Should I be using XMP?

[Sorenson]

I’m not exactly sure if there is any reason to be using XMP or not on my Asus Strix Z730-I motherboard with an I7-8700k and 3000Mhz ram. 

 

My 8700k is set at 4.7 ghz all core at stock voltage and my ram is running at 3000mhz, whit XMP on and with XMP off. When I turn XMP on my CPU seems to run at a higher voltage making it hotter. If I can hit my OC on the cpu without XMP is there any reason to turn it on?

[badreg]

1. Unless you manually set RAM frequency, it is not running at 3000Mhz with XMP off. It will default to 2133Mhz CL15.

 

2. If you are worried about auto voltage, then just set a manual voltage (or adaptive/offset if that is more your cup off tea).

[Sorenson]

31 minutes ago, badreg said:

1. Unless you manually set RAM frequency, it is not running at 3000Mhz with XMP off. It will default to 2133Mhz CL15.

 

2. If you are worried about auto voltage, then just set a manual voltage (or adaptive/offset if that is more your cup off tea).

1. I manually selected the ram frequency for 3000 MHz and my system resource monitor says they are running at 3000mhz. 

 

2. Under XMP my cpu will spike to 80c which causes my fans to ramp up to full for a split second which I don’t like. My fan control only lets me control fan speed up to 80c. When I reduced the core/cache voltage by -.03 my pc was stable but was having issues where it wouldn’t wake up from sleep. 

 

If if I can get my ram to 3000mhz without XMP is there a point to using XMP? 

[ch3w2oy]

No, you don't need to use XMP.. I don't have XMP turned on on my board as I set everything manually.. 

 

You should just use it if you're not running into any issues.. The CPU isn't an issue because like mentioned above, you can manually change the voltage.. I would only set the frequency to something manual on the RAM if you plan on adjusting all of the timings like I did, the frequency isn't the only thing that XMP changes..

 

Use XMP and try an offset voltage for the CPU or set it manually to something lower than you see it running at with XMP turned on and then stress test it to ensure stability..

[badreg]

1 hour ago, Sorenson said:

If if I can get my ram to 3000mhz without XMP is there a point to using XMP? 

XMP is just a preset, like a "High" or "Ultra" graphics preset for games. XMP applies changes for frequency, voltage and timings, which are all settings that you can manually set yourself.

 

However, if you simply set your frequency to 3000Mhz without setting anything else, you may experience instability from the wrong voltage or your timings may not be optimized.