Problems with RAM OC on intel 11th gen - advice needed.

[Turbo Ben]

Hi all, was hoping I could get some advice on RAM overclocking with 11th gen intel.

Bit about the system - 11700KF (lapped and using liquid metal) 5.1GHz @ 1.38 Vcore and about 70C, MSI Z490 ACE, 4x8GB G.skill 3600 c16 (which I believe is B die), 3090FE. CPU and GPU are on a custom loop in a custom "case" made of oak which also acts as the support for one side of my desk.

I've been running a 10600KF since I finished the project a few weeks ago and managed to get second place on the timespy leaderboard. I changed over to the 11700KF today and after a couple of hours tinkering have managed to get the top spot on the timespy leaderboard.

Great, right? Yes, but I think there is a lot more to go. The main issue is the memory OC. I was able to run 4000MHz on the 10600. I've done some reading to get my head around gear 1/2, and by all accounts 3600MHz gear 1 should be fairly easy. Problem is I can't even POST at 3000MHZ. I can get 4000MHz in gear 2 but it's a pain because if I get a crash, the BIOS resorts to gear one and I have to lower the speed down to 2400, switch to gear 2, reboot and then go back to 4000.

Voltages reported by HWmonitor are 1.2 CPU IO, 1.2 CPU SA and 1.075 System Agent (under CPU info). I've read of people running these voltages up to 1.4V which seems a bit high to me.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the issue is, or have I just got a chip with a garbage memory controller?

 

[Turbo Ben]

Hi, thanks for the reply. First off, just to clarify, when I say top of the leaderboard I mean for my specific hardware, not overall! Luckily no one has done any LN2 runs with the 11700KF. Link below to leaderboard:

3DMark.com search

3DMark.com search

www.3dmark.com

If the link doesn't work, search 11700kf and RTX3090. Make sure gpu count is set to 1, I'm not competing with people running SLI.

I had a good look yesterday to see if I could find the problem and I think I've solved it. First I reseated the RAM, but noticed a fine hair (not the curly sort) accross the slots. Second, I had a go at overclocking the ring. I'd originally set a 45 multiplier thinking it would be fine, which it was while overclocking the cores. When I tried to go to 46 I couldn't get it stable. So I dropped it to 44 and that seems to have fixed the memory OC. I suspect 45 was right on the edge of stable and raising the memory speed tipped it over.

Currently running 5.1 GHz all core with fixed 1.39v Vcore, 3600MHz Gear 1 15,15,15,30 @1.35V, 1.34V SA, 1.29V I/O. Next task is to tweek RAM voltages and try and get adaptive Vcore stable. Also need to do some proper stability testing.

Temps are excellent, peak at about 75C at full load with 3C core to core delta. Idles at sub 30C with approx 21 degree ambient. I'm running a custom water loop on CPU and GPU with two 360mm slim rads.

I had considered Alder Lake, but it's not as simple as a new MoBo and processor for me. My "case" is oak and custom built around the Z490 Ace to hide all the wires. I would either need a MoBo with all the connectors in exactly the same place or would have to strip everything down and rebuild parts of the enclosure. I may take a look at Raptor Lake and 40 series GPU's when they release and decide whether or not to build a completely new system.