Why is my ram only doing 2300 MHz when it can do 3600?

[Saints]

Hello! Since i plugged in my new DDR4 Vengeance Pro 16gb 3200MHz and it has only worked on 2300 MHz and i followed a toturial on Youtube but then the computer refused to start. 

[YoungBlade]

It could be due to a number of factors. What are the other specs of your system?

[-CLASSIFIED-]

just because your ram is rated for 3200mhz doesn't mean your cpus mem controller can handle it. this is typical for and cpus btw 

[Saints]

Motherboard-Prime Z490-P

Graphicard-RTX 3060 gainward ghost

CPU-Intel core i5-10600k

Tell me if you want more

[An0maly_76]

If this is a new build, you may not have RAM overclocking enabled in BIOS. I had the same problem with my 5900X build initially.

Edited April 27, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[YoungBlade]

10 minutes ago, Saints said:

Motherboard-Prime Z490-P

Graphicard-RTX 3060 gainward ghost

CPU-Intel core i5-10600k

Tell me if you want more

That CPU should at minimum be able to run 2666. Technically, anything above that is overclocking for the i5. Have you tried enabling XMP and then manually setting the frequency to something lower, like 2933, to see if that successfully boots?

[Saints]

Just now, An0maly_76 said:

If this is a new build, you may not have RAM overclocking enabled in BIOS. I had the same problem with my 5900X build initially.

Yes i built it yesterday to be fair but whenever i tried something in bios the computer wont boot.

[An0maly_76]

10 minutes ago, Saints said:

Yes i built it yesterday to be fair but whenever i tried something in bios the computer wont boot.

UPDATE: Probably not the issue, but is BIOS version updated to most current?

Is there a DOCP option listed?

 

https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1042256

Edited April 27, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[Zando_]

24 minutes ago, Saints said:

Motherboard-Prime Z490-P

Graphicard-RTX 3060 gainward ghost

CPU-Intel core i5-10600k

Tell me if you want more

What RAM kit do you have? Should be what looks like a spam of numbers/letters on the box to denote what specific kit it is. 

[Saints]

3 minutes ago, Zando_ said:

What RAM kit do you have? Should be what looks like a spam of numbers/letters on the box to denote what specific kit it is. 

I’m not quite sure what you mean but I found some numbers on the box

CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18

[Zando_]

8 minutes ago, Saints said:

I’m not quite sure what you mean but I found some numbers on the box

CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18

That is exactly what I meant, awesome! Looks to be this kit: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Memory/Vengeance-PRO-RGB-Black/p/CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18. Enable the XMP profile in the BIOS and it should work as it's on the QVL list for your board: 

 

If it doesn't, then punch in the speed (3600Mhz), main timings (18-22-22-42), and voltage (1.35v) and let the motherboard sort out the subtimings itself. That has always worked for me when XMP profiles were being iffy. 

[Zomeguy]

It could also be bad ram. I had something similar when my GSkill ram went bad. Could only run stable at 2133 and no higher. If none of the above works may want to run memtest to check the memory.

[--SID--]

8 hours ago, Zando_ said:

Looks to be this kit: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Memory/Vengeance-PRO-RGB-Black/p/CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18. Enable the XMP profile in the BIOS and it should work as it's on the QVL list for your board: 

Ver3.31 is mentioned as compatible. You never know what version they ship to you.

8 hours ago, Saints said:

I’m not quite sure what you mean but I found some numbers on the box

CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18

What's the version number of your kit?

 

 

[Saints]

9 hours ago, Zando_ said:

That is exactly what I meant, awesome! Looks to be this kit: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Memory/Vengeance-PRO-RGB-Black/p/CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18. Enable the XMP profile in the BIOS and it should work as it's on the QVL list for your board: 

 

If it doesn't, then punch in the speed (3600Mhz), main timings (18-22-22-42), and voltage (1.35v) and let the motherboard sort out the subtimings itself. That has always worked for me when XMP profiles were being iffy. 

Thank you man enabled the things you told me to and now everything works as it should! Thanks again :)

[Saints]

14 hours ago, Zando_ said:

That is exactly what I meant, awesome! Looks to be this kit: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Memory/Vengeance-PRO-RGB-Black/p/CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18. Enable the XMP profile in the BIOS and it should work as it's on the QVL list for your board: 

 

If it doesn't, then punch in the speed (3600Mhz), main timings (18-22-22-42), and voltage (1.35v) and let the motherboard sort out the subtimings itself. That has always worked for me when XMP profiles were being iffy. 

