How to overclock RAM?

[Srijan Verma]

I have 16gb single channel DDR4 3000mhz Gskill ripjaws RAM. How to go about overclocking it?

[DailyProcrastinator]

To 'auto' OC your memory you can enable XMP mode in your bios, this detects the rated speed for your memory kit and OC's it to that speed. For AMD systems this is referred to DOCP instead of XMP, but it is the same thing. Keep in mind on most motherboards 2666MHz is considered overclocking so mileage may vary, just because a kit of RAM is rated for 3000MHz does not mean it will be stable. 

 

I recommend running a quick stress test like Cinebench R20/R15 or 3DMark, if you get a windows blue screen with stop codes related to memory you know it is not stable. Sometimes you can also get stuck in a boot loop as the motherboard tries to enable the XMP/DOCP profile, after a few attempts if it does not like the memory OC it will reset it back to default.

 

If you cannot enable XMP/DOCP you can attempt to manually adjust DRAM speed and voltage. OR, this can also be done if you want to try and squeeze even more performance out of your RAM.

 

I for example have OC'd my 3200MHz RAM to 3466MHz, at 1.3750V (DRAM voltage) and tightened my timings. 

[ZephCloud]

xmp is already on....you can try manually tune it higher in the bios...if you have a msi board can try the memory try it function

[Srijan Verma]

6 hours ago, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

To 'auto' OC your memory you can enable XMP mode in your bios, this detects the rated speed for your memory kit and OC's it to that speed. For AMD systems this is referred to DOCP instead of XMP, but it is the same thing. Keep in mind on most motherboards 2666MHz is considered overclocking so mileage may vary, just because a kit of RAM is rated for 3000MHz does not mean it will be stable. 

 

I recommend running a quick stress test like Cinebench R20/R15 or 3DMark, if you get a windows blue screen with stop codes related to memory you know it is not stable. Sometimes you can also get stuck in a boot loop as the motherboard tries to enable the XMP/DOCP profile, after a few attempts if it does not like the memory OC it will reset it back to default.

 

If you cannot enable XMP/DOCP you can attempt to manually adjust DRAM speed and voltage. OR, this can also be done if you want to try and squeeze even more performance out of your RAM.

 

I for example have OC'd my 3200MHz RAM to 3466MHz, at 1.3750V (DRAM voltage) and tightened my timings. 

XMP is already enabled, i am looking for how to overclock manually to higher frequency

 

[DailyProcrastinator]

15 hours ago, Srijan Verma said:

XMP is already enabled, i am looking for how to overclock manually to higher frequency

 

Okay so go into Bios and disable XMP, (excuse the Asus terminology, it is the only bios I know well), then go to advanced settings, then AI tweaker. 

 

From there you are going to want to adjust your memory frequency, I generally recommend single incremental jumps, so from 3000MHz you would go to 3066Mhz, then go down to DRAM Voltage and set it to 1.3500V. Save and exit Bios. As mentioned earlier if you get caught it a boot loop and the settings reset to default you know the memory OC was not stable. 

 

If stable enough to post into Windows then run a quick stress test, I recommend Cinebench R15 (runs faster than R20) and if stable restart and post boot into Bios. Also, keep in mind stable in a quick stress test is not the same as stable during a gaming session. Windows stop codes related to ememory will let you know that your memory OC is not stable.

 

If you hit instability along the way start upping the DRAM voltage by increments of 0.010V (so 1.360V, 1.370V, 1.380V... etc) until stable, I would not recommend exceeding 1.450V though. 

 

So once stable at 3066MHz you can push further, 3133MHz, 3200MHz, 3266MHz, 3333MHz, and so forth, each time testing stability, possibly adjusting voltage and this is how you OC your memory, eventually you will hit a wall.

 

For me this 'wall' was 3466MHz at 1.3750V, but at 3533MHz even at 1.450V I was not stable. As said before mileage may vary. Even at 3033MHz you may not be stable at all. But it is fun to try!

 

Good luck!