First time on a Ryzen rig, what to do to optimize?

[Luxzio22]

So after backing up my files and lazing around for a few days on my old Windows install that I hooked up to my new Athlon 200GE and Gigabyte B450, I have done a clean install today. My DRAM Frequency under the memory tab in CPU-Z is 1064Mhz and I've heard that Ryzen requires faster RAM to work optimally. My RAM is Corsair Vengance LPX 3000Mhz and my GPU is an Asus ROG STRIX RX570 4GB. Considering that I can't overclock the CPU and have never OC'd anything before but want optimal performance, what should I do?

Do I need to do anything in BIOS to make sure my RAM is running at the correct frequency? Currently I have only CPU-Z installed, should I download HWMonitor and Afterburner? How do I use them? And what about Ryzenmaster?

 

Thanks all for the help!

[zeusthemoose]

2 minutes ago, Luxzio22 said:

Do I need to do anything in BIOS to make sure my RAM is running at the correct frequency?

Is xmp enabled? If it isn't, your ram will be stuck at 2133mhz.

[boggy77]

you need to go in bios and enable xmp. this should set your ram to run at the correct speed. also make sure you have ram in slots 2 and 4.

[Luxzio22]

I don't remember in which slots I have RAM installed but its only 1 stick. I know that's not optimal but should I change it from 1 or 3 if its on them? 

I'll enable XMP in the BIOS if its not already. Will it give any error or trouble?

[zeusthemoose]

Just now, Luxzio22 said:

Will it give any error or trouble?

It shouldn't

 

Just now, Luxzio22 said:

I don't remember in which slots I have RAM installed but its only 1 stick.

since you only have 1, make sure it is in slot A2 (the second slot from the cpu)

[nick name]

No HWMonitor.  Use HWiNFO.  Ryzen Master is fine to have and you can decide what you use it for.  

[BigDamn]

You may already know this, but the memory tab in CPU-Z won't show the speed you're expecting. DDR (Double Data Rate) memory performs two transfer per clock, so the effective memory speed is what is advertised, but your actual speed is half of that (3000mhz = 1500mhz) and is shown in CPUZ. By default you'll run at 2133mhz, but as others have mentioned you can enable your XMP profile to hit the advertised 3000mhz. Note: this isn't always stable on Ryzen! Although Zen2 is far better than previous generations of the Zen architecture, it's still not 100% perfect. Look up how to run memtest86 and let that run to completion after enabling XMP. If you finish with 0 errors, you're set, otherwise you're not.

[dfsgsfa]

ram , turn on DOCP in bios

download ryzen chipset driver

install process lasso

 

any optimisation on that low end 200ge is useless

 

 

[Luxzio22]

@zeusthemoose and @boggy77 I went into BIOS and enabled XMP, and my DRAM freq in CPU-Z is now around 1500Mhz. And no trouble / instability so far. I checked my mobo user manual since the dual channel rabbit hole went deeper than I thought and its shows that on my board from left to right, ie CPU to power cable direction, RAM slots are numbered DDR4_4->DDR4_2->DDR4_3->DDR4_1 and mine is in the third slot from the CPU so DDR4_3. Do I still need to change this / is it not ideal?

 

@BigDamn Thanks! I didn't know CPU-Z reports that way. After enabling XMP, its 1500ish so 3000 when doubled so I think it is running @ spec. I don't know if its unstable as I have never had any experience with unstable RAM but I guess its best to test? I googled on how to run memtest and its the test that you have to boot into to run right? How long should I run it? Should I run it after re-seating my RAM?

 

@dfsgsfa DOCP is same as XMP? I've turned that on already. And do you mean chipset driver for the mobo? Ie is it a BIOS update? And what is process lasso?

 

Thank you all for your help!

[boggy77]

40 minutes ago, Luxzio22 said:

@zeusthemoose and @boggy77 I went into BIOS and enabled XMP, and my DRAM freq in CPU-Z is now around 1500Mhz. And no trouble / instability so far. I checked my mobo user manual since the dual channel rabbit hole went deeper than I thought and its shows that on my board from left to right, ie CPU to power cable direction, RAM slots are numbered DDR4_4->DDR4_2->DDR4_3->DDR4_1 and mine is in the third slot from the CPU so DDR4_3. Do I still need to change this / is it not ideal?

 

@BigDamn Thanks! I didn't know CPU-Z reports that way. After enabling XMP, its 1500ish so 3000 when doubled so I think it is running @ spec. I don't know if its unstable as I have never had any experience with unstable RAM but I guess its best to test? I googled on how to run memtest and its the test that you have to boot into to run right? How long should I run it? Should I run it after re-seating my RAM?

 

@dfsgsfa DOCP is same as XMP? I've turned that on already. And do you mean chipset driver for the mobo? Ie is it a BIOS update? And what is process lasso?

 

Thank you all for your help!

if you turned on xmp and it works (it seems it is), then you don't need to do much more. unstable ram usually means blue screens, if you're not getting those, you're fine. as for the slots, you should have in in the second slot counting from the cpu, so DDR4_2. but if it works as is, just leave it there.

chipset drivers can be downloaded from the amd website. they come with the adrenalin software, I think. it's not a bios update.

bios update is separate, it can be downloaded from your motherboard's support page.

