Gigabyte z390 shows 3600 RAM in bios but boots to 3200..help

[shaolin95]

Hello!
So I am trying to find my limits of my CPU/RAM but have a problem. I can set my RAM to say 3300 and it shows 3300 in Windows just fine but if I keep trying to push higher like 3600, the mobo is doing some auto changes (I guess some ram divider) that puts me back to 3200 in Windows even though it shows 3600 in BIOS.
As I am just leaning this new UEFI from Gigabyte, I wonder if someone can offer advice on which setting I need to adjust for this.

Thanks!

 

[EarthDog]

What board? What ram?

How about updating the signature with the current system specs.

 

[shaolin95]

What board? What ram?

How about updating the signature with the current system specs.

Done

 

[EarthDog]

What have you done with voltage and timings trying to reach 3600 mhz? You'll have to loosen timings and/or raise voltage..

It almost sounds like the OC is failing and going back to last known good/xmp.

 

[trents]

As ED implies, your RAM is only rated for 3200 and will not be stable at 3600 unless you make changes to the voltage and timings. Regardless of the fact that you set the frequency to 3600 in bios. the RAM itself is still 3200 mhz rated memory.

 

[shaolin95]

As ED implies, your RAM is only rated for 3200 and will not be stable at 3600 unless you make changes to the voltage and timings. Regardless of the fact that you set the frequency to 3600 in bios. the RAM itself is still 3200 mhz rated memory.

I understand that I was just missing that XMP was still enabled so at some point instead of just failing as I was expecting when slowly pushing RAM higher, it would just change settings on its own but all is good now. Currently testing 3600 vs 3200 C13 to see which behaves better but looks like this is just mostly for getting extra benchmark points more than anything so I dont think I will waste much time on it lol
thanks guys!

 

[Alaric]

I see you got this figured out. My Gigabyte BIOS (and I assume others) likes to hide seemingly redundant settings in different places, like I have to change CPU multiplier in two places and RAM multiplier in two places. It can create some real head scratchers until you get familiar with it. Add those idiosyncrasies to Gigabyte's propensity to just boot with different settings if it doesn't like your OC, rather than just fail and take you back to the BIOS. Those things definitely added a fair bit of time to my RAM OC'ing.

 

[shaolin95]

I see you got this figured out. My Gigabyte BIOS (and I assume others) likes to hide seemingly redundant settings in different places, like I have to change CPU multiplier in two places and RAM multiplier in two places. It can create some real head scratchers until you get familiar with it. Add those idiosyncrasies to Gigabyte's propensity to just boot with different settings if it doesn't like your OC, rather than just fail and take you back to the BIOS. Those things definitely added a fair bit of time to my RAM OC'ing.

hahah indeed it is a very unique experience from the old school of just long beeps or no boot if pushing too hard. I rather just have a no boot than this lets boot with the settings WE WANT instead of your dumb ones LOL

 

[Alaric]

indeed it is a very unique experience from the old school of just long beeps or no boot

I spent $7 for a bag of 10 mobo speakers on Amazon a while back just for that reason. Even if some folks here think my mobo speakers are "quaint", they're very handy when your boot fails, you get no video even though the board powers up and seems to be working, or my most recent scenario-the debug code is listed (uselessly) as "Reserved".

That last example comes with a caveat, as that board is back in RMA a second time. So, jury still out on that one.

 

[Woomack]

I spent $7 for a bag of 10 mobo speakers on Amazon a while back just for that reason. Even if some folks here think my mobo speakers are "quaint", they're very handy when your boot fails, you get no video even though the board powers up and seems to be working, or my most recent scenario-the debug code is listed (uselessly) as "Reserved".

That last example comes with a caveat, as that board is back in RMA a second time. So, jury still out on that one.

