The RAM speed consistently restarts.
The RAM speed consistently restarts.
I recently purchased two sticks of t force xcalibur RGB RAM rated for 4000MHz. My Gigabyte Z390M gaming motherboard, which also has an i7 9700K, struggles to run anything above 3600MHz. It consistently resets the RAM to 3600 when using XMP profiles. When booting manually, I can access Windows but it never stabilizes, regardless of adjustments to speed and bandwidth settings. I encounter errors even though the board claims support for higher frequencies. They suggest the issue might be related to the T-configuration. I’ve opted to stick with 3600MHz and fine-tune the timings, currently set at 16-16-16-32-1T. However, I’d like to lower the frequency further, but any changes beyond 16 cause the RAM to drop back to 3200MHz. Am I making a mistake?
Compatibility with Ram-CPU-mobo is never perfect when you exceed the supported speed of any component. The further you go, the greater the chance it won’t integrate smoothly. There’s little you can do besides slow down or switch to a different type of RAM. Have you checked if the RAM supports multiple XMP profiles? I own a Kingston HyperX 4000 RAM with both 3600 and 4000 profiles. Both appear functional, but benchmarks across various tasks show better results with the 3600 profile—possibly due to tighter clock speeds. This issue affects both Intel and AMD systems I tested.
What you mentioned earlier is correct. I've been focusing on adjusting the timing and using 3600mhz since XMP and manual settings aren't working. This is why the RAM frequency drops to 3200 when I go under 16cl.
This doesn't address the prior issue. Should I just reinitialize the BIOS or adjust my clock speed?
Ah yes, Gigabyte motherboard BIOS will do that. My Z390 Aorus Master does that too. Your memory kit is not stable below tCL=16. You just need to live with tCL=16, or try another memory kit. The board is rated UP TO DDR4-4233, but the RAM kit that you have, AND the quality of the Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) within your CPU are also factors. CPU IMC = Silicon Lottery. It will try the timings you set, and then will go through a few attempts through the memory re-try / re-learn process. If it fails, the motherboard will drop the Memory frequency down 1x or 2x (which can be 3000 / 3200 / 3400) so it can boot at least successfully boot into OS. If you REALLY want to get your hands dirty into DRAM overclocking... It's pretty thorough, and goes deeper than your usually primary timings; it goes into secondary + tertiary timings, etc. https://github.com/integralfx/MemTestHel...aster/DDR4 OC Guide.md