Cougar 850+ Gold PSU

My current spec

Intel I7-11700KF
RTX 3080 EVGA FTW 3 ULTRA
2X32 GSkill Trident Royal Elite RAM @4266mhz
Asus Prime B560M-A AC (I know its a downgrade, long story short, I short circuit my TUF Gaming mobo because I did not set as I should one of the Dominator sticks and it even started to smoke, so I bought the first thing a supplier gave me access to)
Cougar 850+ Gold PSU


So, once the Asus Prime board was installed and I updated the BIOS (1601 latest) I enabled XMP on the EZ mode, restarted, computer booted perfectly fine. However, I was trying to play Hell let Loose and 5-6 mins into the game, it crashed... I was like, please dont be a faulty mobo, then I tried COD Cold War and same thing, CTD with an error code that when googled the possible problems ranged between faulty ram, corrupted drivers, hardware, etc... so I then assumed XMP might had to do something with this, so I used Windows Memory Diagnostic and to my surprise, indeed the "There is a hardware problem please contact your manufacturer" appeared, before I even tried to do the whole Memtest86 to look for further info, I just disabled XMP and re-ran the Windows MD tool... bang! No errors....

So, the board manufacturer says that it supports all the way to 5000mhz(OC) which I know the (OC) is like the best case scenario and there are no guarantees, however, I am so confused on why is it that 4266 is causing such inestability issues, there has to be some sort of compatibility cause the PC always booted fine and there was no BSOD. My cpu says it natively supports up to 3200mhz (not sure if I needed to overclock it before enabling XMP??)

So what I need to know is that if I just spent a hefty amount for the Gskill and I am stuck at default speeds (2666mhz) and just basically wasted 64gbs or RAM because they will never run at their max potential being that apparently my MOBO doesn't support it... or is there anything I can kinda do in BIOS to maybe make it work? (I have no idea about voltages and latency or intel gears or anything of the sorts, any help would be super appreciated) OR should I try to sell/trade my Gskills for other Trident but around 3200-3600mhz?

Thank you for bearing w me and hopefully I can get some guidance!
When you installed the new Mobo did you install it's drivers or are you forcing the system to post with old software it no longer can use properly with a different motherboard
 
Hey guys! So I really need some input on the following cause its driving me crazy.

My former spec:

Intel I7-11700KF
RTX 3080 EVGA FTW 3 ULTRA
2X16 Corsair Dominator RAM @3200mhz
Asus TUF Gaming Mobo B560M Plus Wifi
Cougar 850+ Gold PSU

My current spec

Intel I7-11700KF
RTX 3080 EVGA FTW 3 ULTRA
2X32 GSkill Trident Royal Elite RAM @4266mhz
Asus Prime B560M-A AC (I know its a downgrade, long story short, I short circuit my TUF Gaming mobo because I did not set as I should one of the Dominator sticks and it even started to smoke, so I bought the first thing a supplier gave me access to)
Cougar 850+ Gold PSU


So, once the Asus Prime board was installed and I updated the BIOS (1601 latest) I enabled XMP on the EZ mode, restarted, computer booted perfectly fine. However, I was trying to play Hell let Loose and 5-6 mins into the game, it crashed... I was like, please dont be a faulty mobo, then I tried COD Cold War and same thing, CTD with an error code that when googled the possible problems ranged between faulty ram, corrupted drivers, hardware, etc... so I then assumed XMP might had to do something with this, so I used Windows Memory Diagnostic and to my surprise, indeed the "There is a hardware problem please contact your manufacturer" appeared, before I even tried to do the whole Memtest86 to look for further info, I just disabled XMP and re-ran the Windows MD tool... bang! No errors....

So, the board manufacturer says that it supports all the way to 5000mhz(OC) which I know the (OC) is like the best case scenario and there are no guarantees, however, I am so confused on why is it that 4266 is causing such inestability issues, there has to be some sort of compatibility cause the PC always booted fine and there was no BSOD. My cpu says it natively supports up to 3200mhz (not sure if I needed to overclock it before enabling XMP??)

So what I need to know is that if I just spent a hefty amount for the Gskill and I am stuck at default speeds (2666mhz) and just basically wasted 64gbs or RAM because they will never run at their max potential being that apparently my MOBO doesn't support it... or is there anything I can kinda do in BIOS to maybe make it work? (I have no idea about voltages and latency or intel gears or anything of the sorts, any help would be super appreciated) OR should I try to sell/trade my Gskills for other Trident but around 3200-3600mhz?

