Help With BIOS Settings Installing New Ram

@STU9000

Let me see if I can clarify things a bit...

You have purchased 3600 MHz RAM that has timings of 18-22-22-42 and requires 1.35 Volts to reach this speed and timings. In order to use this RAM at it's specified parameters, you must set the speed in BIOS to 3600 or slightly lower. I understand that the PC is giving you a slightly higher base RAM clock (1867, I believe?). The trick here is that speed of 1867 is too high for your RAM and you would be slightly overclocking it. Some RAM is forgiving and some is not. It looks like your RAM is not.

Something to try:


1. Set your RAM speed in BIOS to something a little less than 3600 (less than 1800 in CPU-Z or in BIOS if your BIOS doesn't show the doubled rate). Depending on your CPU's multiplier, it could be 35XX or 34XX, where the "X" is a number. Just make sure that the speed is slightly less than 3600 MHz or less than 1800 if that's what your BIOS lets you set.

2. Set your RAM voltage in BIOS to 1.35 Volts. No higher or lower.

3. Make sure that your CAS Latency (the CL figure) is set to 18.

4. Enter the 22-22 and 42 in the places in BIOS that Ghot indicated in his posts.

5. Save the settings in BIOS and reboot. The PC will either boot, or take you back to BIOS with the RAM timings and speed set at default (usually 2166). If that happens, try setting the RAM speed one notch lower and try again. Make sure that you re-enter your new timings again. The timings are important. If you don't set them properly, your PC will not boot. I have a feeling that maybe you've been resetting the RAM speed without changing the timings again, and you are trying to run at 3600 with default timings, which are the defaults for 2166. This is not going to work as the CAS latency is too low to run at that speed. The lower the RAM speed, the smaller the CL number and the other timings are.

This is my RAM in CPU-Z as it is currently running:



And these are its specified parameters:



As you can see, my RAM is rated at 3600 if you look at the far right (XMP) column in the second picture, but if you look at the first picture, the RAM is only running at 3556 (1778). This is fine and the difference is negligible in day to day use. If you can get close to
3600 (1800) and have your timings set per specifications, you are all set. Just don't go over 3600.

If you get all of this set up and it still won't boot, try changing your CAS latency (CL) to 19 instead of 18 and see if it boots then.

RAM doesn't always run at its advertised speed. A lot depends on the motherboard and CPU. I have another PC in the house that has 3200 RAM in it, but it will only run at 2933. No higher, and I have never been able to figure out why. It's just the way it is.

Thanks Catnip

I tried the following settings and they didn't work either:





Probably better off just replacing I think
I'll look into the BIOS update stuff later if I have the time

Dude said:

Try setting memory voltage to 1.4, I run mine at 1.45

What's that going to do if (as I think I understand it so far in this excellent tutorial session) the RAM needs 1.35V to clock 3600 ?

You did what now - you lowered the voltage to 1.4V and that makes it run faster than 3600 ?
Is that what overclocking is?
How does that work then - less is more or something ?
Overclocking just sounds like more stress for graphics card and a greater chance of components going pop to me

@Dude When you o/c RAM you're also overclocking the processor, not its main frequency (unless you're doing it too) but its RAM interface/spec/bus/controller... For instance, if a processor with RAM rated at 2133 has 3733 RAM, it would be a 75% o/c. If the processor's RAM is rated at 3200 instead (like your Ryzen 9 5950X), the o/c would only be 17%. The i5-10400F RAM spec is 2666, what means 35% @3600 and 40% @3733.