XMP profile help? Stuck to DDR3-1600

[lehtv]

I grabbed a 2x8 GB kit of Team Vulcan-2133, but I can't get it to work at that speed. It will just default to DDR3-1600 no matter what I do.

The XMP profile according to CPU-Z:

(Slot #3 is identical)

This is what it says with XMP enabled in BIOS:

Also tried inputting the XMP settings in Manual mode, same thing. Motherboard is Asus P8Z77-V.

Any help?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I grabbed a 2x8 GB kit of Team Vulcan-2133, but I can't get it to work at that speed. It will just default to DDR3-1600 no matter what I do.

The XMP profile according to CPU-Z:

(Slot #3 is identical)

This is what it says with XMP enabled in BIOS:

Also tried inputting the XMP settings in Manual mode, same thing. Motherboard is Asus P8Z77-V.

Any help?

That mobo model should be very similar to my older Z68. My problem for giving advice: I don't precisely remember what choices on the "Tweaker" or main OC menu/screen lead to an unhidden feature where you can pick the RAM speed after selecting an XMP profile.

I have a 2x8GB set of G.SKILL DDR3-1866's. Selecting XMP offers two profiles: one for DDR3-1600 and another for DDR3-1866. Even though I select the 1866 profile (#2), the option to run the RAM slower or faster is still revealed as another item's submenu. At least -- that's what I remember.

Go back to the BIOS and study those features. I think you might sort it out. Especially with those ASUS model-lines, you can save your existing BIOS settings to a BIOS profile under "Tools," and play around with those features I mentioned on the Tweaker menu. I'm sure you'll find it.

If I'm wrong, then . . . I can't advise further . . .

 

[lehtv]

The option for DRAM frequency is there on the main AI Tweaker screen regardless of what mode I'm in (Auto, Manual or XMP). When I set the mode to XMP, it selects the only available profile (same as in the CPU-Z shot) and automatically set DRAM frequency to 2133MHz. But in the POST screen and in Windows, the memory is shown as DDR3-1600

 

[DominionSeraph]

What the heck is up with those profiles? 685MHz? 761? 838?

 

[lehtv]

Turns out I'm running a pretty old BIOS from 2012, version 1504. There have since been seven BIOS updates to the P8Z77-V... I'll be updating to v. 2104, see if that helps

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Turns out I'm running a pretty old BIOS from 2012, version 1504. There have since been seven BIOS updates to the P8Z77-V... I'll be updating to v. 2104, see if that helps

Per your post #3 preceding this one: That's pretty weird. I think I'll reboot my system and look at those BIOS settings to refresh my memory (not the RAM, heh-heh).

That was a reason I'd originally chosen to set the RAM manually -- to avoid confusion -- and I overlooked the advantages of XMP. When I revisited "XMP" -- once I got it to work the way I wanted, I didn't fiddle with it anymore. At the beginning, I DID discover how changing the bCLK would change the effective RAM speed, but we learned quickly not to bother with that on these boards.

But -- no doubt -- it could be a BIOS problem begging an update.

=== UPDATE ===

Just for the record, in the post #3, you said "it selects the only available profile . . . and automatically set DRAM frequency to 2133." I am also aware that the specifics I give here may not help, but I did take another look at my BIOS. Would've posted a screen-shot, but didn't have a USB thumb-drive ready to store it. Keep in mind ( or I should keep in mind!) that this is the Z68 board and BIOS. But they do sound the same from your description. The settings or "buttons" which may have sub-menus are in quotes, and I numbered the lines [] for reference:

[1] AI Overclock Tuner: "X.M.P"
[2] XMP DDR3-1866 9-9-9-24 2N 1.5V "Profile #2"
[3] BCLK/PCIE Frequency "100.0"
[4] Turbo Ratio "By All Cores"
[5] By All Cores (. . . . ) "46"
[6] Internal PLL Overvoltage "Disabled"
[7] Memory Frequency "DDR3-1866"

