Unable to run at X.M.P on MSI X99A

Hi, could anyone offer any assistance?

I have the MSI X99S Gaming 7 and just installed 32GB of Corsair Vengeance 3000Mhz LED RAM. However, when I enable XMP the system fails to post correctly and I'm prompted to change settings in the BIOS (The XMP values are displayed correctly when enabled).

Things I can confirm:

1) My overclock of 4.5GHz is stable with a base clock of both 100 and 125 (100*45, 125*36).

2) Updated to the lastest BIOS (now) lists all options upto 3200MHz (previously 2800/3000 were missing).

Right now as this is type the system is at 36*[email protected] with the RAM as 2666MHz.

If I change any value or manually set a frequency it fails, XMP fails.

I've set the RAM timings manually and voltage but still the same.....anyone have a similar setup that can help.

Thanks.

it seems like a weak IMC related problems. I have a 5820K which does 4.5Ghz nicely at 1.19v but there is no way it can run the memory higher than 2600mhz. My motherboard is Asus X99 Deluxe.

A lot of memory problems can relate to SA and IO voltages are not tunned correctly, overvolting can be as bad as undervolting. The board is basically failing memory training, try SA at 1.15v and IO 1.2-1.25v
Also for 2666mhz and 3200mhz use 100strap, for 2800&3000mhz use 125 strap.
And if your cpu overclock is only just stable at the vcore your using with default memory settings then that also may require a notch or 2 more.

Not sure if the MSI X99A has an OC Socket. If not, 3000 will likely need a lot of VCCSA, even then may not be fully stable.

This rail more is not necessarily better - you may need to tune it manually starting from say around 1.05 going up to 1.2v

The m/b doesn't have the overclock socket. I'll try increasing the values as suggested, in the BIOS they are listed as:

CPU SA
CPU VCCIO

The vcore is set to 1.275v and is stable - ran like this since the day it was installed - ages ago.

Perhaps worst case I'll just have to live with the tradeoff, however would be nice to have the RAM running at intended speed.

Thanks for the replies.

abui1806 said:

it seems like a weak IMC related problems. I have a 5820K which does 4.5Ghz nicely at 1.19v but there is no way it can run the memory higher than 2600mhz. My motherboard is Asus X99 Deluxe.

Click to expand...

Until last week I would have agreed with you. I have a 5820 and I couldnt get my corsair ram to run at xmp at 2666 on my Gigabyte SOC Force motherboard.

Same cpu in a new Asus Gaming strix motherboard and the ram runs fine at xmp.

However, if I overclock the cpu to 4.6 then the xmp settings dont work so again i have to set them manually and its stable.

Upgraded memory to Gskill 3200 and again if I set it manually the system works fine at 4.7Ghz and 3200 14-14-14-34 1T.

I just think xmp doesnt work with certain memory and board combos.

I can tell you now that 5820k that can't do over 2600 on DRAM are probably rarer than unicorn poop, if using the right board. The X99 Deluxe should have no problem.

Most Haswell-E samples should do 3200 with the right memory with 32gb or less. It's more likely an alignment issue, which can be dialed out with a System Agent voltage that works best.

Best method for this rail is to start from 1.05 and work up.

was the ram a quad channel kit or a few duel channel kits.

also on a side note, i cant get over 2666Mhz on my x99 system no matter what the cpu is clocked at.

So what are people running their ram at on an overclocked X99 platform ? Apart from Greebo it seems to be at 2666mhz (on applicable kits).

@Greebo - are you altering SA and other related voltages? If not that ram sounds amazing.

Nope. I just manually changed the timings to 3200 14-14-14-34 1T as xmp wont work if I overclock the cpu past 4.2Ghz. I did have some new corsair vengence 3200 stick on order until i saw the success people were having with gkill on x99 boards. Plug and play.

XMP profile works fine below 4.2Ghz.

The G.skill is very nice ram. SOme people have got theirs running at 3200 and c12 but I havent tried tweaking mine.

