RAM Compatibility Question

[ApexSutton31]

Hello all,

             Necessary PC specs for ?:

CPU: i7-7800x

MOBO: AsRock Taichi x299

PSU: Corsair HX850

 

TLDR; My question is how do you know if a set of RAM sticks you're planning on buying is compatible or not? My mobo is an older model than the RAM kits I'm looking at, so I assume that's why the compatibility section of the mobo on AsRock's website does not show these kits' part numbers in the list. But is there any way to tell? Here are the kits I'm looking at. One is a 4 stick and the other is an 8 stick kit, since I have 8 DIMM slots, I think it'd be cool to fill all 8 if I could.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N3GV5BH?tag=corsair070-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N3L66YZ?tag=corsair070-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

 

Longer version of question: I've ordered in the close past a kit of 32GB, not realizing I meant to go with 64GB as I use a fair bit of VMs and what not for my cyber security schooling, that was @ 3600Mhz speed (Corsair Vengeance LPX) and found that it refused to run at the xmp profile for the 3600MHz speed. After doing some reading on Google, it seems like my memory controller just wouldn't allow me to run that speed even though my mobo says it supports that speed at an OC. So I'm okay with sticking with 3200MHz or in the case of the 4 stick kit above, 3000MHz speed. But as mentioned above, I've looked at AsRock's website and looked at the compatibility section for RAM for my mobo and it doesn't show either one of these kits in the part number or serial number sections. And by this, I can safely assume that it's because my mobo is slightly older than these RAM kits from Corsair. Last, yes, I know RGB RAM is pointless, but I do think it looks cool. Lol. And I would like to stay with Corsair's ecosystem, seeing as I run 3 of their ML120 rgb fans as case fans on my 220T case that uses their proprietary rgb controller that's built into the case. Any advice or help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Haro]

4 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

TLDR; My question is how do you know if a set of RAM sticks you're planning on buying is compatible or not

QVL list although they are often inaccurate as they can't test every stick out there

The imc is good so your good there 

5 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

and found that it refused to run at the xmp profile for the 3600MHz speed

The imc might not handle all of it

Try setting vccio /vccsa to 1.1 and dram to 1.35 and try 3200

Use memtest86 and OCCT to make sure it's stable 

 

[ApexSutton31]

Just now, TofuHaroto said:

QVL list although they are often inaccurate as they can't test every stick out there

The imc is good so your good there 

The imc might not handle all of it

Try setting vccio /vccsa to 1.1 and dram to 1.35 and try 3200

Use memtest86 and OCCT to make sure it's stable 

 

My bad. Should have specified about the LPX 3600MHz memory I had. I have since returned it to Amazon and got my money back, since it didn't want to run at the advertised speed, I just went back to my 16GB kit from G.Skill @3200MHz and it still runs just fine. So that's why I linked those rgb kits I'm looking at buying. I figure, those speeds should run just fine. I just have no idea if they will be compatible at all with my mobo. Cuz if the speeds should work and they look like they'll be good for my mobo, I'd like to go ahead and purchase one of the kits. Also not sure if it's worth it to actually go with the 8 stick kit, since if I do upgrade in the next two years or so, I could take the 4 stick kit with me, since I plan on making my next build a mainstream build, rather than an HEDT build, since I really have no use for the HEDT platform from Intel or AMD. 

[Nathanpete]

Check the QVL document for your exact motherboard. If you choose a DDR4 kit, it will probably work, but the automated timings will be terrible. However, getting a kit that has it's exact part number on the QVL will ensure compatibility. Like a non-RGB kit could be verified, but installing the RGB version will not result in good performance, bc it isn't on the QVL. And yes, both your CPU and mobo affect RAM compatibility, but it is mostly the mobo. But u can't really check compatible ram for your CPU since Intel's maximum is way lower than it can actually go. 

 

However, bc your motherboard uses least common denominator for RAM sticks, your best bet is to take your current kit out, refund it if u can, or save it if u can't, and buy a 8x8GB or 2 4x8GB kits that are on the QVL at the speed ur IMC supports (3200 MHz apparently)

 

Also make sure to test stability after installing your RAM to make sure your voltages and frequencies are right. 

[ApexSutton31]

4 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

The imc might not handle all of it

Try setting vccio /vccsa to 1.1 and dram to 1.35 and try 3200

Use memtest86 and OCCT to make sure it's stable 

Also, I'm still learning. So I have no idea what vccio/vccsa is or does. So I'll have to look that up before messing with that stuff

 

[Haro]

Just now, ApexSutton31 said:

Also not sure if it's worth it to actually go with the 8 stick kit,

More work for the imc 

But more capacity it will still be at the same bandwidth as 4 quad sticks tho

[Nathanpete]

3 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

Check the QVL document for your exact motherboard. If you choose a DDR4 kit, it will probably work, but the automated timings will be terrible. However, getting a kit that has it's exact part number on the QVL will ensure compatibility. Like a non-RGB kit could be verified, but installing the RGB version will not result in good performance, bc it isn't on the QVL. And yes, both your CPU and mobo affect RAM compatibility, but it is mostly the mobo. But u can't really check compatible ram for your CPU since Intel's maximum is way lower than it can actually go. 

