High density DDR5 - will it work first boot without BIOS update?

[hatedestruction]

Hello all! I am building an AM5 platform machine, buying parts a piece at a time. I have purchased the black fractal north for my case, I have an Asrock x670e Pro RS and my Ryzen 7700x on the way, as well as a Noctua nh-u12s chromax.black air cooler.

 

My question is related to the memory though, I want to purchase a 48GB kit (2x24GB) from g.skill and looking at Asrock's product page, the latest BIOS for my board supports these high density memory sticks. The problem is that I will be very unlikely to have this BIOS installed when I receive the board in post, and without RAM installed, I cannot update the BIOS. So, I am wondered or am asking if anyone has had any experience with getting these high density sticks to work before the BIOS that supports them or did you have to have the standard non-high density sticks to update your BIOS and then move over?

 

I am somewhat familiar with all of news about memory instability with the AM5 platform, and am hoping that I do not run into any of this, but am trying to prepare nonetheless.

 

So, should I be worried if I purchase a 48GB kit from g.skill that the kit will not function until I have the BIOS updated, and if I need to update the BIOS, would I have to have a different kit to get into BIOS to update? All around, I have no hands on experience with AM5 and hope all goes well. 

 

I thank everyone for their expertise and hope this Monday finds you well.

[RONOTHAN##]

Going off some of Igorslab's testing, the older BIOSes will boot with these sticks, but even at 3600MT/s they're horrifically unstable. 

 

6 minutes ago, hatedestruction said:

would I have to have a different kit to get into BIOS to update?

Yes but actually no. Yes, if you wanted to do the BIOS update from within the BIOS, you'd have to do it with a different 16GB memory setup. That said, the board supports BIOS flashback, so you can do the BIOS update without the RAM installed and install it once the board is actually up to date. 

[hatedestruction]

Thank you for your answer. Are they still unstable after the BIOS update that is supposed to support them? Should I just go with a 32GB kit instead?

[Remixt]

did a doubletake when I saw this, because I saw my (digital) face. Nice Avatar!

[hatedestruction]

Just now, Remixt said:

did a doubletake when I saw this, because I saw my (digital) face. Nice Avatar!

haha!! Indeed, and back at ya! I think I got it from one of my Steam avatar stickers or something, though it's much more animated on my Steam profile than it is here!  

[SpookyCitrus]

I would go with a 32GB kit of high speed low CL memory over the 48GB kit. If you need more than 32GB, which in most cases you just simply will not, get a 64GB kit. Especially when the price is pretty much the same for a 64GB kit as a 48GB kit. No point in getting it, it's not cheaper and  you just have to jump through more hoops to get it to work. 

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, hatedestruction said:

Thank you for your answer. Are they still unstable after the BIOS update that is supposed to support them? Should I just go with a 32GB kit instead?

Not sure if the BIOS update fixes it, I don't have one of these kits or an AM5 board to test it with, but at the same time I'd be surprised if it didn't. Igorslab's testing took place before the 1.0.0.7 AGESA that's currently in the newest BIOS, and from the bit I've heard that AGESA version does properly add support for 24GB sticks, but I can't find any reports immediately that confirm it (closest is that Gigabyte has actually added these kits to their QVL, but at the same time I don't have much faith in QVLs, especially Gigabyte's). 

[hatedestruction]

Yes, that makes sense. Thank you @RONOTHAN## and @SpookyCitrus for your input. I think I will just go with a 32GB or 64GB kit of the same speed instead of trying the new high density kits. I would go for stability and convenience over having something new and shiny any day of the week, but I just saw that kit on newegg and thought it looked cool. 

 

Again, thank you all for the information!

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, hatedestruction said:

Yes, that makes sense. Thank you @RONOTHAN## and @SpookyCitrus for your input. I think I will just go with a 32GB or 64GB kit of the same speed instead of trying the new high density kits. I would go for stability and convenience over having something new and shiny any day of the week, but I just saw that kit on newegg and thought it looked cool. 

 

Again, thank you all for the information!

As for rams look for some 5600c30 or 6000c32 since they usually go for somewhere around 100-110$ but if youd like something cheaper think theres some 6000c36-40 going for ~80$ though theyll only do around 7200 (hynix m die) instead of 8000+ the 5600c30 and 6000c32 kits do (hynix a die) so abit less futureproof and you may need to swap your rams later down the road