I believe your DDR5 RAM requires higher voltage to function correctly with EXPO settings.
I believe your DDR5 RAM requires higher voltage to function correctly with EXPO settings.
I recently acquired an AMD 7800x3d, a MSI X670E MAG Tomahawk WIFI, and G. SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB 2 x 32 GB DDR5-6000 CL 30 RAM. I experienced stability problems such as crashes, stuttering, and distorted audio even after updating the BIOS and drivers. I suspected it might be RAM, so I tested each module separately with EXPO enabled using MemTest86 (8 passes) and TestMem5 ABSOLUT. No errors appeared during testing, and Windows 11 was functioning properly. However, when attempting to use both modules with EXPO enabled, the system became slow, stuttered, and was highly prone to BSODs. I followed the motherboard manual to use the correct slots. I adjusted Memory Context Restore and Memory Power Down settings, but nothing changed. Since I haven’t overclocked since Haswell, my knowledge is outdated, and I experimented with tweaking EXPO voltages slightly. I increased three values initially matched (1.4 to 1.45): VDD, VDDQ, and VPP — DRAM Voltage, VDDQ Voltage, and VDDIO Voltage. Currently, I’m running MemTest5 ABSOLUT for about 30 minutes at around 55°C. I’m not confident in the safe voltage or temperature range, as I’m new to this. There’s no indication of thermal pads under the heatsinks. I’d like to replace this RAM but Microcenter is far away and my schedule is tight, so I’m hesitant. Are there any setup concerns or recommendations you could share?
For Hynix memory kits such as yours, a 1.55V cooling should work fine, while without cooling 1.45V is the optimal setting I’d prefer. I’d check which voltages actually need adjustment. If it’s VDD, that indicates a faulty kit and you should return it for replacement, though raising the voltage might still stabilize it. For VDDQ, it suggests an unusual BIOS or motherboard configuration—rare on AMD boards, where higher VDDQ is typically scaled down. VPP would point to a BIOS issue since it doesn’t affect stability. Also, what BIOS version are you running and have you tested other revisions?
Hello, I corrected a few issues in the main post. The values I adjusted were DRAM voltage, DRAM VDDQ Voltage, and DRAM VDDIO voltage. The BIOS version is 7E12v1C, the latest release dated June 6, 2024. It came with 7E12v1A, though I didn’t have EXPO installed during testing and updated it promptly. I successfully completed three cycles of TestMem5 without any errors so far. No further actions have been taken yet.
Alright, DRAM voltage and DRAM VDDQ are otherwise known as VDD and VDDQ, so that was fine, VDDIO is different though. I wouldn't personally want to have VDDIO set to above 1.4V for the long term health of the CPU, it might be OK though there's very little information about it, and since most motherboard manufacturers start to warn about voltage above 1.43V, I wouldn't really want to temp it. If VDDIO needs to be set that high though, its likely a BIOS issue and changing the BIOS revision would hopefully help.
Sure, I'll start with the other bios. Let me know if you need anything else!