Are four RAM sticks impacting your motherboard's overclocking potential?
Are four RAM sticks impacting your motherboard's overclocking potential?
Hi, I recently changed the thermal paste on my PC and encountered some issues. The main problem was that when I started Battlefield 1, the game would load but then crash, sometimes even shutting down completely. I found out my motherboard (MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX) doesn’t support 3600MHz RAM—only up to 3466MHz. I’ve been using four sticks at 3600MHz for about a year without issues, so it seems the four sticks might be contributing to the problem. When I reduced the speed to 3466MHz, all the crashes stopped, which suggests the controller is likely the issue. Anyone have any advice or solutions for this? The rest of the components are listed below. My system includes a Ryzen 5 3600, MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX motherboard, G-Skill Ripjaws V 4x 8GB DDR4-3600 RAM, and an RTX 3060 Ti with 750W power supply.
Consider trying manual adjustments first. Set the SOC voltage to 1.15V, which is ideal for memory overclocking on Zen 2/3 chips. If this doesn’t work, the board’s memory layout may be unsuitable for four sticks. You might need to tweak resistances, but it will take a lot of time. Focus on ProcODT changes to improve stability; otherwise, skip drive strength and RTT testing unless you’re certain success is unlikely.
Manufacturers often set recommended RAM speeds based on specific configurations. Generally, faster speeds require more strain on the memory controller, and adding more sticks increases that demand. Higher clock speeds like 3600Mhz can stress a B450 board even with a 5000 series CPU. I’d limit myself to around 3200Mhz with four sticks, but if 3466 performs well, it’s worth trying. There’s little you can change; voltage boosts only offer temporary relief and shouldn’t be relied upon. Prioritize stability and stick with the recommended speed.
Are you questioning the reputation of the b450 tomahawk? You noticed an hwbot validation for a 4900 DDR4, but it seems you're leaning toward a b350 tomahawk or PC model since they offer PCI slots and are easier to install postcode cards. I'm also interested in how Cezanne performs compared to others—someone mentioned running 4533 dual rank with 1.275vsoc on a 5700G alongside Skatterbencher, using 1.35v vsoc for GPU overclocking. If you just boost the vsoc for high-speed dual rank DDR4, it could work well. For other tweaks, you might try setting vdimm to 1.38 and 1.4v, turn off GDM, enable 2t command rate, and adjust primaries (perhaps 18-22-22-45).
Cezanne is a fully reworked iMC with no resemblance to Vermeer. It performs well across varying SOC voltages, though the safe operating range isn't clear to me. I wouldn’t push it beyond 1.2–1.25V, as achieving high performance like 4400 dual rank would require less than that. From what I’ve noticed (limited info), it handles two sticks nicely but struggles with four DIMMs. It seems the B350 and B450 Tomahawk use different memory layouts—B350 uses a t-top design while B450 uses a daisy chain. Just don’t rely on these details unless you’re familiar with older specs.