[Luxzio22]

AMD Adrenalin is already installed, got it with the GPU drivers. Nothing like BSODs or any suspicious activity at all so I guess RAM is stable  So besides reseating the RAM, am I all set?

[BigDamn]

5 hours ago, Luxzio22 said:

Thanks! I didn't know CPU-Z reports that way. After enabling XMP, its 1500ish so 3000 when doubled so I think it is running @ spec. I don't know if its unstable as I have never had any experience with unstable RAM but I guess its best to test? I googled on how to run memtest and its the test that you have to boot into to run right? How long should I run it? Should I run it after re-seating my RAM?

Yeah just load it on to a USB and boot from it. The test will probably take upwards of 6 hours, so just let it run overnight. And if your machine is running well I see no reason to re-seat your RAM. It sounds like you only have 1 stick and it's installed into slot 1 (closest to the CPU) which is what you want, no reason to move it.

[Luxzio22]

On 7/7/2020 at 7:36 PM, BigDamn said:

Yeah just load it on to a USB and boot from it. The test will probably take upwards of 6 hours, so just let it run overnight. And if your machine is running well I see no reason to re-seat your RAM. It sounds like you only have 1 stick and it's installed into slot 1 (closest to the CPU) which is what you want, no reason to move it.

Actually, its not in the closest slot to the CPU, its in DDR4_3 slot as per my mobo manual so its in the third slot from the CPU. But I was having no issues so I didn't do anything, until now. Under the Memory tab in CPU-Z, my Channel# is "Single Channel". Is it how its supposed to be or can I set it to dual channel even with the one stick of RAM I'm using?

 

I didn't run memtest yet because it would take so much time but I guess now I might have to. I had my first BSOD / "Windows encountered an error and needs to restart" / unhappy face message today. That's a BSOD correct? I was watching a video on youtube when it happened and it said Windows will collect some info and restart. Is there a way I can view the collected info and see if it was RAM related? Can I loose files when such a thing happens? What's the worst that can happen with these? 

 

[BigDamn]

15 hours ago, Luxzio22 said:

Actually, its not in the closest slot to the CPU, its in DDR4_3 slot as per my mobo manual so its in the third slot from the CPU. But I was having no issues so I didn't do anything, until now. Under the Memory tab in CPU-Z, my Channel# is "Single Channel". Is it how its supposed to be or can I set it to dual channel even with the one stick of RAM I'm using?

 

I didn't run memtest yet because it would take so much time but I guess now I might have to. I had my first BSOD / "Windows encountered an error and needs to restart" / unhappy face message today. That's a BSOD correct? I was watching a video on youtube when it happened and it said Windows will collect some info and restart. Is there a way I can view the collected info and see if it was RAM related? Can I loose files when such a thing happens? What's the worst that can happen with these? 

 

Dual channel can only be achieved with a minimum of 2 sticks of RAM, though you should know that 4 sticks doesn't equate to quad channel, and is still dual channel on most consumer platforms (AMD Ryzen, Intel Core, etc).

 

Sounds like a BSOD to me. You can use BlueScreenView to view the dump file and see what happened, but don't expect to understand what it all means. I would suggest a memtest run and if it fails try your luck with the Ryzen DRAM Calculator and punch your settings in manually.

[Luxzio22]

Thanks for the help! I'll do this.

[Luxzio22]

9 hours ago, BigDamn said:

Dual channel can only be achieved with a minimum of 2 sticks of RAM, though you should know that 4 sticks doesn't equate to quad channel, and is still dual channel on most consumer platforms (AMD Ryzen, Intel Core, etc).

 

Sounds like a BSOD to me. You can use BlueScreenView to view the dump file and see what happened, but don't expect to understand what it all means. I would suggest a memtest run and if it fails try your luck with the Ryzen DRAM Calculator and punch your settings in manually.

The 'Caused by driver' is "ntoskrnl.exe" and the 'Bug check string' is "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT". According to this guide: https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/fix-ntoskrnl-exe-bsod/, it could have been a case where my hardware was unable to cope with the load, but I don't think >20 tabs on Vivaldi is gonna stress 8GB of RAM, especially when my old PC with 4GB ran it without issue. It did freeze for about 3 seconds before the bluescreen though. So memtest is the way to go then?

[BigDamn]

8 hours ago, Luxzio22 said:

The 'Caused by driver' is "ntoskrnl.exe" and the 'Bug check string' is "MEMORY_MANAGEMENT". According to this guide: https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/fix-ntoskrnl-exe-bsod/, it could have been a case where my hardware was unable to cope with the load, but I don't think >20 tabs on Vivaldi is gonna stress 8GB of RAM, especially when my old PC with 4GB ran it without issue. It did freeze for about 3 seconds before the bluescreen though. So memtest is the way to go then?

Yes run memtest. Unstable memory doesn't only error out under heavy loads, rather, data gets stored incorrectly (or read back incorrectly) and causes the system to crash. This could happen while using just 500mb of RAM or 6gb+.