G.Skill TridentZ Series DDR4 32GB 4000 MHz runs only at 3200 Max

[Besserwisser]

Hi,

i try to build a new rig with a kit of G.Skill TridentZ Series DDR4 32 GB: 2 x 16 GB DIMM 288-PIN 4000 MHz / PC4-32000 CL19 1.35 V on a ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING with the newest BIOS and a stock 8700K.

I can't boot with the XMP-profile - the screen just remains black. When setting the DRAM frequency to 3200 the PC boots and I can do stress testing with no problems.

But I can't get the RAM speed up. No reasonable amount a additional CPU VCCIO voltage, CPU System Agent voltage or DRAM voltage will help.

Can anyone point me in the right direction to proceed? Is it the RAM? Have I been unlucky with the tray CPU that just has a suboptimal ICS? Is it the board? or even some setting I've missed?

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Johan45]

I have one of the z370 Strix boards and I'm in the same boat. With 2x8 GB sticks they will not run much faster than 38-3900 MHz even though they are 4266 Cl19-19-19 @ XMP
You can try setting the ram at 3800 with manual timings

 

[Woomack]

It's not so easy to set 4000 using 16GB modules. Most of what I was testing couldn't run at much more than 3600. I have 4x16GB Samsung based sticks and on X299 they run up to 3733 and barely boot at 4000 ( full manual settings ). On ASUS TUF max was 3600, on ASRock Taichi 3733.
As I see on the gskill webiste, 32GB 4000 kits were tested only on ASUS APEX and these boards are usually much better in memory OC than standard series.

I guess you can set something like 3600/3733 16-16-16 1.35V but I wouldn't count on much more. I'm not saying it's not possible to set 4000 but may require to spend some time on manual settings, picking the best BIOS etc.
You can try to disable XMP and try manual ( but with all timings at auto ) or auto settings and manual memory frequency @4000. It should set different timings and maybe motherboard will like them more.

 

[Besserwisser]

Thanks for your replys ...

I have even tried a 4x 8192MB Set of G.Skill RipJaws V black DDR4-3200 DIMM CL16-18-18-38.

Even that will not run with XMP enabled. Man I'm telling you. This is not funny.


But if you too have problems with this board. Do you thinkt that a Asus TUF Z370-Plus Gaming Mainboard is better suited. Because I have one here. But I'd hate to tear down my new machine completely again.


I also ordered a new 8700K boxed and a HyperX Predator 32GB Kit (4x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz DIMM CL15 kit as fallback.

For reference: the German ASUS page lists doesn't list any 4000+ RAM at all: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb...AMING/Z370-4DIMM_memory_QVL_report_201712.pdf
while the US site has a slightly newer document that does: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb...0-F_GAMING/Z370-4DIMM-Memory-QVL_20180103.pdf

 

[Woomack]

I don't think that most other motherboards will OC better with 16GB modules. This memory is just not easy to overclock and the only tested motherboard on which G.Skill guarantees it will work is ASUS Z370 APEX.
ASUS TUF is about the same as Strix and the same as most other ASUS boards. Only ROG ( non-Strix ) series OC better because of improved PCB and BIOS.

If I'm right then Ripjaws V 3200 CL16-18-18 won't OC high as it's probably based on Hynix IC ( I can be wrong ). Still should run at XMP settings.
HyperX Predator 3200 kit which I was testing was on Samsung B IC and could make 3733+ but again it's not guaranteed it will run at 3600+ on most motherboards.

There are other factors which are affecting memory OC like BIOS, voltages, CPU memory controller, memory density, motherboard's power design and PCB. Question is what are you trying to get ? 4000 memory clock ? The fastest PC for games or something else ?

QVL lists are a joke recently, I bet they didn't even test most of these memory kits on the list the same as they did for most other motherboards. They just assume it will work when it works on other motherboards and whole list up to ~3466 is about the same for every other Z370 motherboard.
Still there is one thing on this list worth to mention, there is no 2x16GB kit above 3466 ... simply there are barely any 16GB modules guaranteed to work at 3466+. G.Skill has only one motherboard listed as compatible:
http://gskill.com/en/product/f4-4000c19d-32gtzkk

 

[Besserwisser]

I don't think that most other motherboards will OC better with 16GB modules. This memory is just not easy to overclock and the only tested motherboard on which G.Skill guarantees it will work is ASUS Z370 APEX.
ASUS TUF is about the same as Strix and the same as most other ASUS boards. Only ROG ( non-Strix ) series OC better because of improved PCB and BIOS.

If I'm right then Ripjaws V 3200 CL16-18-18 won't OC high as it's probably based on Hynix IC ( I can be wrong ). Still should run at XMP settings.
HyperX Predator 3200 kit which I was testing was on Samsung B IC and could make 3733+ but again it's not guaranteed it will run at 3600+ on most motherboards.

There are other factors which are affecting memory OC like BIOS, voltages, CPU memory controller, memory density, motherboard's power design and PCB. Question is what are you trying to get ? 4000 memory clock ? The fastest PC for games or something else ?

First and foremost I'd like to get the advertised clock speed. Without XMP both Kits deliver only 2133Mhz. Nothing else. How likely do you think is a faulty or bad CPU/ICS? Was bought as tray from Ebay. I very much doubt that this was a good idea / that this was a top notch CPU.

 

[EarthDog]

People above you have mentioned nothing about the CPU/IMC (what is ICS?). I also doubt its that.

