memory seems to be running slow.

[Jovin]

Hi All
Recently built a system consisting of
Gigabyte B550m DS3H motherboard, says on the box Ryzen 5xxx ready. I know some older versions of this motherboard needed a BIOS update to work.
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Corsair vengeance LPX DDR4 32GB 3600 CL18 Ryzen tuned kit.

Every thing seemed to be running ok with Windows 11 but I have noticed that the reported RAM speed is only 2666 both in BIOS and using the Gigabyte Easytune software. First thought was did I receive the correct memory as I didnt check when installing but checked the packet, which was sealed when received, and it is as ordered.
Everything is supposed to be compatible so I would have thought it would have automatically picked up RAM speed as 3600.
Tried adjusting up a little in the Easytune s/w but just a slight increase caused the system to be un-bootable. Cleared CMOS and fortunately it sprang back into life. My question is it appears I can up it in BIOS but which setting do I change, Multiplier or clock frequency?


Any help appreciated.
John

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Your bios should have
Xmp/expo/docp whichever name that board calls it
Enable that
It's normal to boot at a lower speed
That's jedec standard timings
Anything over that is technically overclocking the ram
But all ram manufacturers do this

 

[JollyJamma]

Hi All
Recently built a system consisting of
Gigabyte B550m DS3H motherboard, says on the box Ryzen 5xxx ready. I know some older versions of this motherboard needed a BIOS update to work.
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Corsair vengeance LPX DDR4 32GB 3600 CL18 Ryzen tuned kit.

Every thing seemed to be running ok with Windows 11 but I have noticed that the reported RAM speed is only 2666 both in BIOS and using the Gigabyte Easytune software. First thought was did I receive the correct memory as I didnt check when installing but checked the packet, which was sealed when received, and it is as ordered.
Everything is supposed to be compatible so I would have thought it would have automatically picked up RAM speed as 3600.
Tried adjusting up a little in the Easytune s/w but just a slight increase caused the system to be un-bootable. Cleared CMOS and fortunately it sprang back into life. My question is it appears I can up it in BIOS but which setting do I change, Multiplier or clock frequency?


Any help appreciated.
John

Is that kit 4 by 8gig modules or 2 by 16gig?

 

[Jovin]

Your bios should have
Xmp/expo/docp whichever name that board calls it
Enable that
It's normal to boot at a lower speed
That's jedec standard timings
Anything over that is technically overclocking the ram
But all ram manufacturers do this

Yes, it works! Thanks so much. Was trying to be conservative with settings and didnt want to overclock as such so left it all set to Auto. Nothing anywhere to suggest XMP needed to be enabled to get full potential of RAM but once done RAM is now showing as 3600

 

[Jovin]

Is that kit 4 by 8gig modules or 2 by 16gig?

2 x 16

 

[Tetras]

Nothing anywhere to suggest XMP needed to be enabled to get full potential of RAM but once done RAM is now showing as 3600

99% of gaming memory needs XMP (or EXPO for later AMD) to function at the rated speed, you have to buy JEDEC memory for it to boot up @ that speed (which is the kind of stuff Dell use).

If you look at corsair's website for the memory you purchased, they say that it is programmed to boot @ 2666, 1.2v, but they tested it to run at 3200.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Yes, it works! Thanks so much. Was trying to be conservative with settings and didnt want to overclock as such so left it all set to Auto. Nothing anywhere to suggest XMP needed to be enabled to get full potential of RAM but once done RAM is now showing as 3600

You're welcome
And yeah it's one of those things
Where they don't usually tell you about it
Not sure it even tells you
On the ram packaging

Cpuz free software is a useful tool
For future use
Got a memory section that tells you current ram speed
For ddr you double the speed shown
So yours would show 1800mhz
Doubled =3600mhz

It also has a spd section
That tells you all the speeds your ram is actually capable of
Usually lowest one in that section is what it defaults to
And highest are xmp/docp/expo profiles

Defaulting to lower speed is sort of a failsafe
Say your motherboard or cpu memory controller couldn't handle
3600mhz for some reason
Rather than not boot or bluescreen
It boots at 2666mhz by default then you can enable xmp/docp/expo
Which is all fine if the consumer actually knows about this

If you update bios or clear cmos
You will have to re-enable it

 

[Jovin]

Thanks again for the great info. Been a while since I last built a PC so this is all new to me, I would have expected it to work at the marketed speed straight out of the box. Also checked the box again and there is nothing to say that any particular settings need to be implemented, all seems a bit like bad marketing to me. I did look on the Corsair website at this particular kit and it does say there "XMP 2.0 support. One setting is all it takes to automatically adjust to the fastest safe speed" but I dont feel that is particularly helpful if you dont know what XMP is.
Fine on the clear cmos/bios update bit, I assumed that would be the case.

