ROG STRIX Z690-E Gaming WiFi and Memory Latency

[kewlniss]

Hey there!

I tried to get some DDR5 DIMM and couldn't. Finally I broke down and bought some on ebay (new, sealed). I have G.Skill Trident Z5 - 6000, CL36-36-36-76 1.3v.

Later, I was selected for the NewEgg shuffle, and bought another 32GB with the ROG STRIX Z690-E motherboard combo. I was going to get a different motherboard as I didn't need the WiFi, but it seemed like it would do the job and I was happy I was going to be able to get 64GB. That RAM however is G.Skill Trident Z5 - 5600, CL36-36-36-76 1.2v.

So I just opened the Motherboard today after seeing the issues around the Hero motherboards, and grabbed the manually and read the following:

Always install the DIMMS with the same CAS Latency. For an optimum compatibility, we recommend that you install memory modules of the same version or data code (D/C) from the same vendor.

So fortunately both are CL36... but they have different speeds of 5600 vs 6000.

So that background for a couple of questions before I open either of the memory packages...

1. In general, what happens when I open these and try to use them in the motherboard?
2. Particularly, will it recognize all 64GB?
3. If so, will all memory run at the lower 5600 or if I put the 6000 in slots A2/B2 and 5600 in A1/B1 would that actually run at different speeds for each pair?

Are there other gotchas I need to watch out for?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[maximumrog57]

kewlniss wrote:
Hey there!

I tried to get some DDR5 DIMM and couldn't. Finally I broke down and bought some on ebay (new, sealed). I have G.Skill Trident Z5 - 6000, CL36-36-36-76 1.3v.

Later, I was selected for the NewEgg shuffle, and bought another 32GB with the ROG STRIX Z690-E motherboard combo. I was going to get a different motherboard as I didn't need the WiFi, but it seemed like it would do the job and I was happy I was going to be able to get 64GB. That RAM however is G.Skill Trident Z5 - 5600, CL36-36-36-76 1.2v.

So I just opened the Motherboard today after seeing the issues around the Hero motherboards, and grabbed the manually and read the following:

Always install the DIMMS with the same CAS Latency. For an optimum compatibility, we recommend that you install memory modules of the same version or data code (D/C) from the same vendor.

So fortunately both are CL36... but they have different speeds of 5600 vs 6000.

So that background for a couple of questions before I open either of the memory packages...

1. In general, what happens when I open these and try to use them in the motherboard?
2. Particularly, will it recognize all 64GB?
3. If so, will all memory run at the lower 5600 or if I put the 6000 in slots A2/B2 and 5600 in A1/B1 would that actually run at different speeds for each pair?

Are there other gotchas I need to watch out for?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I have the same RAM mix kit, so far what I’ve learned is:

• I used 5600 on a2 and b2 for rgb and 6000 on a1b1 which gave me 64 total but 4000 for the total combo.https://www.anandtech.com/show/16959/intel-innovation-alder-lake-november-4th/4
  
• The XMP profile does not support 4x kits (consider this with a grain of salt) but that may change
  
• you may want to head over to the overclock.net https://www.overclock.net/threads/official-intel-ddr5-oc-and-24-7-daily-memory-stability-thread.1794... to learn more examples to try voltages and settings
  
• all in all if you’re about OC out of the box you’d need to get a 2x32 instead
  

new to most of this so I’m content with volume vs speed; hope whichever way you go it works for you!

I tried it with a Z690 Hero but given RMA and no good way to track stock I may switch to the Strix Z690-E; how has your experience been overall?
Someone tried this with all same kits and had challenges to OC as well https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?127078-Z690-Maximus-Hero-and-GSkill-Trident-Z5-6000-CL-36

[kewlniss]

maximumrog57 wrote:

I tried it with a Z690 Hero but given RMA and no good way to track stock I may switch to the Strix Z690-E; how has your experience been overall?

Well, I haven't started the build yet, so I don't have any experience to share yet. I was trying to get a RTX 3090, but with the "Hero on fire" stuff, I got a little antsy and decided to start it out.

maximumrog57 wrote:

I used 5600 on a2 and b2 for rgb and 6000 on a1b1 which gave me 64 total but 4000 for the total combo

Something you may want to try is put the faster memory in A2/B2. The only reason why I'm suggesting that is because if you only had 2 DIMMS that is where the manual says to put them if you only have 2 DIMMS, so I assume that is like the primary / 1st priority. But I'm totally guessing on that. Just throwing it out there if you hadn't tried.

It's interesting that having all slots filled drops the speed down to 4000 instead of the slower memory (i.e. 5600). I wonder if that is something that has the potential to be "fixed" with BIOS updates later. I'm a software guy so the hardware side eludes me as to what can be updated via firmware updates and what can't be.

Thanks for your help!

At first I thought the 6000 CL36 wasn't even compatible with the -E motherboard as it wasn't in either the G.Skill or Asus QVL list. Fortunately, that memory now is listed in the ASUS QVL:
https://rog.asus.com/us/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z690-e-gaming-wifi-model/helpdesk_qvl_memor...

But the motherboard -F (not -E) is the only one listed in G.Skill currently:
https://www.gskill.com/qvl/165/371/1636007290/F5-6000U3636E16GX2-TZ5SF5-6000U3636E16GA2-TZ5S-Qvl


At least it sounds like I'd be able to get all 64GB, just at sub DDR4 speeds.

If anyone has been able to get better speeds having all 4 slots filled with or without a mixed kit, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks!

[kewlniss]

maximumrog57 wrote:
I tried it with a Z690 Hero but given RMA and no good way to track stock I may switch to the Strix Z690-E

By the way, you probably want to check out this article regarding serial numbers of affected Hero boards:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-owns-up-to-fiery-z690-motherboard-flaw-starts-recall-program

[maximumrog57]

kewlniss wrote:
By the way, you probably want to check out this article regarding serial numbers of affected Hero boards:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-owns-up-to-fiery-z690-motherboard-flaw-starts-recall-program

thanks! Ran the whole thread here https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?127013-ASUS-Z690-Maximus-Hero-Motherboard-Burnt-with-QCODE...

it’ll take them 4-5 weeks at minimum for them to bring it back in stock and for me to get it, I wanted the Strix Z690-E to being with but sided to a hero combo just to get the ram, at the end they are more or less the same given I’m not going to push them beyond stock for my needs.

think the best way to get 64 with OC is a two stick kit.