 

However, bc your motherboard uses least common denominator for RAM sticks, your best bet is to take your current kit out, refund it if u can, or save it if u can't, and buy a 8x8GB or 2 4x8GB kits that are on the QVL at the speed ur IMC supports (3200 MHz apparently)

 

Also make sure to test stability after installing your RAM to make sure your voltages and frequencies are right. 

Btw this is the QVL for your motherboard and CPU (Bc Skylake and Kaby Lake have different memory support.) 

https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/X299 Taichi/index.asp#MemorySKL

Edited June 17, 2020 by Nathanpete
Actually didn't put the URL in, lol.

[DailyProcrastinator]

7 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

3600Mhz speed (Corsair Vengeance LPX) and found that it refused to run at the xmp profile for the 3600MHz speed. After doing some reading on Google, it seems like my memory controller just wouldn't allow me to run that speed even though my mobo says it supports that speed at an OC. So I'm okay with sticking with 3200MHz or in the case of the 4 stick kit above, 3000MHz speed. 

I wouldn't worry about the QVL listing, this mattered more for like 1st gen Ryzen, Intel memory support has always been pretty good. 

 

Running past 2666MHz is considered memory overclocking so mileage may very, Just because a kit may not run at that speed with the XMP profile does not mean it won't do so with a manual OC, likely need to boost the voltage. I've clocked my 2x16GB kit of Corsair Vengence memory from it's 'stock' 3200MHz, to 3466MHz and tightened up my timings. 

[Nathanpete]

1 minute ago, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

I wouldn't worry about the QVL listing, this mattered more for like 1st gen Ryzen, Intel memory support has always been pretty good. 

 

Running past 2666MHz is considered memory overclocking so mileage may very, Just because a kit may not run at that speed with the XMP profile does not mean it won't do so with a manual OC, likely need to boost the voltage. I've clocked my 2x16GB kit of Corsair Vengence memory from it's 'stock' 3200MHz, to 3466MHz and tightened up my timings. 

Unfortunately RAM that isn't on the mobo's QVL usually have really bad secondary and tertiary timings, and those are stuff u really shouldn't edit urself unless u know what u are doing. The mobo will also reboot after POST a lot if u put RAM that isn't in the QVL in as it tries to guess and check to make it's own XMP profile. 

[ApexSutton31]

4 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

Check the QVL document for your exact motherboard. If you choose a DDR4 kit, it will probably work, but the automated timings will be terrible. However, getting a kit that has it's exact part number on the QVL will ensure compatibility. Like a non-RGB kit could be verified, but installing the RGB version will not result in good performance, bc it isn't on the QVL. And yes, both your CPU and mobo affect RAM compatibility, but it is mostly the mobo. But u can't really check compatible ram for your CPU since Intel's maximum is way lower than it can actually go. 

 

However, bc your motherboard uses least common denominator for RAM sticks, your best bet is to take your current kit out, refund it if u can, or save it if u can't, and buy a 8x8GB or 2 4x8GB kits that are on the QVL at the speed ur IMC supports (3200 MHz apparently)

 

Also make sure to test stability after installing your RAM to make sure your voltages and frequencies are right. 

Right. Cuz I have checked the QVL list on AsRock's website looking it up under my exact mobo and found that neither of the linked kits are on there. Even a few kits of non rgb LPX weren't on there either, if I remember correctly. But I did find some that were specifically mentioned. Oh, so the rgb versions are worse performing? Or is that cuz they're just not listed on the QVL list?

 

Yeah, I've since refunded that 3600MHz kit (forgot to mention that) and gone back to my 16GB 3200MHz G.Skill kit I had prior.

 

So how would you go about messing with timings and what not? Cuz I know RAM sticks have their timings listed. Should you just manually put in those timings and all that, rather than using the xmp profile thing in the BIOS?

[ApexSutton31]

7 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

More work for the imc 

But more capacity it will still be at the same bandwidth as 4 quad sticks tho

Yeah, I kind of figured that. Plus, it's way more expensive for the same amount of GB in the case of my linked kits, so I was thinking of just going with the 4 sticks that I could take to a future build, if that becomes the case

[ApexSutton31]

7 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

Btw this is the QVL for your motherboard and CPU (Bc Skylake and Kaby have different memory support. 