The new Asus motherboard is a gem. Changed cpu voltage to 1.3v, cache to 1.25v, the pll extra vpu voltage thing to 1.9v and manually set the cpu to 4.7 strap 100 and memory to 3200 c14 and it flies through realbench.

It took me weeks of tweaking loads of settings on my SOC Force board to get the cpu stable at 4.4Ghz. 4.2 was the best I could manage with no tweaking.

Ok, thought I'd test the ram with the cpu at default speed based on what was mentioned re. the weaker IMC at a higher oc and I'm beginning to think this not IMC related but just an incompatibility...

With the cpu at stock the ram would not post correctly with xmp enabled, even with the dram volts at 1.35....disabled xmp and tried the set frequencies at 3000 and 2800, same issue still failed. Even with my oc vcore on the cpu same result.

I would have expected the ram to operate at its rated speed (3000) and certainly at 2800.

What do you guys think, dump it and get some gskill.....not running at stock cpu speed has me concerned.

Just though I'd post a final update to this issue....

I ordered a different kit from g.skill which arrived today and installed it in the board.

Didn't change anything except enabled xmp and rebooted and voila booted into windows without issue @3200MHz, 14-14-14-34. This is also on my original oc @4.5Ghz and no changes were made to SA or VCCIO.

Looks like this particular Corsair kit is not compatible with this board on the current BIOS.

Be interested to know how much VCCSA the board is pumping through it, though. Remember to test with HCI Memtest pro or Linux / Google Stress App test.

ketma said:

Just though I'd post a final update to this issue....

I ordered a different kit from g.skill which arrived today and installed it in the board.

Didn't change anything except enabled xmp and rebooted and voila booted into windows without issue @3200MHz, 14-14-14-34. This is also on my original oc @4.5Ghz and no changes were made to SA or VCCIO.

Looks like this particular Corsair kit is not compatible with this board on the current BIOS.

Click to expand...

cONGRATS. The G skill seems to be much easier to get to work over the corsair. I am glad I changed my order.

abui1806 said:

it seems like a weak IMC related problems. I have a 5820K which does 4.5Ghz nicely at 1.19v but there is no way it can run the memory higher than 2600mhz. My motherboard is Asus X99 Deluxe.

Click to expand...

I hit 3200mhz easy with the G skill ram I have, my CPU is a poor clocker, I need around 1.22v for 4ghz and about 1.3 for 4.2ghz I can go 4.4ghz+ but the amount of voltage I need is silly.

KillBoY_UK said:

I hit 3200mhz easy with the G skill ram I have, my CPU is a poor clocker, I need around 1.22v for 4ghz and about 1.3 for 4.2ghz I can go 4.4ghz+ but the amount of voltage I need is silly.

Click to expand...

seems like a trade off between core clock and memory speed

abui1806 said:

it seems like a weak IMC related problems. I have a 5820K which does 4.5Ghz nicely at 1.19v but there is no way it can run the memory higher than 2600mhz. My motherboard is Asus X99 Deluxe.

Click to expand...

I used to think my cpu had weak IMC and the max cpu in my old board was 4.4Ghz but memory I couldnt get past 2666, 3000 was a total no go.

New gen mobo and now I get 4.7Ghz on the 5820k cpu (i have almost got 4.8Ghz stable but not quite there yet, wont quite pass bench testing) and memory runs at 3200 C14 T1 with no changes. Not tried yet to see how far I can push the memory.

So IMO its all down to the mobo.

It's down to the microcode from Intel and the UEFI build. The magic at ASUS is always improving for auto rules. But yes, also the board helps quite a bit if you're making the jump from entry level to one of the higher SKUs. More PCB layers to help with crosstalk etc

I have a 4*16GB kit of Corsair LPX 3000 and it runs fine using the XMP settings. That said I now run it at 2133 as I don’t want to overclock the CPU and like having the turbo thing on, I should have got a 3200 kit as it looks like they can run @3200 without messing with the CPU stuff.