QUESTION - If I swap out my RAM for new RAM, do I need to reset my CPU Overclock entirely? Let me explain...

[DADDYDOM]

Hey Everyone,

 

So I currently have a kit of Corsair 2x8GB (16GB total) Vengeance RGB PRO ram in my PC and it is currently "lightly" overclocked using the Asus AI Overclocking Utility. The board is an Asus Prime Z-390 A and the CPU is a 9900K.

 

I have purchased a kit of Corsair 2x16GB (32GB total) Vengeance RGO PRO ram and am going to swap the kits but I am unsure if I have to completely remove my CPU overclock to swap the kit OR if I can just go into the bios and turn off XMP, swap the kit and then go back into the bios and re-enable XMP and then everything will be good? 

 

Please note that I believe the timings between the 2 kits are a bit different as well - in case that matters.

 

If one of you "guru's" here can please advise for me on this I would greatly appreciate it. 

 

 

Thanks in advance...

 

John

[SupaKomputa]

If you don't overclock the memory it will be okay.

Just use all of it in 4 slots.

[DADDYDOM]

Deleted... 

Edited April 21, 2021 by DADDYDOM
Made a mistake...

[DADDYDOM]

4 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

If you don't overclock the memory it will be okay.

Just use all of it in 4 slots.

Hey SupaKomputa,

 

Thanks for the quick reply but I am not planning on using both kits at the same time in the same pc.

 

I am only going to be using the 32GB kit (2x16gb) and the old kit will be going into a new pc I am building for my girlfriend.

 

I have the Corsair RGB lighting only "dummy kit" to fill up the other 2 slots.

 

SO again, if I am just wanting to swap out the 16gb (2x8gb) kit with the 32gb (2x16gb) kit, will I have to completely remove my CPU overclock to swap the kit OR if I can just go into the bios and turn off XMP, swap the kit and then go back into the bios and re-enable XMP and then everything will be good? 

 

Please advise...

[Guest]

Yes you will redo the Cpu and memory overclock.

When you swap the memory, clear cmos.

Post be sure it works stock, then start your tweaking.

Good Luck!

[Jurrunio]

If the CPU overclock is really basic (i.e. conservative), you can keep the same settings. Note that you shouldnt keep any memory settings and you will need to clear CMOS (which wipes everything except custom profiles) in order to force the board to retrain with the new memory kit. To speed up boot process, motherboards keep on using the same memory timings after the first successful training and you wont want this here.

 

In order:

Turn off XMP

Save profile

turn off system

swap sticks

clear CMOS

power on

apply profile

configure XMP

[DADDYDOM]

7 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Yes you will redo the Cpu and memory overclock.

When you swap the memory, clear cmos.

Post be sure it works stock, then start your tweaking.

Good Luck!

Much appreciated ShrimpBrime. So you recommend that I reset my bios to default and remove my OC completely (again, it is overclocked using the Asus AI Overclock Utility so by resetting the bios it should wipe the current OC completely) and then follow the step as provided by @Jurrunio ?... IE:

 

***Remove Overclock and then, in order:

Turn off XMP

Save profile (no profile to be saved as it is Overclocked using the AI Utility and I will just redo)

turn off system

swap sticks

clear CMOS

power on

apply profile

configure XMP

 

Also... I would need to clear the CMOS by jumping the CLRTC pin(s) on the motherboard as I really dont want to have to remove my 3070 to get to the battery. Can I just use a screwdriver to jump / short those pins to clear the CMOS? Ya... right?

 

[Guest]

Just now, DADDYDOM said:

Much appreciated ShrimpBrime. So you recommend that I reset my bios to default and remove my OC completely (again, it is overclocked using the Asus AI Overclock Utility so by resetting the bios it should wipe the current OC completely) and then follow the step as provided by @Jurrunio ?... IE:

 

***Remove Overclock and then, in order:

Turn off XMP

Save profile (no profile to be saved as it is Overclocked using the AI Utility and I will just redo)

turn off system

swap sticks

clear CMOS

power on

apply profile

configure XMP

 

Also... I would need to clear the CMOS by jumping the CLRTC pin(s) on the motherboard as I really dont want to have to remove my 3070 to get to the battery. Can I just use a screwdriver to jump / short those pins to clear the CMOS? Ya... right?

 

Well it would be either you pick your profile to run or the XMP settings, but not both. I think that's what he means though.....

 

Whenever I test memory, it's a couple of different ways.

 

Per stick testing. Yes, I find the max for each stick. Then compare the results and try somethings that both are capable of individually.

Or, testing a kit... well you just tinker around.

 

General rule of thumb, not each stick will OC the same and not each kit will either. Same would go for processors, chipsets, GPUs and so forth. 

 

Your new kit may do better, or may do worse. But starting from scratch I feel is just the best way to go about it. You learn the hardware and gain exp for future builds  

[Jurrunio]

Just now, ShrimpBrime said:

Well it would be either you pick your profile to run or the XMP settings, but not both. I think that's what he means though.....

His profile only contains CPU overclock, not memory (after disabling XMP). At least that's what I got.

 

6 minutes ago, DADDYDOM said:

Can I just use a screwdriver to jump / short those pins to clear the CMOS? Ya... right?

In theory there are proper jumper pins

 

but I would be lying if I said I always used one of those rather than the tip of my screwdriver.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

His profile only contains CPU overclock, not memory (after disabling XMP). At least that's what I got.

 

In theory there are proper jumper pins

 

 

but I would be lying if I said I always used one of those rather than the tip of my screwdriver.

Gotcha. makes perfect sense.

 

Wire in an old case reset switch so you can do it remotely....

Or go into bios and just set all defaults, F10 and restart. Just like clearing cmos, but you don't have to open the case.

Edited April 21, 2021 by ShrimpBrime
added the word butt and a ,

[DADDYDOM]

6 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Gotcha. makes perfect sense.

 

Wire in an old case reset switch so you can do it remotely....

Or go into bios and just set all defaults, F10 and restart. Just like clearing cmos, but you don't have to open the case.

Thanks to you both @ShrimpBrime  and @Jurrunio.

 

So what I will do is...

 

Remove Overclock by going into BIOS and switching everything back to defaults and then, in order:

Turn off XMP (should already be done by switching to defaults in bios)

Save profile (no profile to be saved as it is Overclocked using the AI Utility and I will just redo)

turn off system

swap sticks

clear CMOS (already done by switching to defaults in bios)

power on

apply profile (ie: turn XMP back on for the new ram and then boot to desktop and then use the Asus AI Overclocking Utility to get my overclock back

configure XMP (should already be done by the step above)

 

Can you please provide one last confirmation? 

 

Thanks... 

[Guest]

Sounds like a plan Stan!

[DADDYDOM]

11 minutes ago, ShrimpBrime said:

Sounds like a plan Stan!

Wicked man!!! Thanks for the assistance...