Ryzen RAM Overclocking

[Goldenhawk]

Greetings Linus Tech Tips community,

Due to my CPU reaching its limits within some single core tasks and that I paid for 3200MHz RAM _{(G.Skill F4-3200C16D-16GTRG 4x8GB)}, I'd like to get my RAM running at this frequency. By default, my RAM runs at 2133MHz without any configuration to the BIOS. I have enabled XMP Profile 2 on my motherboard _{(MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon)} to enable the rated speed of my RAM, however, it causes instability issues such as graphical glitches, BSODs and more. While they're rare to occur with this mode, I'd prefer a more stable system. I haven't tried Profile 1, as it's only 2933MHz not 3200MHz; I'd rather run it at the rated speed. Hoping my memory isn't faulty, are they meant to run at their rated speeds without issue, even in XMP mode?

Would there be any other options to get my memory running at its rated speed with better stability? For reference, my RAM is utilising the Hynix chips, sadly not Samsung. Also, I am quite new to the field of overclocking, so I might have missed out some vital information, please let me know if you require more, thanks.

 

EDIT: My CPU is a Ryzen 7 2700, at stock speeds.

 

[Bombastinator]

My understanding is enabling xmp should make memory run at the rates speed with no problems and there should be no glitches of any kind.  That there are any says there is a problem of some type.  Graphical glitches are particularly weird and shouldn’t have to do with memory at all.  I’m wondering at this point if there isn’t a problem somewhere else in the system other than memory that doesn’t like xmp.

 

of course my understanding could be faulty.

[Goldenhawk]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

My understanding is enabling xmp should make memory run at the rates speed with no problems and there should be no glitches of any kind.  That there are any says there is a problem of some type.  Graphical glitches are particularly weird and shouldn’t have to do with memory at all.  I’m wondering at this point if there isn’t a problem somewhere else in the system other than memory that doesn’t like xmp.

 

of course my understanding could be faulty.

Strange... without XMP however, I never encounter instability issues of any kind. I'm guessing likely the CPU or motherboard is at fault if there were to be a fault? Also, forgot to mention my CPU, it is a Ryzen 2700.

[WereCat]

which Ryzen CPU?

 

have you updated the BIOS?

[Goldenhawk]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

which Ryzen CPU?

 

have you updated the BIOS?

Sorry, I own a Ryzen 7 2700 (non-X). I'm running the latest BIOS currently from MSI for my board.

[WereCat]

1 minute ago, Goldenhawk said:

Sorry, I own a Ryzen 7 2700 (non-X). I'm running the latest BIOS currently from MSI for my board.

The 1st and 2nd gen Ryzens have a bit weaker memory controlers so it may be possible that you need to bump up the SOC voltage to get the memory stable. In that case I would also advise against using XMP and recommend you to manualy set the memory speed, latency and voltage.

 

SOC up to 1.2V (max)

DRAM Voltage up to 1.4V (max)

 

set the speed to 3200MHz and the CL latency to whats written on the stickers on the RAM sticks

[Goldenhawk]

1 minute ago, WereCat said:

The 1st and 2nd gen Ryzens have a bit weaker memory controlers so it may be possible that you need to bump up the SOC voltage to get the memory stable. In that case I would also advise against using XMP and recommend you to manualy set the memory speed, latency and voltage.

 

SOC up to 1.2V (max)

DRAM Voltage up to 1.4V (max)

 

set the speed to 3200MHz and the CL latency to whats written on the stickers on the RAM sticks

Thanks for the advice, I'll try 3200MHz at 1.35v (My memory is rated at that voltage) with the correct timings and see how it goes. Won't push the SOC yet, as that I'm a tad concerned about doing.

 

On a side note, what method of testing would be advisable for memory stability and performance, MemTest86?

[Haro]

9 minutes ago, Goldenhawk said:

Sorry, I own a Ryzen 7 2700 (non-X). I'm running the latest BIOS currently from MSI for my board.

Jus like what @WereCat said zen +memory controller is bad,

So it is possible that you just lost the silicon lottery do try running your ram at like 2933 if possible

[WereCat]

Just now, Goldenhawk said:

Thanks for the advice, I'll try 3200MHz at 1.35v (My memory is rated at that voltage) with the correct timings and see how it goes. Won't push the SOC yet, as that I'm a tad concerned about doing.

 

On a side note, what method of testing would be advisable for memory stability and performance, MemTest86?

yes get a USB stick with a bootable Memtest86, let it run for at least 2 full passes (will take several hours). Idealy 4 passes are considered as perfectly stable but that may take a whole day, I rock with 2 passes as long as there is 0 errors.

 

Why 1.35V on DRAM may not be enough. Reason, Voltage droop. Every motherboard is different and depending on the default LLC settings you may be actually getting lower than 1.35V. You should not really worry about pushing the DRAM to 1.4V as thats well within the safe range of what DDR4 can handle.

 

Regarding the SOC. Definitely keep it as low as possible but 1.2V is considered as safe as long as you need to push it that high.

[Bitter]

Running all 4 sticks on Zen+ makes hitting higher RAM speeds more difficult, either drop to 2 sticks or live with lower speeds.

 

Also 1.2V indicated may not be actually 1.2V at the CPU so better to keep that below 1.2 indicated. I'm running a 2700X with 32GB (2x16) of DDR4 3600 but the best speed I can hit is 3400. https://www.gskill.com/search?keywords=f4-3600c19d-32gvrb I can get them at 3400 at 1.35V at like 18 timings. Any higher than 3400 no matter what voltages or timings I try to run they don't boot. Any tighter timings at 3400 and they don't boot. Also running an X470 board. It's just Zen+ being a little bit picky with RAM still, Zen2 is a bit better, but with Zen+ just run 2 sticks.