Now. The items of interest (or so I think) are [1], [2] and [7]. Based on your own wording -- I also remember and verified again that [7] has a pop-up menu of different speeds and ALSO an "auto" setting. Item [2] changes its label according to your selection of the desired profile. So if I'd chosen "Profile #1," it would read "XMP DDR3-1600 . . . . . ". If yours only shows one profile, you say it then reads "XMP DDR3-2133 . . . . "

BUT! If the frequency setting [7] is left on "Auto" -- I could imagine a possibility of that being your problem. Truth is -- I'm a "control freak," and have a tendency to change "auto" settings to something else. Despite that, in an item I might label [9] or [10] for the RAM timings, I have all of those set to "auto", but the values are reported as those of the spec (except for command-rate, which auto-adjusts to "1").

Hope I haven't wasted your time.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

What the heck is up with those profiles? 685MHz? 761? 838?

Remember why they call it "DDR" or "double data rate." CPU-Z always expresses the base frequency, which you'd multiply by two to give the DDR RAM speed.

LEHTV: Again, just for the record -- folks like Z15CAM (forum member) had been urging me to update my BIOS when I had a "mystery problem" early this year. Even before he gave me the advice, I had long-ago purchased the PLCC BIOS chips with versions later than the one I'm running. My current BIOS version 606 is only the second BIOS revision since the board was issued! The "mystery problem" -- for taking other measures -- is long gone.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Remember why they call it "DDR" or "double data rate." CPU-Z always expresses the base frequency, which you'd multiply by two to give the DDR RAM speed.

Yes, but none of those are official speeds.

Oh well, looking around at CPU-Z shots it looks like plenty of other kits have those oddball frequencies.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Yes, but none of those are official speeds.

Oh well, looking around at CPU-Z shots it looks like plenty of other kits have those oddball frequencies.

Oh -- I see! I did the arithmetic, and you're right!! But those are the SPD JEDEC settings, so . . . . no telling for sure what it means . . . The RAM he's using is marketed as "2133," so at least it's consistent there . . .

"Team Vulcan?" I cannot pass judgment of any kind on those. If they pass [HCI-]/Memtest at the proper settings, I'll accept that as "judgment."

UPDATE: My G.SKILLs show the same g**d*** numbers! Never noticed that before . . .

 

[lehtv]

Well, I'm happy to say updating the BIOS worked. After the update, I simply enabled XMP, rebooted and now CPU-Z says it's 1066MHz!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, I'm happy to say updating the BIOS worked. After the update, I simply enabled XMP, rebooted and now CPU-Z says it's 1066MHz!

Now I'm still residually curious. Did you leave the ([7]) Memory Frequency set to "Auto?" or did you select "2133" for it?

Glad to see you got this sorted out . . .

 

[lehtv]

Now I'm still residually curious. Did you leave the ([7]) Memory Frequency set to "Auto?" or did you select "2133" for it?

The XMP profile selected 2133 without me having to select it (same with the timings, they were all specified by the XMP)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The XMP profile selected 2133 without me having to select it (same with the timings, they were all specified by the XMP)

I should probably see what happens if I leave "frequency" set to "auto" and reboot to BIOS with my own system. It seems pretty clear now that you had some "BIOS bug" that caused your problem.

 

[lehtv]

I should probably see what happens if I leave "frequency" set to "auto" and reboot to BIOS with my own system. It seems pretty clear now that you had some "BIOS bug" that caused your problem.

Both the old and the new BIOS set the frequencies and timings where they should be according to the XMP profile, they weren't set to "auto". The only difference is that with the new BIOS those settings actually work for the particular RAM I have. The update was under the hood, so to say, it just improved compatibility or something.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Both the old and the new BIOS set the frequencies and timings where they should be according to the XMP profile, they weren't set to "auto". The only difference is that with the new BIOS those settings actually work for the particular RAM I have. The update was under the hood, so to say, it just improved compatibility or something.

