System starts slowly when EXPO is active
System starts slowly when EXPO is active
Hi, I've observed my new PC running extremely slowly. The hardware includes a Ryzen R7 7800 X3D processor, MSI B650 Gaming motherboard with WIFI RAM (Corsair Vengance DDR5 32GB), an EXPO graphics card (Radeon RX 7800 XT), and a 6000MHz CL36 graphics module. After checking my specs, I noticed my RAM defaults to 6000 while my CPU only supports up to 5200. Reading about EXPO suggested it might be interfering, so I disabled it and set the RAM to AUTO at 5200. Boot time remained long—around 50 seconds. Later, I re-enabled EXPO but kept RAM fixed at 5200. The PC still wouldn't boot properly, and after about three minutes it failed to reach the MSI setup screen. I removed the motherboard battery to reset it to default settings. Once that was done, the system booted quickly—about ten seconds. In BIOS, EXPO was off and RAM was set to AUTO (which appeared as 6000). I tried enabling EXPO again but left RAM at AUTO. Boot times returned to roughly 50 seconds. I attempted a BIOS update, but it didn't resolve the issue. Noticing that when RAM is set to AUTO, the speed appears capped at 6000, I wondered if this was normal given my CPU's maximum of 5200. Changing from AUTO to 5200 worsened performance. Enabling EXPO again improved things, but it still showed 6000 as the limit. I'm unsure if disabling EXPO fully is the right path, especially since updates didn't help. What should I do next? Thanks ahead.
Your 5200 CPU rating is the standard guarantee AMD provides, yet the chance of a 7800X3D failing to run at 6000 is very slim (I haven't heard anyone mention it's impossible). Unlikely, EXPO remains a type of overclocking so it's surprising to find a board that turns this on by default, particularly because it might cause endless boot loops if the CPU isn't stable at those higher speeds. If you experience slow starts, consider checking MCR: memory context restore.
Your system might be using an outdated BIOS from several months back. Updating it would improve memory compatibility. Would you prefer four sticks or two? Last week I installed a MSI B650 Tomahawk with 7800X3D and 6000CL30 on two sticks—it performed well. Using four sticks usually causes problems, but two sticks is the typical recommendation for 6000 RAM. If it hasn’t been updated yet, consider changing the BIOS settings to enhance compatibility.
Both are mentioned in the OP. Latest non-Beta BIOS and 2x16GB kit.
That's completed! MCR is now set to AUTO by default, which likely disables it. It seems you were retraining it repeatedly. Odd!
In many motherboard setups, auto modes typically indicate off. Good that it functioned as expected!