Thank you for bearing w me and hopefully I can get some guidance!
Windows 10 or 11
 

Hankdp26

Reputable
May 27, 2019
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When you installed the new Mobo did you install it's drivers or are you forcing the system to post with old software it no longer can use properly with a different motherboard

Hey man, thank you so much for your answer!

I actually did not install the new mobo, the people at the "specialized" shop did, but I think they did not do anything but switch the components from the busted mobo to the new one and just made sure it booted.

So, the subject is quite confusing, not sure how to check if the drivers need updating, so first, in Device Manager the "Other Devices - PCI Device" says it has no controller, I saw a video that points towards installing that from "Let me pick from list... - Intel - PCI Controller" BUT there is a warning that says installing this driver might make the PC unstable/unusable, so I did not continue.

Then I went into Asus site, and from the exact model of my board downloaded LAN and Chipset drivers. For LAN the "Asus Setup" did not launch, so I launched the BAT file and the CMD window said Driver already there and updated to the latest version, so I guess all good heree.

For Chipset, I also extracted and ran "Asus Setup" and executed an Intel installation but after the install finished nothing happened and the PCI Device still shows a warning sign "!", I saw in some places that the Chipset installation should've auto restart my pc but it didn't, did I messed up somehow? How do I know I got the correct Motherboard drivers running?

Thank you so much in advance!

Window 10 64bit BTW!


Update!

So after more research something popped up about Armory Crate, I went into tools and drivers and the app told me that the chipset driver was outdated, and prompted to install a couple of other drivers, it did then the PC restarted BUT I got a black screen with an static orange light on the mobo and the pc sounded like it was running a high end game, i left it alone but looked like it just got stuck and never booted (no display signal or anything) so I just pressed power button until it shut down, waited and booted and all good, the PCI Device warning is no longer there and Armory Crate says all the drivers are installed.

So, now that I am allegedly all updated, could that have been the cause for my original problem of RAM being unstable with XMP?
 
Last edited:
Hey man, thank you so much for your answer!

I actually did not install the new mobo, the people at the "specialized" shop did, but I think they did not do anything but switch the components from the busted mobo to the new one and just made sure it booted.

So, the subject is quite confusing, not sure how to check if the drivers need updating, so first, in Device Manager the "Other Devices - PCI Device" says it has no controller, I saw a video that points towards installing that from "Let me pick from list... - Intel - PCI Controller" BUT there is a warning that says installing this driver might make the PC unstable/unusable, so I did not continue.

Then I went into Asus site, and from the exact model of my board downloaded LAN and Chipset drivers. For LAN the "Asus Setup" did not launch, so I launched the BAT file and the CMD window said Driver already there and updated to the latest version, so I guess all good heree.

For Chipset, I also extracted and ran "Asus Setup" and executed an Intel installation but after the install finished nothing happened and the PCI Device still shows a warning sign "!", I saw in some places that the Chipset installation should've auto restart my pc but it didn't, did I messed up somehow? How do I know I got the correct Motherboard drivers running?

Thank you so much in advance!

Window 10 64bit BTW!


Update!

So after more research something popped up about Armory Crate, I went into tools and drivers and the app told me that the chipset driver was outdated, and prompted to install a couple of other drivers, it did then the PC restarted BUT I got a black screen with an static orange light on the mobo and the pc sounded like it was running a high end game, i left it alone but looked like it just got stuck and never booted (no display signal or anything) so I just pressed power button until it shut down, waited and booted and all good, the PCI Device warning is no longer there and Armory Crate says all the drivers are installed.

So, now that I am allegedly all updated, could that have been the cause for my original problem of RAM being unstable with XMP?
Yes that and your bios probably isn't up to date and I don't recommend doing that on your own this is a delicate task that messing up will brick the system for life, unless your able to find a exact match to your bios chip and are any good with soldering because most bios chips are soldered to the board now.
 

Hankdp26

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May 27, 2019
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Yes that and your bios probably isn't up to date and I don't recommend doing that on your own this is a delicate task that messing up will brick the system for life, unless your able to find a exact match to your bios chip and are any good with soldering because most bios chips are soldered to the board now.

No no, I updated the BIOS last night from 0820 to 1601 (most recent from ASUS site) and not sure what you mean by soldering, I know updating the BIOS is super delicate, but I just used my flashdrive and went into EZ flash in BIOS and updated BIOS w no probs.

So at this point, everything drivers/BIOS -wise is up to date.

