Try adjusting the BIOS settings to match 2666MHz and check if Crucial Ballistix works smoothly.
Try adjusting the BIOS settings to match 2666MHz and check if Crucial Ballistix works smoothly.
I purchased a set from Crucial for the Ballistix Sport LT 2666 MHz DDR4 RAM kit, 32GB (16GB doubled). It came from Amazon and no matter how I adjusted the BIOS settings, it wouldn’t boot at that frequency. My MSI Prestige 15 already has a 16GB stick of 2666mhz CL16 memory from Hynix, so I was confident it could handle it. But with this Crucial RAM, anything above its standard JEDEC 2400mhz didn’t start up at all. I had to revert the BIOS back to defaults, even after applying XMP1 or manually setting the profile. It’s stuck at 2400mhz CL16. Is this a known limitation of my laptop? Some forum users suggested MSI might cap RAM speeds at 2400mhz above 31GB for certain models. Could it be that this particular memory isn’t fully compatible? The Crucial site claims full compatibility, but there might be a quirk with this specific model. Have anyone managed to get it running at its advertised speed? Here are the specs of one stick:
- Handle: 0x003B
- Error Info: Not provided
- Width: 64 bits
- Data Width: 64 bits
- Size: 16384 MB
- Form Factor: SODIMM
- Set: None
- Location: ChannelA-DIMM0
- Bank: BANK 0
- Type: DDR4
- Speed: 2400 MT/s
- Manufacturer: 859B
- Serial: [...]
- Asset ID: 9876543210
- Part No: BLS16G4S26BFSD.16FD
- Rank: 2
- Configured Speed: 2400 MT/s
- Voltage: 1.2V max / 1.2V min
The memory supports up to 2400mhz, but it seems this configuration isn’t supported. I’ve attached photos of the BIOS profiles included with the kit.
search for the latest bio update and test 2666 at cl19. Note this may result in lower performance compared to the JDEC configuration.
@TofuHaroto Thank you for your reply. There's no bios update. Just an EC update which seems to only be addressing some fan issues (which I do not have) according to update log. I've tried setting the CL value to something higher but no go. Maybe I didn't get the other numbers right? It's frustrating I have no feedback other than it's not working and a 3 minute reset procedure between attempts where one of the step is to hold a key for 45 seconds. Anyone have experience with this very kit?
You're questioning whether your expectations are accurate. It seems you've already improved performance beyond the original 16GB, 2666MHz stick with dual-channel boost. The challenge was finding a precise benchmark comparing 2400MHz CL16 against 2666MHz CL19.
Latency improvement can boost performance, like a 3200 cl16 matching the capabilities of a 3600 cl18 setup.