XMP vs EXPO vs ??

Grumbledook

Grumbledook

Grumbledook

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I'm just doing some research into a potential upgrade later this year and when it comes to RAM I see there are some labeled for Intel XMP and some for AMD EXPO and some that don't mention either.

Do I need to be worried about compatibility at all? Historically since buying an 8MB stick of RAM back in the 90s I've never had to worry beyond making sure you buy the correct ram for the slots on your motherboard.

With DDR5 though it looks like there are three different options on top of speed and CL timings.
 
There are XMP and EXPO kits on the QVL of many of the boards I've looked at and some posters on here have XMP kits on AM5 and they were fine.

EXPO on Intel, I'm not sure about that one, but in theory you could configure it yourself.

If the kit doesn't say anything, it's probably XMP, you could try googling for the datasheet.
 
EXPO and XMP are basically the same, a set of timings ( and voltages ) stored on the ram sticks to make it easier to configure.

There is no hardware difference - DDR5 is DDR5.

I run Intel XMP ram on my AM5 rig - i just prefer to configure the settings myself, and i would have done the same if it was EXPO rated.

So your title should read XMP vs EXPO vs Manual as the 3 choices and they will all achieve the same goal.
 
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Thanks both.

Will the ram run out of the box at the speed and timing listed, or do you need to use a profile to hit them?

Or do the profiles boost them beyond the listed speed and timings?
 
Grumbledook said:
Thanks both.

Will the ram run out of the box at the speed and timing listed, or do you need to use a profile to hit them?

Or do the profiles boost them beyond the listed speed and timings?
Click to expand...

In theory, you just enable EXPO/XMP and thats it. ( they will be set at rated i.e cl30 6000mhz )

You might need to manually adjust the ram voltage if the mobo doesn't automatically do it.

Nothing has really changed from DDR4 in regards setting it.
 
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One last question, I see there is DDR5 listed at 5600 6000 and 6400 as well, would that be their default or is that boosted up from 4800 5200 with the profile?

Presumably faster memory will come out in time as well as I think I saw 7000 mentioned some places yeterday.
 
Grumbledook said:
One last question, I see there is DDR5 listed at 5600 6000 and 6400 as well, would that be their default or is that boosted up from 4800 5200 with the profile?
Click to expand...

I believe 5600 is the highest you can get right now @ default timings/1.1v. The only brands I know that sell it are Kingston (value RAM) and Crucial. Gaming memory with heatsinks and higher voltages requires XMP or EXPO.
 
Ah, I was looking at this G.Skill 6000 CL30 2x32GB. https://www.gskill.com/product/165/396/1691400033/F5-6000J3040G32GX2-FX5

I've just gone to the specs and see that the default speed is listed at 4800 @ 1.1v and that it's the EXPO tested speed which is 6000 @ 1.4v.

I'd have totally missed that, thanks muchly to both of you.

I'll look closer before I buy then, I'm guessing different brands will advertise in different ways.
 
Grumbledook said:
Ah, I was looking at this G.Skill 6000 CL30 2x32GB. https://www.gskill.com/product/165/396/1691400033/F5-6000J3040G32GX2-FX5
Click to expand...

I actually have the Ripjaws version of these which has XMP rather than Expo. Works fine in my Asus X670E-A with 7800X3D :)

It does default to 4800, as will everything, but there are several profiles listed as "DOCP" to pick from. They don't have descriptions as to how they differ, so I just used the first and upped the frequency to 6200 once the new AGESA arrived. Might try higher some time if I feel adventurous.
 
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