Do I need better ram for BCLK increase?

[BlueBreezer]

I have a gigabyte z170x ud3 mobo with 2133Mhz DDR4 ram installed.

 

I read that you could overclock non-k processors like the i5-6400 by increasing the base clock.

 

Do I need higher freq ram to do this?

[Shubham Yadav]

Base clock increase will increase your RAM speed too along with the CPU, so if the RAM isn't rated for high frequencies, it might fail. 

[SLAYR]

You will also have to downgrade your bios, or just get a 6600k (better option), really it isn't worth it to oc the non k cpus anymore.

[BlueBreezer]

Why not? And the 6600k is 100 euro's more in my country?

[Shubham Yadav]

13 minutes ago, BlueBreezer said:

Why not? And the 6600k is 100 euro's more in my country?

The 6600k is a better bin too.. It will OC way more than the 6400 will, just because of the binning. Also you will have to buy way better RAM to overclock your 6400 to even 4 GHz. About 50% overclock to 4GHz will require you to buy 3200 MHz rated RAM. And that's just the frequency the 6600k boosts to. 

 

It's just not worth it. Also you can never update your BIOS. 

[BlueBreezer]

Thank you for your support

[SnowyMus]

The best I can think of is lowering the RAM's multiplier manually, which is possible on Z170. You won't be able to use any XMP profiles if you do this, though.

[BlueBreezer]

What does XMP exactly do? And do you see any noticable diffrence between ram frequenties? (2133-2400-2666)

[SnowyMus]

5 minutes ago, BlueBreezer said:

What does XMP exactly do? And do you see any noticable diffrence between ram frequenties? (2133-2400-2666)

XMP just uses the speed, voltage, and timings settings set by the manufacturer. If you tweak the BCLK, though, then any settings from XMP will scale with this, so it's best keeping it off. Since you're using Z170, you can just manually change the RAM multiplier as you please. You don't need an unlocked processor for that.

 

Is there any noticeable difference? It depends. RAM speed indirectly affects CPU performance. If you're using a locked processor, especially a dual-core like an i3-6100, then 2666 MHz RAM can mean a difference between, say, 55 FPS and 60 FPS on some titles. It's not nearly as drastic as overclocking the processor, though.