CPU/Mobo Ryzen 5 1600 Gskill RAM not able to run at advertised speed

[atiamd]

Okay, so I built my PC as you might have seen in my other thread. Link

My PC Components:

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 1600
Mobo - Asus ROG strix b350f gaming - Link
RAM - 2x8GB Gskill trident z RGB 3000 MHz F4-3000C16D-16GTZR - Link
PSU - Seasonic M12ii evo 520W fully modular - Link
GFX - Zotac Geforce GTX 1060 6GB mini - Link
Case - Coolermaster Masterbox 5 RGB - Link
OS - Windows 10 pro x64 OEM

Nothing is overclocked now and nothing was ever overclocked. I built the system on 6th September 2017. All drivers are latest as of today 22/sep/2017. ASUS released a BIOS on 15th which I installed on 19th sep on the motherboard successfully. This BIOS has agesa 1.0.0.6a. UPDATE: I just noticed that ASUS has released BIOS 0902 on 20/sep/2017. Just updated my BIOS to that. This BIOS now comes with AGESA 1.0.0.6b update. It did NOT resolve my issue. My PC could only POST at maximum 2666 MHz right now.

Version 0811
2017/09/15 update 5.75 MBytes
ROG STRIX B350-F GAMING BIOS 0811
1.Improve memory stability
2.Fix secure erase locked issue on Samsung M.2 SSD

Now, my issue. Since I have bought the system, I have not been able to run the RAM above 2666 MHz. By default, the RAM curiously runs at only 2133 MHz which is what is mentioned in SPD also. I have enabled DOCP profile which populates the BIOS to let the RAM run at 2933 MHz with the mentioned Tested Latency: 16-18-18-38 and it automatically increase the voltage from 1.2 v to 1.35 v. But, my system wont POST. Then, I decreased the frequency to 2800 MHz. It kept running without issues for a few days. Day before yesterday, the system crashed on idle. Then it wont POST even at 2800 MHz. Disappointing. So, I reduced the frequency again to 2666 MHz and its running stable now. I have tested with Prime95 and left the system running for 11 hours and it does not show any errors. When it was running on 2800, it didnt show any errors and neither is it showing any errors now at 2666 MHz. And yes, I was running the test in which it stresses the RAM.

I have already checked the interwebs for the past 20 days with no results. Some people claim their kit is running at even 3200 MHz stable with ryzen setup. This RAM is not on the QVL of my motherboard which I knew before buying it. I bought this RAM because I like Gskill and because this was the only acceptable RAM available in Bangalore. None of the RAM kits mentioned in the QVL is available here.

I would really appreciate if you can help me out and if you have had experience with the similar setup.[DOUBLEPOST=1506081268][/DOUBLEPOST]UPDATE: I just noticed that ASUS has released BIOS 0902 on 20/sep/2017. Just updated my BIOS to that. This BIOS now comes with AGESA 1.0.0.6b update. It did NOT resolve my issue. My PC could only POST at maximum 2666 MHz right now.

 

[Hades.]

I guess you would have to wait now for AMD to release new AGESA update which may make your RAMs compatible with Ryzen to run at advertised speeds.

People who are building Ryzen rigs should better buy Samsung B-Die rams or if they are going with Hynix based DRAMs then they should probably stick to 2666MHz rams until AMD fixes the ram compatibility issue.

 

[Chaos]

Try upping the ProcODT to the next higher value. Also see if your board supports a separate RAM boot voltage - set that to 1.375 or 1.4. The RAM voltage can stay at 1.35. Also disable Geardown mode and enable 2T timing. Did you change your vsoc to 1.1? With default vsoc it will not work.[DOUBLEPOST=1506141380][/DOUBLEPOST]

People who are building Ryzen rigs should better buy Samsung B-Die rams or if they are going with Hynix based DRAMs then they should probably stick to 2666MHz rams until AMD fixes the ram compatibility issue.

My hynix 2x16GB is running perfectly at 3200 CL16 with 1T timing. There is no reason hynix won't work if you tweak the various options correctly. It is just that hynix doesn't work perfectly out of the box.

 

[atiamd]

Try upping the ProcODT to the next higher value. Also see if your board supports a separate RAM boot voltage - set that to 1.375 or 1.4. The RAM voltage can stay at 1.35. Also disable Geardown mode and enable 2T timing. Did you change your vsoc to 1.1? With default vsoc it will not work.[DOUBLEPOST=1506141380][/DOUBLEPOST]

My hynix 2x16GB is running perfectly at 3200 CL16 with 1T timing. There is no reason hynix won't work if you tweak the various options correctly. It is just that hynix doesn't work perfectly out of the box.

Wow, thanks for the input. I will have to read up on this because I am really not comfortable with changing anything on RAM right now to get it working on the clocks that it should work at out of the box. Plus, I dont have a clue how RAM works and those terms you mentioned are alien to me. So, first I will read up and understand what this all means then try what you said. Then I will update here. Thanks again.

