System Instability From RAM Overclocking

[WoT_Cown]

Hi all!

 

So, I decided to build my gaming rig during August and I've been experiencing a couple of issues over the past week.

 

The original RAM configuration consisted of two kits of "G-Skill Ripjaws 4 F4-3200C16Q-16GRKD 16GB (4GBx4) Kit DDR4-3200 MHz (PC4-25600) Unbuffered Non-ECC".

 

The XMP values are 16-16-16-36-2T-1.35V @3200Mhz and I decided to adjust the timings, however, I haven't changed the frequency or voltage, so I ended up with 15-15-15-32-1T-1.35V @3200Mhz.

 

That overclock has been working well for almost three months and passed an overnight test with Memtest86, however, over the past week I've started experiencing BSOD's, freezes, failing to POST/boot, etc.

 

I managed to isolate that one of the memory modules had in fact failed, so I bought a new kit of two and installed them in slots A1 and B1.

 

With the faulty module replaced and my "optimal" overclock applied, the system appeared to be fine until I started playing games.

 

Whilst playing Eve Online, the system generated a BSOD (IRQL_Not_Less_Or_Equel), so I restarted the system and decided to play World of Tanks. It would let me play for between 15-30 minuets before the game would crash and refuse to re-launch, so I had to restart the system again and it would then work for another 15-30 minuets before crashing again.

 

I also experienced a few other problems where certain programs wouldn't open by throwing a DLL error (can't remember the specific messages at the moment) and certain web pages in Chrome wouldn't open (presumably corrupt cached pages).

 

I then went into the BIOS, adjusted the timings back to the XMP values, restarted the system multiple times and everything seems to be working fine (can run multiple game clients, no BSODs/crashes, etc.

 

So, what I don't understand and where I'm hoping some of you more knowledgeable overclockers can help, is why would my overclock work for almost three months and then suddenly become unstable? Could it be the case that the modules have slightly degraded and thus need more voltage, as 1.35V is designed for the XMP values and that it was only "just" working with my timings?

 

Or perhaps it's the case that the new memory modules aren't as overclockable and require more voltage?

 

Is it worth my time trying to stabilize the overclock by adjusting the voltage in terms of performance, or will the XMP values be sufficient (I'm mainly using the PC for games)? If the performance boost is very small then It seems a waste, especially if I have to increase voltage and because I haven't noticed any discernible difference between the XMP overclock and mine?

 

If I do experiment with increasing voltage, what increments should I use between each test?

 

Please let me know if you would like me to provide more specific information.

 

Thank you all in advance for your help!