Just learn to read debug code ranges ... like 2x-3x = IMC or memory, 5x = memory. A lot of new motherboards have single LEDs for CPU, RAM and VGA what is even easier because it shows what failed to post.
Usually even when code is marked as reserved then you can find description in the manual of other motherboards. Probably all new Intel boards are using AMI UEFI with the same set of codes and it's also the same as in last 2 generations. Some brands put full list of codes in the manual, some only these most popular.

 

[Alaric]

Kind of like leaving closed captioning on because I don't want to unclick mute, isn't it? And almost half these results https://www.google.com/search?q=Gigabyte motherboard code C1 are with my motherboard model ( 4 of 9) including a thread to nowhere here at OCF https://www.overclockers.com/forums...gabyte-Z170X-Gaming-7-not-posting-after-error Note that I didn't even enter which model in the search term. Common issue with the board and as many opinions as there are components in a build. So, of the 9 on the first page, the PSU, graphics card, RAM, and VGA were blamed at some point along with the motherboard. There is a debug LED for debug, no others.

The 5 long beeps indicated a RAM issue according to the majority of info I could find online, which led to further testing of the RAM slots and sufficient data to make returning the board a less than 2 hour proposition.

Probably all new Intel boards are using AMI UEFI with the same set of codes and it's also the same as in last 2 generations.

I fail to see where downloading three generations of motherboard manuals for x70 series chipsets to scour for clues, is somehow faster or "better" than plugging in a speaker and hearing a beep code. That's a lot of motherboard manuals for a 5 Mbps connection, along with a lot of pointless writes to a cheap 120 GB SSD. The speakers are tiny and cheap, guys. I plug it in and forget it when I do the build, and most of the motherboards I own don't light up like a Christmas tree. Then, when/if the day comes that the rig won't boot, I already know what to look for. My backup rig (the one I'm on now) doesn't have a window, and has a fan mounted on the outside of the side cover, so a pain in the butt to get on the floor, pull the cover, and try starting it while looking for lights. Count the beeps, pick up the tablet and BOOM, troubleshooting Nirvana. I'm not sure why ignoring a useful diagnostic tool is "cool" now, but I hate troubleshooting a daily driver, that's what benching rigs are for.

 

[EarthDog]

Manuals are usually a few MB in size... not huge at all. Writes aren't an issue on SSDs made in the last several generations my man... you know this, stop it.

There are a few ways to skin the cat...... mmmmmkay?

 

[Alaric]

My manual is 34.8 MB. A little more than a "few". The point on the SSD was the pointless wear and tear. I don't run SSD benchmarks 24/7 just because it's "ok now" either. It probably wouldn't cause your car any major harm to leave it running while you're at work, either, but you still shut it off.

There are a few ways to skin the cat...... mmmmmkay?

That was kinda my point. In fact, that was exactly my point. An aversion to beeps isn't an issue I suffer from (Except the garbage truck 10 feet from my window at 4 AM. Yes, that's a real bi-weekly occurrence here. LOL), so I use them. I'm aware of the myriad of cat skinning techniques, and beep codes suit my particular needs with my particular cats and cat storage options.

If I have a mobo issue on a board with a debug light, that throws a code the maker actually references to the problem, in a case with a side window (note the scope of the situation narrowing), that doesn't necessitate my crawling on the floor between the 70 lb. and 4 ft speaker and the 50+ lb. rig, then by golly I wasted $1.43 on a speaker and shame on me. I can live with that risk.

 

[EarthDog]

LOL, so much funny there Alaric. So much funny!

 

[Alaric]

Part of my view comes from the decades spent on my career. In computer troubleshooting, the small area and limited parts frequently make parts swapping viable. For 40+ years of my life, personal and professional, the worst thing you could be called was a "parts swapper". It's the same connotation as "hack", "backyard mechanic", and "trunk monkey". Replacing the bad part isn't sufficient, you have to know why it failed, as the cause is frequently upstream of that. A failed part is a symptom, not a problem.

Computers are slightly(!) different. Generally the part failed because it was an overpriced POS that was designed to fail in 3 years, problem solved.