I usually -- always -- find a make/model of RAM that I can cross-reference to the mobo compatibility list, or verify from the RAM "configurator" links that it's been successfully tested with the board.

It seems that your gamble paid off, if it only needed a BIOS revision.

 

[lehtv]

I usually -- always -- find a make/model of RAM that I can cross-reference to the mobo compatibility list, or verify from the RAM "configurator" links that it's been successfully tested with the board.

It seems that your gamble paid off, if it only needed a BIOS revision.

I guess I did get a bit lucky, but I don't think it was a gamble of a purchase. As we saw, it worked at 1600mhz with the old BIOS just fine, could've left it at that. RAM is RAM; if the board takes non-ECC DDR3 then any such module should work fine, qualified or not.

Somehow I think memory vendor lists would be more useful if they weren't Qualified vendor lists, but Disqualified. Then you could check which modules to avoid because they're known not to work.

 

[Gs dewd]

I have some Gskill 1866 also that did the same thing. I set it to xmp and all it showed was 1600. I left it set at xmp and "saved" the bios setting. Rebooted and went back into the bios and 1866 was there. Sometimes a simple save and reboot works. .

 

[Z15CAM]

Personally I was never a fan of XMP imbedded profiles. Designed to ensure RAMS guaranteed no error's. I'm more for disabling XMP in BIOS and Tweak Ram Timing and Voltages or use ram without XMP.

I run 16GB's of Samsung MV-3V4G3D-US_DDR3 at 1866MHz 9-9-9-24-1T at 1.32 mV's which is registered at 1600Mhz 11-11-11-28T @ 1.35mV and that ram does not have XMP embedded profiles - I can run it at 2200Mhz's 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1.5mV but concerned about over taxing Intel CPU MPV Controller.

Really you should respect the 1.5mV SB/IB Max Voltage.

!.34mV easily take my i7 2700K to 4.8Ghz's and at 1.5mV take me to 5.2Ghz's.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Personally I was never a fan of XMP imbedded profiles. Designed to ensure RAMS guaranteed no error's. I'm more for disabling XMP in BIOS and Tweak Ram Timing and Voltages or use ram without XMP.

I run 16GB's of Samsung MV-3V4G3D-US_DDR3 at 1866MHz 9-9-9-24-1T at 1.32 mV's which is registered at 1600Mhz 11-11-11-28T @ 1.35mV and that ram does not have XMP embedded profiles - I can run it at 2200Mhz's 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1.5mV but concerned about over taxing Intel CPU MPV Controller.

Really you should respect the 1.5mV SB/IB Max Voltage.

!.34mV easily take my i7 2700K to 4.8Ghz's and at 1.5mV take me to 5.2Ghz's.

Actually, I've seen the spec described as 1.50 +/- 0.075V, which corresponds to an Intel recommendation. But I'd never run these at more than 1.50V. I really don't know if I could further reduce the vDIMM. Validating new RAM settings can take time. And that's probably why I hadn't even explored the XMP alternative until recently -- or for that matter, a faster command rate. Or -- I HAD validated settings @1866 with CMD=1 on the prior 4x4GB RipJaws I was using until around late January or so. But those were spec'd at 1600 9-9-9-24 2N, and I was cautious to make extensive testing at 1866 10-10-10-32 1N before running them like that for regular use. Both of those DDR3-1600 kits are flawless, and spares I'm using elsewhere.

There are some tricks with Advanced Timings that worked with DDR2, and which I never tried with DDR3. I think there is a setting for the total clock cycles of a memory operation which can be tightened: my (human) memory is a tad fuzzy about it.

But if the XMP profile(s) set these timings without intervention -- more aggressive timings -- then the RAM should run with it. No need to test-adjust, test-adjust until they're "right." After verifying the BIOS choices through a reboot and running enough Memtest-type iterations, no need to bother with it.

Has anybody tried running a set of RipJaws 1600's with vDIMM of 1.35 to 1.40V without loosening the timings? I'd be interested -- but not enough to twiddle with it on my rig now to find out.