RAM Overclocking

[S3KT10N]

So recently I OC'd my RAM from 2400 to 2600 (My Mobo supports upto 2666) and when I re-boot my PC after completely turning it off it POST's three times and then boots (no problem during restarts)
I've done some googling and found that this is due to unstable configuration made in bios and it tries to find stable configuration which is true because it doesn't do that if I reset the BIOS settings but now when Its OC'd and it runs after 3 POSTs without problem and on 2600mhz. Shouldn't it switch back to 2400 if it finds 2600 unstable?

Also my Mobo(Gigabyte B360M) has 2 RAM slots and at first the RAM stick was in Channel B and recently I changed it to Channel A and after that it fails first POST and boots up successfully in 2nd attempt itself .This happens on stock freq of 2400 and if I overclock to 2600 then it boots in 3rd attempt. As i've read somewhere that we should put RAM stick in Channel B i.e 2nd slot instead of first. Does that make any difference??

Hope i made myself clear. Ask if you need more info!
any help would be appreciated!!!

P.S-Its not much of a problem because i can get back to normal functioning state with default settings and changing the slot but I just wanna know why this happens? specially the slot problem.

 

[EarthDog]

In your manual, it tells you which slots they should be in... make sure they are in those slots. Typically it is A1 and B1 for dual channel.

(along those lines, please create a signature with your parts listed so we know what they are).

If things are not stable, then you would want to set it back. For memory, unless oyu are going from 2400 to 3600(ish) the performance gains in your case are not a lot.

 

[S3KT10N]

There are about 5% increase in benchmark results of RAM
Is OC'ing RAM 2400 to 2600 okay then why that POST problem?

 

[EarthDog]

There are about 5% increase in benchmark results of RAM
Is OC'ing RAM 2400 to 2600 okay then why that POST problem?

Maybe from 2133 to 3600... at best.
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/...memory-performance-benchmark-analysis/10.html

..typically it isnt much. You wont see hardly any gains from 2400 to 2666.

As far is if it is ok...there is more to it than being 'ok'. It has to be stable. This can require an increase in dram voltage or System Agent voltage to compensate. Though a meager increase from 2400 to 2600 shouldnt require a system agent bump...

Are you setting xmp and then trying to raise the speeds?

 

[S3KT10N]

Yes i'm setting XMP and then increasing the frequency but my MB won't let me go beyond 2666 and also that restarts occur if I increase the freq.

 

[EarthDog]

Try raising system agent voltage 0.1V and the ram 0.05V and see if that helps. When you say frequency, you mean you are changing the memory multiplier not bclk, right?

Can you post images of cpuz, please? The first tab, spd, and memory, please?

Also, is your motherboard using the latest bios? If not be sure to upgrade and check again.

Edit: you've got ONE stick of ram???? And again, confirm with your manual which slot it should be in... also, get two sticks for dual channel. You'll gain more performance there than overclocking.

 

[S3KT10N]

Yes I mean multiplier

Here are the images



And yes I updated my BIOS but not sure if any newer version is available, lemme check

 

[S3KT10N]

Edit: you've got ONE stick of ram???? And again, confirm with your manual which slot it should be in... also, get two sticks for dual channel. You'll gain more performance there than overclocking.

Yes I've got one stick and i'm thinking of getting another 8gb so not much there for me in overclocking right?

 

[EarthDog]

Yes I've got one stick and i'm thinking of getting another 8gb so not much there for me in overclocking right?

FWIW, when it comes to memory overclocking, I'm a negative Nancy, so keep that in mind. I just don't see the time and effort to be worth the negligible increases for an average user. Benchmarking is a different story.

In your case, I would sell what you have and get something a bit faster out of the box (DDR4 3200 CL14/16) that is actually dual channel. Otherwise, buy the same exact stick to make dual channel.

 

[S3KT10N]

Okay thanks!!
Just one more question out of curiosity
when we increse the multiplier then there's also an increase in latency timings,why so? and will decreasing them again make any difference or are they good where they are??

 

[EarthDog]

Because they are on auto is why they change.

The faster the memory speed, the looser the timings. Typically, these are set manually and wont change. Try setting the 4 primary timings manually and see if that helps.

 

[Alaric]

The three restarts (and latency changes) are the motherboard adjusting the timings looking for a way to give the speed requested. We have some good threads on memory OCing around here, and I leaned heavily on Woomack when doing mine.

As for latency, it increases with speed generally. The trick is to get the RAM fast enough to offset the required latency bump. I spent a lot of time here https://www.overclockers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/22-Memory when I OC'd my RAM.

 

[S3KT10N]

so I shouldn't worry about the restarts or it can cause problems in the long run?

 

[trents]

I agree with EarthDog. Unless you're into competitive benching, overclocking RAM is not worth the hassle. You usually wind up having to loosen timings in order to get a higher frequency so any performance gain is therefore offset to some degree. And the cheaper products generally don't have much overclocking headroom.

 

[S3KT10N]

Okay but if i reset everything back to normal, still its POST'ing twice before booting into OS

 

[Alaric]

Unstable RAM can bork an OS faster than just about anything. Have you tried running sfc /scannow in an elevated .cmd window?

 

[S3KT10N]

Yes I've run sfc and it found some corrupt files and fixed them but this problem still persists

 

[Mr.Scott]

Might want to memtest that ram then.

 

[trents]

I agree with Mr. Scott. Run memtest86 on the RAM. And since you have had so much instability you may need to reinstall the OS. sfc /scannow doesn't fix everything all the time.

 

[S3KT10N]

I've run memtest and it gave no errors!!
Will reinstalling Windows fix this?