Really, there are few performance gains but a nottably higher price from 3200 to 4K.. so I would either run it at 3200 Mhz, or return your set and grab a 3200 Mhz set and go from there. The amount of time you will try pouring in to set this memory isn't worth it (to me).

 

[Woomack]

I doubt it's CPU fault. It's more likely motherboard, BIOS or some additional settings. As Johan also said, typical maximum memory clock is between 3600-3866. Above that you need top OC motherboard or/and some knowledge how to OC memory and set everything in BIOS.
Auto settings = 2133 ( or 2400 if IC is designed for that )
XMP is profile at which memory manufacturer guarantees stable work ... but as long as it's used on tested by them motherboard.

The only 16GB modules which can pass 3400 are from Samsung. If XMP isn't working then try manual settings like these below.

Set 3200 15-15-15 1.35V ... everything else at auto, if you make it work then try
3466 16-16-16 1.35V ... everything else at auto, if you make it work then try
3600 16-16-16 1.35V ... everything else at auto, if you make it work then try
3733 17-17-17 1.35V ... everything else at auto, here you may also check VCCIO/VCCSA +0.1V
3866 18-18-18 1.35V or 18-19-19 1.35V ... everything else at auto, here you may also check VCCIO/VCCSA +0.1V
4000 auto timings 1.35V and 1.40V ... if you make it boot then check tighter timings ... VCCIO/SA +0.10-0.15V

That's the short info how to check how Samsung is overclocking on your motherboard. If you won't make high enough clock then I'd recommend ask G.Skill if they can help you with reaching 4000. I guess they tested this memory on other motherboards.

 

[Besserwisser]

People above you have mentioned nothing about the CPU/IMC (what is ICS?). I also doubt its that.

Really, there are few performance gains but a nottably higher price from 3200 to 4K.. so I would either run it at 3200 Mhz, or return your set and grab a 3200 Mhz set and go from there. The amount of time you will try pouring in to set this memory isn't worth it (to me).

ICS is obviously an invention of mine to confuse everyone. Seriously sorry about that. Naturally I meant to write IMC.


And I think I will do exactly as you proposed. I will try another 8700K just to be sure that it is not the CPU. And in parallel I have ordered a - hopefully stable - 3200 Mhz set of RAM as a fallback and then I will stop investing too much time into it.

Many thanks for all input. I will let you know tomorrow what became of it.

 

[Johan45]

Pretty sure it just the motherboard. The kit you have right now will work but will need manual main timings and voltage set. If that board BIOS is the same as mine then go to Memory timings and set 16-16-36 in the top 3 spots then set 3600 memory speed and 1.35-1.4v for DRAM and it'll boot right up at that speed.

 

[Besserwisser]

Pretty sure it just the motherboard. The kit you have right now will work but will need manual main timings and voltage set. If that board BIOS is the same as mine then go to Memory timings and set 16-16-36 in the top 3 spots then set 3600 memory speed and 1.35-1.4v for DRAM and it'll boot right up at that speed.

I will give that a try. Thank you.

 

[EarthDog]

ICS is obviously an invention of mine to confuse everyone. Seriously sorry about that. Naturally I meant to write IMC.


And I think I will do exactly as you proposed. I will try another 8700K just to be sure that it is not the CPU. And in parallel I have ordered a - hopefully stable - 3200 Mhz set of RAM as a fallback and then I will stop investing too much time into it.

Many thanks for all input. I will let you know tomorrow what became of it.

Nobody said it was the CPU, in fact, its likely it ISN"T and we all said that. Not sure why you ordered the CPU.. return it. Honestly. Save yourself some trouble.

 

[wingman99]

One thing you can try to see if you have a bad memory stick, run one stick at a time with XMP or 4000 speed and see if it will boot.

 

[Woomack]

One thing you can try to see if you have a bad memory stick, run one stick at a time with XMP or 4000 speed and see if it will boot.

There is only one problem which was mentioned in this thread. There is a chance that Z370 strix won't boot at 4000 using xmp or simple manual settings and even if will boot then eventual errors can be related to something else than memory. That's why suggested speed for tests was 3600.
If memory is faulty then will show errors at lower frequency too. G.Skill guarantees 4000 only on ASUS APEX so it's hard to make RMA if this memory kit won't run stable on any other motherboard.

 

[wingman99]

There is only one problem which was mentioned in this thread. There is a chance that Z370 strix won't boot at 4000 using xmp or simple manual settings and even if will boot then eventual errors can be related to something else than memory. That's why suggested speed for tests was 3600.
If memory is faulty then will show errors at lower frequency too. G.Skill guarantees 4000 only on ASUS APEX so it's hard to make RMA if this memory kit won't run stable on any other motherboard.

I have helped two people this last year when the memory would work fine at lower speeds then when trying to run at the rated speed one stick failed to reach rated speed. It is so easy to test I cant believe you would be against it.

 

[Woomack]

I have helped two people this last year when the memory would work fine at lower speeds then when trying to run at the rated speed one stick failed to reach rated speed. It is so easy to test I cant believe you would be against it.

I'm not against single stick tests as this is good idea. I'm only saying that on this motherboard this memory may not boot at 4000 at all using XMP profile or simple manual settings. When it boots then it may generate errors which could be not related to memory stability. So yes it's good idea to test single sticks but not at XMP/4000 clock but lower.
As Johan added, on these boards are problems to boot above 3866. I don't have Z370 motherboard to test that but also 16GB modules on most motherboards are not booting above 3600/3733 and it's not memory's fault. ASUS APEX is designed for higher frequency and it's the only motherboard on which Trident Z 4000 2x16GB kits were tested by G.Skill.