Maximus Apex IX 4266Mhz issue with G.Skill Trident

[Toolguns]

Hello there.
I've been trying to get my 16gb Trident Z 4266 MHZ Kit to run stable with my new build. (7700k CPU)
I was having no luck in getting system to post after enabling XMP alone in BIOS.

I then tried der8auer's 5ghz OC guide here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlR7CNuoOXk
The system actually booted and posted, was able to game on BF1 for maybe 10-15 Minutes then I got a blue screen.

When I try to Auto-OC using Dual Intelligent Processors 5, it does usually get my memory close to 3,000MHZ. (Well short of the 4,133mhz i was hoping for on this board)

I bought this board exclusively because of it's ability to OC memory, and I would really like to at least tune the memory close to 4,000mhz if possible.

Did I just get bad sticks of memory, maybe my CPU doesn't like fast memory, or am I doing something wrong?
I'm not very savvy at OC.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[Nate152]

Hi Toolguns

Ultra high speed ram is not plug and play, you'll have to do a little tuning to get your ram at 4266MHz and let's hope your cpu is capable.

First thing to try is setting Maximus Tweak to Mode 2, this is found at the top of the Dram Timing Control page.

Then on the Extreme Tweaker Tab set the CPU System Agent voltage anywhere from 1.20v - 1.35v

CPU VCCIO voltage anywhere from 1.20v - 1.30v.

if still no luck set the Dram voltage to 1.40v

It's trial and error and may take a few tries to find where it will post.

Let us know what you end up with. 🙂

[jab383]

To get the G.Skill DDR4-4266 to work with the APEX, I had to do as Nate152 said plus ... I use manual rather than enabling XMP. Note that there is no DRAM ratio that will get to 4266 with Bclk at 100. That DRAM speed uses the 4133 ratio with Bclk at 103. One of the first things to back off if 4266 doesn't work is the blck - back to 100 and settle for 4133 speed.

I set DRAM voltage to 1.45 (should be safe up to 1.55), manually set the primary timings to XMP levels: tCL=19, tRCD=19, tRAS=39 and CR=2N and left the other timings AUTO. Mode 2 usually does a good job of conservative second and third timings that work right away. For higher bandwidth, you might try Mode 1, but that is for better overclocking at the expense of compatiblity.

[Toolguns]

jab383 wrote:
To get the G.Skill DDR4-4266 to work with the APEX, I had to do as Nate152 said plus ... I use manual rather than enabling XMP. Note that there is no DRAM ratio that will get to 4266 with Bclk at 100. That DRAM speed uses the 4133 ratio with Bclk at 103. One of the first things to back off if 4266 doesn't work is the blck - back to 100 and settle for 4133 speed.

I set DRAM voltage to 1.45 (should be safe up to 1.55), manually set the primary timings to XMP levels: tCL=19, tRCD=19, tRAS=39 and CR=2N and left the other timings AUTO. Mode 2 usually does a good job of conservative second and third timings that work right away. For higher bandwidth, you might try Mode 1, but that is for better overclocking at the expense of compatiblity.

Thanks for the advice. I will work with the voltage. Would 1.45V for DRAM still be safe while using these settings?:
CPU Core Voltage override: 1.3
CPU VCCIO Voltage: 1.2
CPU System Agent Voltage: 1.225

I was able to get system to boot using the above, with XMP enabled and dialed back the BCLK to 100. 1.4 Voltage on DRAM.
The system was running Battlefield 1, however I could tell the system was struggling with something and eventually got a blue screen. (Memory error message, I can't remember exactly)

Is adding 1.45 to DRAM voltage(on top of the above settings) safe?

[jab383]

I think 1.45v for DRAM would be safe. I would suggest raising system agent first to see if that improved stability, say 1.275v with 1.225Vccio.

DRAM voltage over 1.50 is likely safe, but not necessarily effective. Higher voltage has introduced memory errors in my experience. My 4266 kit works well up to 1.58V, but another slower kit throws errors above 1.51V. Voltage scaling is a variable thing with the Samsung B-die used on these DRAMs.

[Toolguns]

jab383 wrote:
I think 1.45v for DRAM would be safe. I would suggest raising system agent first to see if that improved stability, say 1.275v with 1.225Vccio.

DRAM voltage over 1.50 is likely safe, but not necessarily effective. Higher voltage has introduced memory errors in my experience. My 4266 kit works well up to 1.58V, but another slower kit throws errors above 1.51V. Voltage scaling is a variable thing with the Samsung B-die used on these DRAMs.

Hello there.
Just wanted to update on the DRAM tuning. I was able to achieve 4133mhz after dialing back Bclk to 100. System is stable using Maximus Tweak Mode 2 and Auto on all other Timing settings. However, once enabling XMP, I noticed the CPU clock speed was automatically down downlocked from 4.5ghz to 4.4ghz. Is this normal? I'm running an i7 7700k.

[jab383]

The XMP setting lets BIOS and its presets take over, so yes a change in CPU profile goes with XMP. To get control of both CPU and DRAM, you have to manually override what BIOS does. Your choice is to go through the trial and error of many settings or settle for the easier, but not quite optimal outcome.

[metal_snake1]

By the way guys, When i'm trying to overclock and the overclock fails - my system simply dosen't post even..

My MB: Asus Maximus IX Apex
Ram: Trident Z 4266 Mhz DDR4
CPU: Intel I7 7700K

Is this normal for the IX series? Each time it fails I have to manually turn off and on the computer.. This didn't happend with my Maximus V Extreme motherboard.
If it failed it would post but simply write it failed. But not with the IX series. Is my MB faulty? (I tried all bios versions available at the moment).

[Toolguns]

jab383 wrote:
The XMP setting lets BIOS and its presets take over, so yes a change in CPU profile goes with XMP. To get control of both CPU and DRAM, you have to manually override what BIOS does. Your choice is to go through the trial and error of many settings or settle for the easier, but not quite optimal outcome.

Ok.
For now, I'm going to enjoy my rig as is with default XMP and CPU @4.4ghz. Maybe I'll try some bios tweaking later. Appreciate the info and feedback, thanks!

[Chino]

Sounds quite normal to me.