Also for some reason when i started windows for the next time it said 2133 again so i tried to lower the MHz to 3000 and it worked. For some reason only 15,9gb was being used on my ram so when i set it to 3600 MHz my bios didnt boot or only worked with 2133. Yes im very confused

[Zando_]

3 hours ago, Saints said:

Also for some reason when i started windows for the next time it said 2133 again 

What software are you using to see the speed the RAM's running at? I recommend CPU-Z, it'll state the actual clockspeed on the memory tab. Due to how DDR works, it should be running an 1800Mhz clock for 3600MT/s (effectively 3600Mhz, which is why they put that on the box as it's simpler). 

3 hours ago, Saints said:

For some reason only 15,9gb was being used on my ram 

That's normal, I assume looking in Task Manager or "About" in Settings? It always states it as very slightly lower than the actual capacity. 

 

As for it not working with the XMP profile, did you try putting the settings in manually and it still won't run 3600Mhz? IMC is fine on that CPU, it shouldn't have issues with clocking the RAM to its rated speed. 

[Saints]

4 hours ago, Zando_ said:

What software are you using to see the speed the RAM's running at? I recommend CPU-Z, it'll state the actual clockspeed on the memory tab. Due to how DDR works, it should be running an 1800Mhz clock for 3600MT/s (effectively 3600Mhz, which is why they put that on the box as it's simpler). 

That's normal, I assume looking in Task Manager or "About" in Settings? It always states it as very slightly lower than the actual capacity. 

 

As for it not working with the XMP profile, did you try putting the settings in manually and it still won't run 3600Mhz? IMC is fine on that CPU, it shouldn't have issues with clocking the RAM to its rated speed. 

I just tried doing 3600 MZh and then my pc wouldn’t boot so I restarted the PC to find out my hard driver where gone…. So I went back to default settings and had to enable CSM to get them to work. And now the RAM is at 2666 MZh in default, very strange…

[Saints]

Just now, Saints said:

I just tried doing 3600 MZh and then my pc wouldn’t boot so I restarted the PC to find out my hard driver where gone…. So I went back to default settings and had to enable CSM to get them to work. And now the RAM is at 2666 MZh in default, very strange…

I’m checking the taskmanager.

[Zando_]

3 minutes ago, Saints said:

So I went back to default settings and had to enable CSM to get them to work. And now the RAM is at 2666 MZh in default, very strange…

Yeah if CSM was enabled when you installed windows, it needs to be enabled forever after or you won't see your stuff properly. 

That RAM speed is a pretty normal default. 

4 minutes ago, Saints said:

I’m checking the taskmanager.

Task Manager isn't very reliable for hardware info, more to grab the name of your CPU quick or see load on CPU/RAM. For more in depth CPU and RAM info you want CPU-Z, for reading sensors you want HWiNFO64. GPU-Z is for if you want details on your GPU, but that's not relevant to the current issue, just another related utility. 

7 minutes ago, Saints said:

I just tried doing 3600 MZh and then my pc wouldn’t boot

What settings did you key in? Also, did you wait a bit before announcing a no-boot, the mobo needs time to sort out subtimings, and some motherboards will reboot multiple times when doing so. 

[Saints]

1 minute ago, Zando_ said:

Yeah if CSM was enabled when you installed windows, it needs to be enabled forever after or you won't see your stuff properly. 

That RAM speed is a pretty normal default. 

Task Manager isn't very reliable for hardware info, more to grab the name of your CPU quick or see load on CPU/RAM. For more in depth CPU and RAM info you want CPU-Z, for reading sensors you want HWiNFO64. GPU-Z is for if you want details on your GPU, but that's not relevant to the current issue, just another related utility. 

What settings did you key in? Also, did you wait a bit before announcing a no-boot, the mobo needs time to sort out subtimings, and some motherboards will reboot multiple times when doing so. 

Yeah, well i think i found the problem my CPU only supports up to 3200MZh so when i set it to 3600MZh ofc the computer wouldnt boot  I guess i will only go with 3000 atm.

[Zando_]

35 minutes ago, Saints said:

Yeah, well i think i found the problem my CPU only supports up to 3200MZh so when i set it to 3600MZh ofc the computer wouldnt boot  I guess i will only go with 3000 atm.

It and the motherboard support higher, most mobos will do 4000Mhz+. That chip defaults to 2666Mhz RAM but it supports far higher when OCing (including XMP, Intel counts that as a RAM OC). 

[Saints]

17 minutes ago, Zando_ said:

It and the motherboard support higher, most mobos will do 4000Mhz+. That chip defaults to 2666Mhz RAM but it supports far higher when OCing (including XMP, Intel counts that as a RAM OC). 

So what do you recommend me doing?