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XMP and fast memory setting makes computer unstable?

bdcook

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Dec 5, 2015
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I have an ASRock 970M Pro3 motherboard with two 4 GB sticks of 2400 MHz Ram. The computer works just fine if I leave the BIOS ram settings at the stock 1600. But if I set the RAM speed to 2400 and enable the XMP profile, then my computer takes forever to boot, the CMOS date and time gets erratic and the year gets set to 2183, my internet connection drops in and out... you get the picture, overall things just don't work right. What am I doing wrong?

Oh, and the CPU is the AMD FX 8320 Black Edition if that makes a difference.
 
Your not doing anything wrong, your CPU just cant handle that speed.
 
Some ram modules need some extra care to function properly. Try and raise manually the volt setting for your ram, just put it up 1 notch and see if the system is stabile.
 
anything past 1866 is not guaranteed dude.

you may find you need to increase core and cpu>nb volts to get stablity at 2400mhz.

it will all depend on how it gets to 2400mhz as you might need to change ht too.
 
I have the same motherboard with a FX-8350 CPU. For maximum compatibility, I installed 4 x 8GB Kingston ValuRam modules at the lowest DDR3-1333MHz.

As speeds increase, RAM compatibility will plunge very rapidly. Just a notch above this speed at 1666MHz may reduce compatibility to only 2 modules. Higher speeds will even reduce compatibility to 2 x 4GB modules. At the highest possible speed, only a single 4GB module will work ...

Btw, not only are slower memory cheaper (my 32GB configuration only cost US$169), they also don't make much difference in everyday tasks compared to high speed memory. Only synthetic benchmarks will benefit from higher speed memory, while general applications and games hardly make any noticeable difference ...
 
That's the marketing thing. Some board manufacturers, or RAM manufacturers claim one thing, but in reality their products behave differently.
In memory compatibility list ASRock only has Kingston DDR3-2133 @ 2100MHz and not a single word about DDR3-2400 compatible products. This means that either they are full of shit, or that you may get your RAM on this motherboard up to 2400MHz via major clock and voltage boost beyond XMP.

Another thing you need to remember is that your platform natively supports only DDR3-1333, which means anything higher than that is acquired via a major overclock. Intel XMP is supported, but they do not say up to which frequencies. The only thing that's mentioned is that this board supports AMP profiles up to 2400MHz.

Also there is another factor - memory. I don't know which brand and model you have , but there are numerous examples of RAM not running at manufacturer spec. I finally got rid of my old OCZ Platinum set, which was marketed as DDR3-1600 back in 2009, had a max JEDEC profile only for DDR3-1066 and could not run for shit higher than 1200MHz@1.65V! Newer memory modules are much better and more honest about its capabilities, but there are always exceptions.
 
All very helpful. Thanks everyone! I will return the memory and buy more at the slower speed, similar to Nelson.
 
I'd keep your current set. The thing with fast RAM is that you can easily run it at lower frequency with much lower timings and voltages.
I currently have an x58 system with a Xeon X5650. It natively supports DDR3-1333, while my board allows up to DDR3-2000 via OC.
Couple of weeks ago I've acquired a cheap 4x4GB set of G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3-2133(CL11) : 3 sticks went into my x58 rig, and the remaining one into my SFF rig.
On my Xeon rig this memory easily runs at 1600MHz CL7[!!!] at only 1.5V. Cooler, faster, and only quarter-of-a-step short of AWESOME!
 
have you checked to see what it changes when you enable xmp 2400?

ddr3 and bios are much more mature than when ddr3 came out. back then i recall ram that worked great in one mobo would just flat refuse to play nice in another with a different imc.
 
Are you using the latest BIOS ? What happens if you set the XMP profile settings manually (just manually enter same settings for RAM). Is it the same?
 
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