Question Tweaking RAM settings after BIOS update and CPU upgrade ?

[dolfinator]

My specs:
G.Skill 1x16GB F4-3000C16S-16GISB https://www.gskill.com/specification/165/185/1535968303/F4-3000C16S-16GISB-Specification
AsRock B450M-HDV R4.0 https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/B450M-HDV R4.0/index.asp#BIOS
Ryzen 5700x
Gigagybe RTX 2060 OC 6G
PSU 600W

I just upgraded from Ryzen 1600 to 5700x. I also had to do a BIOS update because mine was too old to support the new CPU. After the upgrades, I immediately started having issues with RAM stability. With my old CPU and BIOS I'd actually been using TWO of those 16GB RAM sticks in 3000MHz/1.35V XMP for 2 years without any issues, even though I bought them separately (both are the same model). After the upgrade I immediately noticed that the PC wouldn't boot with XMP enabled. At default RAM settings (2133Mhz/1.20V), I still had crashes. They occured while playing demanding games like Star Citizen and Cyberpunk: about 5 minutes after starting the game, the PC would just shut off without a BSOD. I did many tests, including trying a spare power supply. When my PC shut itself off while running Memtest86, I knew it had to be the RAM. I removed one of the sticks and tried the other one at default speed and voltage and the crashes stopped. For the record, I've ran Memtest86 successfully for at least 8 hours with both sticks with my previous CPU and no faults were found. Also I managed to successfully run Windows Memory Diagnostic on both with the new CPU and again, no faults were found, so I don't think the RAM is bad, there's just a compatibility issue.

The situation with my BIOS is the following: I have version 4.90, which was the first one to support the Ryze 5700x according to AsRock's page. There are only 2 newer versions. I tried flashing to 7.40, the newest version. But I get an "Invalid file" error when I try to update to it. I haven't tried 7.20 because it's a beta. I'd consider trying to update to it (though there's a chance I will get the Invalid file error again) if you assure me that my PC won't crash during the BIOS update. I am quite scared of that happening, although I've only had crashes while playing demanding games or running Memtest, so I doubt it can crash during a BIOS update. I'm also willing to wait for a future non-beta BIOS update.

Right now I want to increase the speed of my single remaining 16GB stick from the default. I tried running it in XMP. PC crashed as soon as I logged into Star Citizen. Then I reduced the speed from 3000 to 2933 as recommended on my mobo and RAM pages. This time it was more stable: the PC crashed 15 minutes after logging into Star Citizen. Next I want to try 2667 and 2400 MHz, as those are the other speeds that are officially listed as supported (on my mobo's page). My question is, what should I set the voltage to? Also, is it ok if I don't touch the RAM timings? They're set to 16-18-18-38 and for the life of me, I couldn't find where to tweak them in my BIOS, so I don't think it supports tweaking them manually. I've tweaked such timings before on another motherboard, so I have an idea of how to do it. But apparently the only RAM settings I can change on my current mobo is load XMP profile, change memory speed, voltage and infinity fabric speed (not sure how the last one works and how exactly it was worded but I doubt that's relevant here).

So to summarize:
Should I try the beta BIOS?
Do you think my PC could crash during a BIOS update?
What RAM voltage to use for 2667 and 2400 MHz?
Is it ok if I don't touch the RAM timings while tweaking speed and voltage?
Also, should I maybe try and other speeds?

 

[Lutfij]

I would highly advise on updating the BIOS when there are revisions available, the only exception would be stay away from the BIOS with A.G.E.S.A code 1.2.0.5 as that ruined a lot of system's. I've advised this prior, on other threads, to gradually work your way up when updating BIOS as the one preceding the latter would be a stepping stone for it.

You might forgo all you BIOS updates and see if a clearing of your CMOS alleviates the issue and you're able to get the ram to it's advertised timings, frequency and voltage. In fact, did you manually input all the info found on the stickered side of the rams into BIOS? Up the voltage to 1.35v(or 1.4v/1.45v) with the timings and frequency it's advertised to run at.

If I were you, I'd flash the BIOS to 7.20(Beta) then flash again to 7.40 then clear the CMOS and then try with the ram's overclocking.

 

[dolfinator]

I just loaded the XMP profile. The only thing I've done manually is try reducing the speed from 3000 to 2933. But I did check in the BIOS, as well as CPU-Z to make sure the speed and voltage were always what they were supposed to be.
About the BIOS updates, do you think I should worry about the PC crashing during the update?

 

[dolfinator]

I tried the 7.20 BIOS and everything was the same. I will try 7.40 tomorrow but I'm losing hope a bit. What are the chances the CPU has a bad memory controller? I could just get it refunded and look to buy another one, maybe a different model.

 

[dolfinator]

I tried all 3 BIOS versions that support my CPU and there wasn't any difference. I cleared the CMOS too. It's unstable with both RAM sticks in and it's unstable with 1 stick in XMP.