Right, no I understand that. I've checked on some of that stuff, since I know that Skylake-X has more PCI lanes and what not I assume? But I could be wrong there as well. Lol

[Haro]

3 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

u really shouldn't edit urself unless u know what u are doing. The mobo will also reboot after POST a lot if u put RAM that isn't in the QVL in as it tries to guess and check to make it's own XMP profile. 

You really think people can't make a mistake 

Speaking of mistakes you made a mistake not knowing that QVL is almost never important lmao

[Haro]

1 minute ago, ApexSutton31 said:

Yeah, I kind of figured that. Plus, it's way more expensive for the same amount of GB in the case of my linked kits, so I was thinking of just going with the 4 sticks that I could take to a future build, if that becomes the case

Just set the vccio / vccsa to 1.1 set the dram to 1.35 and them try 

[ApexSutton31]

7 minutes ago, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

I wouldn't worry about the QVL listing, this mattered more for like 1st gen Ryzen, Intel memory support has always been pretty good. 

 

Running past 2666MHz is considered memory overclocking so mileage may very, Just because a kit may not run at that speed with the XMP profile does not mean it won't do so with a manual OC, likely need to boost the voltage. I've clocked my 2x16GB kit of Corsair Vengence memory from it's 'stock' 3200MHz, to 3466MHz and tightened up my timings. 

Oh okay. Yeah, I thought I heard that sort of thing in a YT video or read that somewhere before that Intel is much more forgiving on memory speeds and what not. Yeah, I know the stock speeds of most Intel is 2666MHz, that's what I used to run at on my old x99 system I gave to my dad for his music production. I've OC'd my CPU to 4.7GHz and OC'd my GTX 980 I used to have before the 1080ti I have now, but never OC'd RAM. Would you have any advice on the matter? Or a link to any videos that talk about that? 

[DailyProcrastinator]

Just now, Nathanpete said:

Unfortunately RAM that isn't on the mobo's QVL usually have really bad secondary and tertiary timings, and those are stuff u really shouldn't edit urself unless u know what u are doing. The mobo will also reboot after POST a lot if u put RAM that isn't in the QVL in as it tries to guess and check to make it's own XMP profile. 

I've pretty well never used officially supported memory, the only time it was an issue was with 1st gen Ryzen and X370, and in that case I could only run a 2400MHz, but this was later fixed with Bios updates.

 

The motherboard vendors are not testing every single kit of memory on the market, if anything it is more of a guideline. I've never even bothered with looking at a QVL list in 6+ years of PC building (besides for my X370 board).

 

And memory tuning is not hard at all. I've couched 1st time builders here on the forum how to apply a simple manual memory OC as their XMP profile would not load.

 

The 'reboot' sequence has only ever happened when a memory OC or XMP profile was not stable, it will go in a boot cycle, then reset itself to default.

[Nathanpete]

5 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

Right. Cuz I have checked the QVL list on ASRock's website looking it up under my exact mobo and found that neither of the linked kits are on there. Even a few kits of non rgb LPX weren't on there either, if I remember correctly. But I did find some that were specifically mentioned. Oh, so the rgb versions are worse performing? Or is that cuz they're just not listed on the QVL list?

 

Yeah, I've since refunded that 3600MHz kit (forgot to mention that) and gone back to my 16GB 3200MHz G.Skill kit I had prior.

 

So how would you go about messing with timings and what not? Cuz I know RAM sticks have their timings listed. Should you just manually put in those timings and all that, rather than using the xmp profile thing in the BIOS?

No RGB will perform the same as Non RGB as long as both are on the QVL. The ones on the QVL will work much better than any comparable kit that isn't on the QVL. When u load the XMP profile of a QVL part, the timings will load automatically, and they are already semi-optimized. 

[Nathanpete]

7 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

Right, no I understand that. I've checked on some of that stuff, since I know that Skylake-X has more PCI lanes and what not I assume? But I could be wrong there as well. Lol

No more PCIe lanes (it could, but IDK), but it has quad channel memory support, instead of Kaby Lake's dual channel. 

[ApexSutton31]

7 minutes ago, TofuHaroto said:

Just set the vccio / vccsa to 1.1 set the dram to 1.35 and them try 

Okay. I'll have to do some reading, but yeah, I'll try this for sure

[Haro]

Just now, ApexSutton31 said:

Okay. I'll have to do some reading, but yeah, I'll try this for sure

Good luck

[ApexSutton31]

5 minutes ago, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

I've pretty well never used officially supported memory, the only time it was an issue was with 1st gen Ryzen and X370, and in that case I could only run a 2400MHz, but this was later fixed with Bios updates.

