Different RAM kit weirdness

[Darren]

I've had the same RAM in my machine for a while but just now started looking into how it runs and wonder how to best set it up in the BIOS. It's always been finnicky on both my MSI board and moreso on my Gigabyte board.

I've got two kits, 2x2GB RipjawX and a 2x4GB Kingston HyperX. This is the info from CPU-Z of both kits and what I'm currently at.





My Gigabyte 970A UD3 sets it at 1333MHz at 1.5V with factory defaults . If I set the XMP profile in the BIOS to 1600MHz it won't boot. If I set it to a setting called "Profile1", which I have no idea where it came from, and set clock speed manually to 1600MHz it boots. Doing this it still sets the voltage at 1.5v. This is what I've been running on for a while. Also if the timings are on auto in any setting, it won't boot but changing it to manual and leaving automatic settings there lets it boot. It makes no sense why it's so picky.

On my MSI board previously I ran on similar settings, and it also defaulted to 1333MHz but wasn't as picky if I set it to 1600MHz XMP.

What should I set it at? I'm wondering if my undervolting of the Kingston kit is causing my occasional stuttering or instability. I sometimes get crashes under heavy gaming load that freeze my entire system and make a buzzing sound through my speakers. Increasing voltage or decreasing CPU clocks don't seem to change it much, although I haven't tried full stock clocks yet.

Is there any harm to just set it at 1600MHz @ 1.65v and CAS 9?

 

[beers]

Yowza those combined timings are pretty up there. You should be able to manually tone down to 1600, 9-9-9-27-36 2T 1.65v for testing. If you typically don't cross much into the >8 GB threshold I'd also test against using just the 2x4 GB kit.

I sometimes get crashes under heavy gaming load that freeze my entire system

Sounds likely, memory instability can do a lot for hanging processes and odd errors. You should be able to run memtest86+ for a few passes to validate your settings.

 

[Darren]

Yowza those combined timings are pretty up there. You should be able to manually tone down to 1600, 9-9-9-27-36 2T 1.65v for testing. If you typically don't cross much into the >8 GB threshold I'd also test against using just the 2x4 GB kit.

Sounds likely, memory instability can do a lot for hanging processes and odd errors. You should be able to run memtest86+ for a few passes to validate your settings.

Yeah I've been keeping a close eye on performance and CPU/GPU usage. I frequently see frame drop in odd instances directly correlating with drops in GPU usage like it's waiting on the CPU. I can run CPU benchmarks and GPU benchmarks and be rock solid, but running something that heavily uses both just nopes out.

I'll try those settings. I heard the RipJawX are good sticks so they hopefully will survive. I remember a while back running Memtest86+ and getting a few errors that would come and go on various sticks. That was on the MSI board and running 1600 @ 1.5 and who knows what latency. Also that board refused to post if the RipJawX was in slot 1 of that board now I think about it. Super strange...

Edit:
@beers
I changed the profile to manual then immediately back to Profile1 in the BIOS and it defaulted to exactly what you just described. CPU-Z bench score is better already. Going to try Memtest now. This board is memory challenged.

Edit 2: Ran Memtest for 20 minutes and had no problems. I think it's good. We'll see how games hold up I guess. CPU-Z bench shows an increase from 8300ish to 8500ish on the multi thread score. Single is unchanged. Not bad.