 

[nRiTeCh]

Try basic tutorials on youtube or google OC for your rig or ram.

 

[Jasku]

Wow, thanks for the input. I will have to read up on this because I am really not comfortable with changing anything on RAM right now to get it working on the clocks that it should work at out of the box. Plus, I dont have a clue how RAM works and those terms you mentioned are alien to me. So, first I will read up and understand what this all means then try what you said. Then I will update here. Thanks again.

Dude, you can definitely try getting it to run at 2933mhz, but dont fret, the difference between 2666mhz and 2933mhz for gaming is negligible, so enjoy your rig, future BIOS updates may ease the process.

 

[Chaos]

Wow, thanks for the input. I will have to read up on this because I am really not comfortable with changing anything on RAM right now to get it working on the clocks that it should work at out of the box. Plus, I dont have a clue how RAM works and those terms you mentioned are alien to me. So, first I will read up and understand what this all means then try what you said. Then I will update here. Thanks again.

Unless you use GSkill Flare X which is the only ryzen certified ram, you can't be certain the ram will work out of the box. The rest are rated to work on intel platforms out of the box. On AMD, you'll need to do some tweaking.

 

[atiamd]

Unless you use GSkill Flare X which is the only ryzen certified ram, you can't be certain the ram will work out of the box. The rest are rated to work on intel platforms out of the box. On AMD, you'll need to do some tweaking.

Agreed with the tweaking part. However, in my research on the subject, I have noticed that some people have posted in various forums that even flare X is not working OOTB.
I am still reading up. I will try the suggestions in a day or two and post back. Thanks for the input

 

[atiamd]

To anybody who is watching this thread with the motherboard ASUS rog strix b350f-gaming, please note that this BIOS 0902 is extremely unstable for me. With my RAM running at 2666 MHz, my PC wont POST successfully 50% of the times. Although this is not a very big problem because I used to go into BIOS and quit without saving. THen my PC would POST successfully. This continued for 3 days till I decided to change some settings due to which I haven't faced the issue for the past 2 days. I disabled geardown mode and changed to 2T instead of auto.

Plus, there is occasional freezing of the PC. Display would go out, USB devices would shut down etc. Shut down and reset buttons wont work. The only resolution that I have found so far for this is to switch off the PC from the mains. Wait for a couple of minutes till the motherboard shuts down (its light would switch off). Switch it back on again. When you switch it on, the first issue mentioned above may or may not happen. If it does, change the settings of RAM like I did.

With all this experience, I have now decided to leave my RAM timings alone and let my PC work with only 2666 MHz. So, this topic can now be closed.

I must say that inspite of all these issues (they are minor), I still recommend the same combination of PC components for mid range gaming. Reasons:

1) RAM at CAS 16 above 2666 MHz doesnt seem to create a lot of difference in performance at least in gaming. Going from 2133 to 2666 MHz is a big step up though. I noticed micro stuttering in GTA V with 2133 MHz which were gone when I changed the frequency to 2666 MHz. As a thumb rule there is about a 5-10% performance difference from 2133 to 2666, but not above that. All this assuming CL16 RAM with 16-16-16-16-38 timings. Any other CAS latency may of course have a very different result
2) PC not POSTing successfully 50% of the times doesn't bother me because I only have to go into BIOS and quit without doing anything. This resolves the issue with POST and my PC boots normally
3) I seem to have resolved issue #2. Thanks for the suggestion @Chaos .
4) Freezing of the system is very very rare. It is so rare that I should not even mention it

 

[Chaos]

Is the ram being fed 1.35v? Even occassional freezing is not nice. I had issues with my sata ssd which would freeze the pc which got fixed by switching to the "high performance" power profile in windows power options.

2T timing will reduce your performance a bit btw. Are you using 4x dimms or 2x dimms? With 2 dimms, there's no real reason to be running 2T.

 

[atiamd]

I am running 2 DIMMs. Yes, RAM is set to 1.35v. And yes, I am now aware that 2T will decrease performance and is required only for 4 DIMMs but I only got stability in my setup by doing all this. And, I was doing all this to get the RAM running at 2933 MHz, so just by changing these 2 things, I got them stable so far. If I get this issue one more time, I am going to flash the BIOS to the one before it. Right now, my priority is to run the system stable and only after that try to run the RAM sticks at 3 Ghz

My power settings are set to maximum. Its anyway my preference that after every clean installation of windows on any desktop , the first thing is do is to change everything to performance including setting the hard drives to not stop at all at idle.

Is the ram being fed 1.35v? Even occassional freezing is not nice. I had issues with my sata ssd which would freeze the pc which got fixed by switching to the "high performance" power profile in windows power options.

2T timing will reduce your performance a bit btw. Are you using 4x dimms or 2x dimms? With 2 dimms, there's no real reason to be running 2T.