 

[Jovin]

You're welcome
And yeah it's one of those things
Where they don't usually tell you about it
Not sure it even tells you
On the ram packaging

Cpuz free software is a useful tool
For future use
Got a memory section that tells you current ram speed
For ddr you double the speed shown
So yours would show 1800mhz
Doubled =3600mhz

It also has a spd section
That tells you all the speeds your ram is actually capable of
Usually lowest one in that section is what it defaults to
And highest are xmp/docp/expo profiles

Defaulting to lower speed is sort of a failsafe
Say your motherboard or cpu memory controller couldn't handle
3600mhz for some reason
Rather than not boot or bluescreen
It boots at 2666mhz by default then you can enable xmp/docp/expo
Which is all fine if the consumer actually knows about this

If you update bios or clear cmos
You will have to re-enable it

Thanks again for the great info. Been a while since I last built a PC so this is all new to me, I would have expected it to work at the marketed speed straight out of the box. Also checked the box again and there is nothing to say that any particular settings need to be implemented, all seems a bit like bad marketing to me. I did look on the Corsair website at this particular kit and it does say there "XMP 2.0 support. One setting is all it takes to automatically adjust to the fastest safe speed" but I dont feel that is particularly helpful if you dont know what XMP is.
Fine on the clear cmos/bios update bit, I assumed that would be the case.

 

[Tetras]

I did look on the Corsair website at this particular kit and it does say there "XMP 2.0 support. One setting is all it takes to automatically adjust to the fastest safe speed"

If you go to the tech specs page, it says:

Performance Profile: XMP 2.0

SPD Latency: 18-19-19-39
SPD Speed: 2666MHz
SPD Voltage: 1.2V

Tested Latency: 18-22-22-42
Tested Speed: 3600 MT/s
Tested Voltage: 1.35V

VENGEANCE® LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4 DRAM 3600MHz C18 AMD Ryzen Memory Kit - Black

VENGEANCE LPX memory is designed for high-performance overclocking. The heatspreader is made of pure aluminum for faster heat dissipation, and the eight-layer PCB helps manage heat and provides superior overclocking headroom.

www.corsair.com

The SPD is what it is programmed to boot up at.

The "tested" part belongs to the XMP profile.

As Mcnumpty says, they do this as a failsafe, since many older DDR4 computers would not successfully boot, or run at such a high speed (3600). 2666 guarantees that it will at least boot and run in the vast majority of computers.

If you want memory that runs at a high speed: "out of the box", you have to buy JEDEC memory and this is not marketed as gaming memory. The maximum speed is also 3200: you can't buy 3600, because the DDR4 standard stopped @ 3200.

Here are two that will run at 3200, with no BIOS changes required:
Kingston KVR32N22S8/16
and
Crucial CT16G4DFRA32A

A speed of 3200, a voltage of 1.2v and a CL of 22, is usually the giveaway that it is JEDEC memory and not XMP.

I dont feel that is particularly helpful if you dont know what XMP is

I personally strongly dislike XMP and EXPO, for this reason, since it isn't clear that they're a form of overclocking that requires XMP or EXPO to enable their higher speed. I would remove it from my build specs if OCUK sold more JEDEC memory.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

There's probably a very large number of people
Who buy ram a certain speed
Say 3600mhz as an example then put it in
And assume its running at 3600mhz
And don't even check it is
Or know how to check their ram speed
Or there are people scared to do anything in the bios
Known a few of those

Really ram manufacturers/resellers
Should be made to put an unmissable label/leaflet
In there to explain not only what are xmp/docp/expo
But how to enter the bios and enable it

Kind of reminds me of
Hard drive sizes
Pretty sure it took lawsuits because they sell them
Measured in decimal
But they're actually in binary
Ie a gb isn't 1000 mb it's 1024mb
Before they started explaining you don't get the
Size marketed