Since I disabled XMP last night, no crashes in any games, but I might be crazy but the impact for running the RAM from 4266 to stock 2666 is noticeable, wondering about any info that might point me into either manually edit RAM values on BIOS (but have no idea on voltage and latencies and stuff) or should I just try to trade the RAMS for lower mhz
 
No no, I updated the BIOS last night from 0820 to 1601 (most recent from ASUS site) and not sure what you mean by soldering, I know updating the BIOS is super delicate, but I just used my flashdrive and went into EZ flash in BIOS and updated BIOS w no probs.

So at this point, everything drivers/BIOS -wise is up to date.

Since I disabled XMP last night, no crashes in any games, but I might be crazy but the impact for running the RAM from 4266 to stock 2666 is noticeable, wondering about any info that might point me into either manually edit RAM values on BIOS (but have no idea on voltage and latencies and stuff) or should I just try to trade the RAMS for lower mhz
Have you tried using the xmp profiles some profiles don't work properly
 

Hankdp26

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May 27, 2019
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Have you tried using the xmp profiles some profiles don't work properly
Hey man! So by default the XMP on Asus Prime is either enabled or disabled. So I went into advanced mode and saw there are two profiles with the same like properties: XMP 1/2 4766 19-26-26-46, have no clue what the 4766 means because the DRAM Freq option caps obv at 4266. However, I set the XMP 1 to have the same settings (with 1.5v) but lowered to 4000mhz, and pending more testing seems to be stable, but not exactly sure if the timings and voltage are ok, but at least there are no crashes so far.
 
Hey man! So by default the XMP on Asus Prime is either enabled or disabled. So I went into advanced mode and saw there are two profiles with the same like properties: XMP 1/2 4766 19-26-26-46, have no clue what the 4766 means because the DRAM Freq option caps obv at 4266. However, I set the XMP 1 to have the same settings (with 1.5v) but lowered to 4000mhz, and pending more testing seems to be stable, but not exactly sure if the timings and voltage are ok, but at least there are no crashes so far.
The volts won't ride 1.5 that's their spike point nor worry's on that end as for the ram being clocked to 4000 mhz instead of 4266 it's probably your systems way of keeping slight advancement for oc, from my understanding some mobos will auto oc the ram on it's own as it seems fit this is "one of several reasons why there are profile settings some r doesn't like oc ls period end of story may be built for it but won't do it. In this case you set the profile to a slightly lowered ratio that way as the system pushes it for a oc it instead of ocing it hits the recommend speed instead
 

Hankdp26

Reputable
May 27, 2019
46
6
4,535
The volts won't ride 1.5 that's their spike point nor worry's on that end as for the ram being clocked to 4000 mhz instead of 4266 it's probably your systems way of keeping slight advancement for oc, from my understanding some mobos will auto oc the ram on it's own as it seems fit this is "one of several reasons why there are profile settings some r doesn't like oc ls period end of story may be built for it but won't do it. In this case you set the profile to a slightly lowered ratio that way as the system pushes it for a oc it instead of ocing it hits the recommend speed instead
Thanks for everything my dude! Makes a lot of sense, been a smooth ride w 4000mhz, I really should've upgraded to an Z590, B chipset boards are too unpredictable apparently.

Btw I saw this: https://www.gskill.com/configurator (it was working yesterday) and when you put your mobo brand and model No. it actually recommends determined sticks, and in advance options, it will show the max I guess supported freq your board can handle, mine said 4000mhz max so yeah, probably those 266 of extra space dont cause the oc to go bonkers on me. Gonna experiment to find the sweet spot between 3600 and 4000 but man, at least I know my money wasnt wasted on the gskill RAM.

Thanks again so much!
 
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Thanks for everything my dude! Makes a lot of sense, been a smooth ride w 4000mhz, I really should've upgraded to an Z590, B chipset boards are too unpredictable apparently.

Btw I saw this: https://www.gskill.com/configurator (it was working yesterday) and when you put your mobo brand and model No. it actually recommends determined sticks, and in advance options, it will show the max I guess supported freq your board can handle, mine said 4000mhz max so yeah, probably those 266 of extra space dont cause the oc to go bonkers on me. Gonna experiment to find the sweet spot between 3600 and 4000 but man, at least I know my money wasnt wasted on the gskill RAM.

Thanks again so much!
Not a problem hope everything turns out for the better :) never hurts to have spare room for future upgrades
Room, I suspect memory would be better to say.