[SOLVED] System instability/freezing when XMP is enabled ?

[sonic9219]

Hello, hope you are all doing well ! Without wasting time lets get right into my Configuration so you know what you deal with and so you can give me a right advice what can i do about or what to not do with this system config :

Motherboard : Asus TUF Z270 mark 1
CPU : Intel core i7 6700 K
Memory : G Skill Aegis DDR4 16 GB 3200 Mhz kit
NVME : Samsung EVO 970 500 GB
Graphics Card :MSI GTX 760 2GB OC Hawk Edition
CPU Cooler : Noctua DH-N15 Cromax Black
HDD: WD caviar Black 2 TB 7200 rpm
Case fans : 140 mm Top mounted case fan and side panel 200 mm intake case fan ( side panel is taken off due to interefierence with the huge cooler )

So im wondering since i have seen some people being able to run 6700 k with 3200 Mhz RAM memory on XMP, why am i getting freezes and system blue screens while XMP enabled ? I havent touched anything in terms of editing XMP or what so ever. I first tought it was cuz i overclocked CPU a bit, so i loaded default settings and enabled XMP only and i was getting same problem, when i dont enable that and use non overclocked RAM it runs ok. And then i was researching my CPU specs and saw that a memory controller on my CPU runs at 2133 max. Does that mean that i cant push memory beyond 2133 Mhz ? Also when i use XMP profile my RAM gets really hot and it doesnt have a huge heatsink since i needed room for beafy cooler so i found those low profile RAM sticks from Gskill that are DDR4, hope i didnt mess something up. Thank you in advance !

 

[sonic9219]

Well long time no responding back sorry for that guys ... a lot of stuff needed to be done in a meanwhile.... sooo, about this topic ... i have found out that the memory controller on a cpu is way too low on a bandwith side which is a bummer for an i7 intel cpu K series but oh well i should have done more research before buying, anyways... im stuck with it so i need to work with it... it has a controller of 2133 Mhz bandwidth so i need to match that with a ram ... and the ram can be changed for a lower bandwidth no problem and system gets stable and works .... but the problem is system is not as responsive as it should be ... its slugish a bit ... like i double click on something and wait a second or to for it to start loading and its not only .exe files... even if i right click and want to refresh the desktop i cant do it as quickly as i could with my i3 3250 intel processor and ddr3 memory on 1600 Mhz which is riddiculus.... this is newer and better gear why wouldnt it get more responsive and faster... well it is faster if i move files but its not as responsive as an i3 .... any ideas on what could it be ? btw i did try some of the settings for tithen up some timings and it did help a bit but i think it can be better .... i also deleted temporary files which also helped a bit but its still slower dont know why ... is it windows 10 thats slugish on its own or is it cuz of the hardware ?

 

[Aeacus]

is it windows 10 thats slugish on its own or is it cuz of the hardware ?

Issue could be either software or hardware.

To remove all software issues, format your OS drive and make a clean Win installation. This will get rid of all software issues and 90% of times, makes the system fast and snappy again.

But if clean Win install didn't help and system is still slow, time to look towards new hardware, preferably new CPU-MoBo-RAM combo.

 

[Karadjgne]

an i7 intel cpu K series but oh well i should have done more research before buying, anyways... im stuck with it so i need to work with it... it has a controller of 2133 Mhz bandwidth so i need to match that with a ram ...

No. You don't. To reference your prior system, Intel tested and certified 1333MHz and 1600MHz, and their cpus used 1333MHz and 1600MHz as memory controller bandwidth. So a 1:1 ratio was good for a non-K cpu. That doesn't apply for K cpus which could benefit upto 2400MHz, depending on OC, voltages, support for the higher bandwidth. My i7-3770K loved 1866MHz with its 4.9GHz OC, dropping to a 4.6GHz I could run 2133MHz and be fully stable.

Later generations of Intel used 2133MHz, 2400MHz, 2666MHz but most saw some benefit with using upto 3200MHz, although that benefit was very software dependent, even the OS loading time was affected.

And that's not mentioning timings, which hold a somewhat equitable value on an intel, 1600/9 being almost identical to 1866/10, 2133/12, 2400/13 etc. So it was often more of a performance boost for a 3rd gen i7 to run with 1600/7 or 1866/8 than trying to push 2400/13 with an OC.

 

[sonic9219]

well i have found out since i overclocked cpu and it failed few times and ram too since i have messed with both multiplier and base clock which affects ram too it reset on default timings so thats why it became more slugish ...

also new system is not an option since im paying next 3 years for this config xD kinda twisted to spend more so i use what i have to max, thats why i took Z series mobo and K processor so i can get most out of it as long as it can handle things i do...


system reinstall is something i tend to skip doing if i dont really need to since i do music production it would take days to install the software and all the plugins and link all the libraries..

i have gone cas latency from 16 to 14... my sticks dont like going below 14. Can i rise up the frequency bandwith to overclock ram a bit even tho my cpu has memory controller at max of 2133 mhz ? or will it be too much for it to handle 2666 for example ? what do you think will give the best results in terms on stability and speed - responsiveness ?

btw memtest 86 doesnt boot when i use usb with it i dunno why, so i cant test its stability :S

 

[sonic9219]

No. You don't. To reference your prior system, Intel tested and certified 1333MHz and 1600MHz, and their cpus used 1333MHz and 1600MHz as memory controller bandwidth. So a 1:1 ratio was good for a non-K cpu. That doesn't apply for K cpus which could benefit upto 2400MHz, depending on OC, voltages, support for the higher bandwidth. My i7-3770K loved 1866MHz with its 4.9GHz OC, dropping to a 4.6GHz I could run 2133MHz and be fully stable.

Later generations of Intel used 2133MHz, 2400MHz, 2666MHz but most saw some benefit with using upto 3200MHz, although that benefit was very software dependent, even the OS loading time was affected.

And that's not mentioning timings, which hold a somewhat equitable value on an intel, 1600/9 being almost identical to 1866/10, 2133/12, 2400/13 etc. So it was often more of a performance boost for a 3rd gen i7 to run with 1600/7 or 1866/8 than trying to push 2400/13 with an OC.

well since i have g skill aegis which is low profile ram i guess so i can fit noctua nd-h15 cpu cooler but the problem with that ram is that it has thin aluminum or aluminium whatever plates on both sides for cooling which go really hot if i push it a little bit... i also expirienced freezing of the system on xmp profile so im trying to manualy find the sweet spot which is difficult... the moment i go more than 2133 it becomes more and more unstable which is weird... its rated to be 3000 mhz capable or 3200 mhz and the maximum i did is 2933 and it was unstable and after that it didnt want to accept even 2666 mhz so i went for 2133 to be stable... but often i find it running slugish i can feel it at input latency from me pressing on keyboard to it showing on a monitor a simple task like refresh or closing start bar icon tray. Any tips on what should i do to get it to work as it should ? should i try to place a case went on a ram and try to push it on 14 cas latency and higher frequency ?