 

The motherboard vendors are not testing every single kit of memory on the market, if anything it is more of a guideline. I've never even bothered with looking at a QVL list in 6+ years of PC building (besides for my X370 board).

 

And memory tuning is not hard at all. I've couched 1st time builders here on the forum how to apply a simple manual memory OC as their XMP profile would not load.

 

The 'reboot' sequence has only ever happened when a memory OC or XMP profile was not stable, it will go in a boot cycle, then reset itself to default.

I heard about some of the memory issues that came with 1st gen Ryzen. Makes sense. Okay cool. I might just go with the 4 stick kit and see what happens and just try to manually put my stuff in if it doesn't work out of the box. Look up some YT videos and what not. Lol

[ApexSutton31]

3 minutes ago, Nathanpete said:

No more PCIe lanes (it could, but IDK), but it has quad channel memory support, instead of Kaby Lake's dual channel. 

True true

[DailyProcrastinator]

8 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

Right. Cuz I have checked the QVL list on AsRock's website looking it up under my exact mobo and found that neither of the linked kits are on there. Even a few kits of non rgb LPX weren't on there either, if I remember correctly. But I did find some that were specifically mentioned. Oh, so the rgb versions are worse performing? Or is that cuz they're just not listed on the QVL list?

QVL lisitng is not some religious text, if you do not follow it the performance will not be any worse, there is ZERO basis to that claim, it is simply not true. The Dominator kit you are now looking at did not exist when your motherboard was produced so of course it won't be on the QVL list, but it does not matter. 

 

6 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

Oh okay. Yeah, I thought I heard that sort of thing in a YT video or read that somewhere before that Intel is much more forgiving on memory speeds and what not. Yeah, I know the stock speeds of most Intel is 2666MHz, that's what I used to run at on my old x99 system I gave to my dad for his music production. I've OC'd my CPU to 4.7GHz and OC'd my GTX 980 I used to have before the 1080ti I have now, but never OC'd RAM. Would you have any advice on the matter? Or a link to any videos that talk about that? 

This is the exact info I have provided to others in the past.

 

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 start at 3000MHz, then go down to DRAM Voltage and set it to 1.3500V. Save and exit Bios. I 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 memory 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. 

 

Once stable at 3000MHz you can push further, 3066MHz, 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 and extremely low risk.  

 

Tightening memory timings is a little more involved but as long as the kit is CL16 or better then I would not bother unless your are really up to it. 
 

 

[ApexSutton31]

6 minutes ago, TheDailyProcrastinator said:

QVL lisitng is not some religious text, if you do not follow it the performance will not be any worse, there is ZERO basis to that claim, it is simply not true. The Dominator kit you are now looking at did not exist when your motherboard was produced so of course it won't be on the QVL list, but it does not matter. 

 

This is the exact info I have provided to others in the past.

 

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 start at 3000MHz, then go down to DRAM Voltage and set it to 1.3500V. Save and exit Bios. I 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 memory 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. 

 

Once stable at 3000MHz you can push further, 3066MHz, 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 and extremely low risk.  

 

Tightening memory timings is a little more involved but as long as the kit is CL16 or better then I would not bother unless your are really up to it. 
 

 

Yeah, makes sense. I've never heard of the big YT people like GN or LTT talk about needing to follow the QVL to the T, so I figured it was a basic guideline at best.

 

Oh wow. That's an exact walk through. Lol. Thanks for that. I'm gonna have to bookmark that and keep it for when I try it. Also, yeah, I've seen the C16 and C15 numbers on the kits. What do they mean specifically? Cuz the 4 stick kit I linked shows that it's a C15 kit, rather than C16

[DailyProcrastinator]

3 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

Yeah, makes sense. I've never heard of the big YT people like GN or LTT talk about needing to follow the QVL to the T, so I figured it was a basic guideline at best.

Exactly haha, the ONLY time it really becomes an issue is when running 128GB+ with 8 full dimms, or 1st gen Ryzen lol, other than that no one even mentions it because it really does not matter, and other than the low low chance of it not being compatible there are zero compromises to a kit that is not QVL listed.

 

5 minutes ago, ApexSutton31 said:

Oh wow. That's an exact walk through. Lol. Thanks for that. I'm gonna have to bookmark that and keep it for when I try it. Also, yeah, I've seen the C16 and C15 numbers on the kits. What do they mean specifically? Cuz the 4 stick kit I linked shows that it's a C15 kit, rather than C16

Yup haha, but it's easy, all you are changing is DRAM frequency and DRAM voltage so it's pretty straight forward. 

 

CL or CAS Latency refers to how many clock cycles in it takes for the RAM module to access the specific data set in one of its columns, so lower is better. I always recommend CL16 or better, just because it's so readily available and you never really pay more for a CL16 kit vs CL18 so might as well get the lower latency kit.