Issue booting XMP settings Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000mhz

[DragoXT]

Hey guys,

I really need some assistance here. I am a long-time AMD user switched to the Dark Side.

System Specs:
i7 6700K @ stock
GA-Z170X-UD5 w/F3 bios
2x8gb Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000Mhz (CMK16GX4M2B300015 this is on the QVL for my mobo)
GB G1 Gaming GTX 970
Sandisk Extreme Pro 480gb SSD
Seasonic X750
Cryorig R1 Ultimate Cpu Cooler
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Case


Ok so everything works at stock with my RAM at 2133mhz. When i try and run the XMP profile for 3000mhz i cannot boot. Here is a brief list of what i have done:

1. Manually set RAM freq and voltage
2. Bumped VCCIO voltage with XMP and Manual set freq (auto shows 0.96v i bumped in 0.01v increments to 1.000v)
3. Bumped SA voltage with XMP and Manual set freq (auto shows 1.060v and i bumped in 0.01v increments to 1.100v)
4. No other settings were changed, i figured i would ask some experts before going any further.

I read over this skylake overclocking guide as i have never overclocked Intel before. All i want to do is get my RAM working as intended at this point, burn int and get stock settings then worry about overclocking my cpu later on when i have more time to devote to it.

My PhenomII i ran with 1600mhz DDR3 and i had to bump the CPU-NB voltage aka IMC voltage to make my system stable with those RAM speeds. I assumed that VCCIO is the Intel equivalent. How far voltage wise can i go being "safe." Is there any other settings that i need to look at for getting my RAM stable at their XMP profile? I thought XMP was supposed to be essentially EZMODE one click RAM OCing?

Any help/insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[EarthDog]

Upgrade your bios to f4e... it shows better xmp capabilities on the website: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5480#bios

Also, update your sig.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Yep, try the BIOS update then report back. That's usually the fix on a brand new platform like this.

 

[MattNo5ss]

Did you try manually setting the main four timings (15-17-17-35) as well as frequency (30 multiplier) and voltage (1.35V)? I didn't use XMP in my review of the Z170X-UD5 because my RAM didn't have a profile that matched our test settings.

 

[DragoXT]

@EarthDog

I was trying to save that beta bios as a last ditch effort.

Did you try manually setting the main four timings (15-17-17-35) as well as frequency (30 multiplier) and voltage (1.35V)? I didn't use XMP in my review of the Z170X-UD5 because my RAM didn't have a profile that matched our test settings.

When i manually set things all i did was voltage and freq multi. I left the rest on auto as auto had the correct numbers. I will give that a shot and see. I do have a question though, any reason why i cant set 1.35v for my RAM i can do 1.34v or 1.36v. These numbers were the same in bios F2 and F3.

 

[MattNo5ss]

The DRAM voltage settings just aren't broken down further. 1.36 was actually 1.354 according to my multimeter reading from the board's read point.

 

[DragoXT]

@EarthDog

You were correct sir, the new beta bios got the xmp profile working. I was able to prime95 for 20min with no issue, and the ram at xmp timings passed memtest. All is good except i noticed a bit more heat output compared to when i was just using the jdec standard at 2133mhz. I got to looking and it looks like the xmp profile also decides to adjust not only the ram voltage but also VCCIO and VCCSA.

Here are my voltage results:

From EasyTune in windows
VCCIO = 1.2v
VCCSA = 1.3v
DRAM = 1.38v
vcore = 1.295v

From BIOS under PC Health
VCCIO = N/A
VCCSA = 1.296v
DRAM = 1.368v
vcore = 1.284v

From voltage points on mobo with multimeter IDLE
VCCIO = 1.201v
VCCSA = 1.289v
DRAM = 1.367v
vcore = 1.279

From voltage points on mobo with multimeter LOAD P95
VCCIO = 1.201v
VCCSA = 1.289v
DRAM = 1.367v
vcore = 1.32v

So it appears that xmp has my stuff stupid high for VCCIO and VCCSA. Below is an excerpt from an OCing guide for voltages:

Safe Voltages (TENTATIVE):
Vcore: 1.45v/1.4v
VCCIO: 1.3v/1.25v
System Agent (SA): 1.25v/1.2v
Vdimm: 1.4v/1.35v
No Cache voltage or Input Voltage with Skylake

The first value shows voltages a pretty ballsy person can use. The voltage after the forward slash shows voltages for regular users who don't want to live on the edge. Please do not exceed these parameters unless you are a serious power-user that knows what he/she is doing and is willing to accept the risks.

With this in mind, how am i doing in terms of voltage? Is it "safe" or would you guys recommend manually making settings and dropping my VCCIO and VCCSA volts? How about dropping the DRAM volts as well as they are above spec. I understand xmp is going to probably use more volts than necessary for compatibility purposes but holy cow they seem to be upping things quite high. I just spent a good deal of $ getting this put together i would rather not mess it up and since i have not overclocked Intel i have no idea how harsh you can be with volts or not. On my A64 3400 Newcastle and PhenomII 970 it was kinda hard to mess up voltages on the cpu as your temps would let you know, same with IMC volts, heat would keep you from going to far. I always kept my cpu temps just under 60c for max oc runs. Intel seems so different with temps able to hit in the 80s and 90s when i read different reviews. I am afraid that with my cooling setup i might not hit a temp limit before i can do some real dmg with to many volts. Just so you guys know my load temps with no xmp in P95 were 58c and my load temps with xmp in P95 were 62c.

Thanks for all that have given me advice it is much appreciated.

 

[EarthDog]

There is no reason for raised alternate voltages (IO and SA) for those clocks. Set them back to stock.

 

[DragoXT]

There is no reason for raised alternate voltages (IO and SA) for those clocks. Set them back to stock.

Thanks for the advice, just got done with over an hour prime stable with my new settings:

Bios and Easytune show same numbers
VCCIO = 0.96v
VCCSA = 1.060v
DRAM = 1.34v
vcore = 1.295

Voltage points on mobo
VCCIO = 0.965v
VCCSA = 1.053v
DRAM = 1.328v
vcore = 1.32v load

I have another question, as soon as i stopped P95 my temps went from 65c down to 23c very quickly. Ambient temp is 22c. I am guessing this is Intel's speedstep? I know when overclocking AMD you needed to turn cool and quiet off as it seemed to mess with stability. Is this something i will need to worry about once i start overclocking? Is the temperature swing i am seeing normal when you have a massive cpu cooler or do i potentially have a bad mount and need to redo my thermal paste with the temps that you are seeing?

Thanks again for the help.