[SOLVED] Why does the RAM not work?

[ChickenHawk8509]

Hi my friend upgraded to faster RAM lately but the RAM doesn't run at the right frequency.
The specs are:
CPU: Intel i3 7100
RAM: G.Skill Trident Z F4-3200C16D-16GTZKW
Board: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO APLHA
When we put the ram in it worked but it ran at 2133mhz which was the frequency of his old ram. When we tried to manually change it the computer wouldn't boot up and we got a message that said something like: overclock failed

Does anyone know how to fix this?

 

[MadsModsat]

If by "manually changed it", you mean setting it to 3200Mhz without doing anything else, that would be a problem, since there are other changes which need to be adjusted as well.

Instead you need to enable XMP in BIOS settings. This will adjust voltages, latencies and frequecies needed for running stable at 3200MHz

 

[Yousef alhamad]

He has to have the same frequency of both rams , his old is 2133mhz and he added 3200mhz , the 3200mhz will instantly run at 2133mhz , they will work together at the lower frequency , you guys just have to install that ram and let it run 2133mhz or upgrade the older ram to 3200mhz to run the new ram correctly

 

[MadsModsat]

Are you using the new RAM in combination with the RAM he already had?

If that's what you are doing, you can run into a lot of problems with stability, or even powerinmg on the PC.

RAM can't run at different speeds between modules - all RAM modules will always be running at the same frequency

Don't mix different RAM. Only RAM bought as a matched kit, is guaranteed to work together

Ditch the old RAM and use the new ones. If it is only one module, return it, and buy a kit with the capacity and number of modules you need.

Also :

2133 MHz is the actual default speed of the RAM. For operating at 3200MHz the RAM needs to be overclocked from 2133MHz to 3200MHz.

This overclock is setup exactly as needed by enabling XMP profile in BIOS.

The 3200MHz rated speed of the RAM, is actually an overclocked speed, confirmed to be stable by the manufacturer

If you don't want to enable the XMP profile, you need to know a lot about adjusting settings for the RAMto achieve a frequency of 3200MHz

So the best thing to do, is enable XMP in BIOS

 

[ChickenHawk8509]

If by "manually changed it", you mean setting it to 3200Mhz without doing anything else, that would be a problem, since there are other changes which need to be adjusted as well.

Instead you need to enable XMP in BIOS settings. This will adjust voltages, latencies and frequecies needed for running stable at 3200MHz

Well we also adjusted the timing to the right specs and the voltage

 

[ChickenHawk8509]

If by "manually changed it", you mean setting it to 3200Mhz without doing anything else, that would be a problem, since there are other changes which need to be adjusted as well.

Instead you need to enable XMP in BIOS settings. This will adjust voltages, latencies and frequecies needed for running stable at 3200MHz

Yes we tried that as well but then the pc wouldn't boot and give an error message

 

[ChickenHawk8509]

When we put the ram in it worked but it ran at 2133mhz which was the frequency of his old ram.

We pulled out the old ram and put in the new ram by the way

 

[MadsModsat]

This leaves another possible cause for the RAM not booting at rated speeds.

XMP is a factory overclock. The modules themselves are confirmed to work with a frequency of 3200MHz.

However, enabling the RAM to run at 3200MHz also requires the integrated memory controller in the CPU to be overclocked. Since that's actually what it is - an overclock - means that the CPU might not be able to support that RAM frequency. It factory settings support maximum of 2133MHz

No overclocks are ever guaranteed. The RAM is verified to run at 3200MHz, but the integrated memory controller isn't - so you might not be able to run 3200MHZ, but you could try lowering them to 3000MHz, or maybe even lesss

When reading the specs for your RAM, it is usually in the notes, that XMP might not work under certain circumstances

 

[ChickenHawk8509]

This leaves another possible cause for the RAM not booting at rated speeds.

XMP is a factory overclock. The modules themselves are confirmed to work with a frequency of 3200MHz.

However, enabling the RAM to run at 3200MHz also requires the integrated memory controller in the CPU to be overclocked. Since that's actually what it is - an overclock - means that the CPU might not be able to support that RAM frequency. It factory settings support maximum of 2133MHz

No overclocks are ever guaranteed. The RAM is verified to run at 3200MHz, but the integrated memory controller isn't - so you might not be able to run 3200MHZ, but you could try lowering them to 3000MHz, or maybe even lesss

It's an intel as well and it's locked does that make any difference with overclocking ram?

 

[MadsModsat]

Actually, that's another reason, well spotted, a little embarassing I didn't catch that initially

Only Intel Z-series motherboards allows memory overclocking, and your friend's current CPU only supports up to 2133MHz

EDIT : Upon reading the thread again, it is a z-series motherboard. It should support memory OC all the way to 3800MHz acording to the specs. The CPU is the most likely culprit, in my opinion

 

[ChickenHawk8509]

Actually, that's another reason, well spotted, a little embarassing I didn't catch that initially

Only Intel Z-series motherboards allows memory overclocking, and your current CPU only supports up to 2133MHz

Oh okay thanks, so if he would put in a current gen i5 or i7 the ram should work at higher speeds?

 

[MadsModsat]

Oh okay thanks, so if he would put in a current gen i5 or i7 the ram should work at higher speeds?

The max RAM frequency which can be achieved on the motherboard is 3800MHz, with the only possible limitation being the IMC stability.

Remember to confirm motherboard and CPU compatibility when your are looking to upgrade. More current CPUs, the 8th and 9th Gen, are not compatible with older boards, despite using the same LGA1151 socket. Some hardware changes has been made to the 1151 socket for the last two Intel generations. Some 8th Gen boards can be made 9th compatible with a BIOS update - however, the motherboard in question can't be updated to include 8th or 9th gen support

 

[Dragonking_1]

Oh okay thanks, so if he would put in a current gen i5 or i7 the ram should work at higher speeds?

No. Current gen (8th or 9th gen) intel CPU's are not compatible with the board you have. You would have to upgrade the board too.

If you want to keep the same motherboard, a 7700k could possibly work with a XMP profile of 3200MHz with the same motherboard., even higher maybe. Given your motherboard supports upto 3800MHz.

 

[MadsModsat]

I read through the thread again, since I felt something was not right.

As I assumed to begin with, the motherboard - being a Z-series chipset - does support RAM overclocking, and the motherboard actually supports a max RAM frequency of 3800MHz

If you are unable to make the RAM run at 3200MHz, the CPU IMC is probably the limiting factor, but it could be that 3000MHz or 2666MHz could be posible to achieve instead, like I suggested in an earlier post.
Bumping DRAM Voltage from 1.35v to 1.40v is also an option which has sometimes proved to be useful in other similar situations

The motherboard should not be preventing you from running the 3200MHz the RAM is capable of

It's an intel as well and it's locked does that make any difference with overclocking ram?

I'm not sure about the i3 CPU in question, but I have a spare 9th Gen i3 9100F CPU myself, and with that, higher than factory frequencies was possible with my current board, eventhough it is not an unlocked CPU.
All that was needed was enabling the XMP profile and the RAM was running at 3333MHz eventhough the 9100F has a max 2666MHz memory frequency support and isn't a K model.

I have no personal experience with an i3 7100, and I don't know if unlike the 9th Gen i3, it can't support memory overclock at all, regardless of the chipset