z270e gaming ram speed problems

[r1381]

hello, all. just built a new computer (specs below). when i first built this about a week ago, i didn't realize that i accidentally bought the i7 7700 (non k) version while building. however, everything worked fine. within the bios, i was able to set the ram speed to 3200mhz and everything booted up correctly. i verified the ram speed in the cmd window, no boot issues, crashes, etc.

after i realized i had the wrong cpu, i returned it and paid the difference for the 7700k. i popped that in, booted up, etc. the ram was set back to the default 2133mhz. i changed it back to 3200mhz and did a save/exit. the computer fired up, but none of the peripherals (monitor, mouse, etc) did. i then powered off the pc and powered back on...went back into the bios and set back to default settings (2133mhz). pc booted just fine.

i then went online to see what i could do to fix this ram issue. i have tried turning on xmp and that did not work. i am forced to hit f1 to enter bios again. i also have manually adjusted the ram speed, timing, voltages, etc and that hasn't worked either. the pc will either not boot the peripherals, or it will force me to press f1 to enter the bios again. there was one instance that the computer actually booted up for a few minutes...long enough for me to check the ram speed in the cmd window and it did show 3200 for all four sticks....but very shortly after, i got a blue screen and had to restart, and thus revert my ram back to default speeds.

i am hoping to get some help from those more experienced than myself. would there have been any issues with me changing cpus from 7700 to 7700k that would screw up something in the bios to where i could not properly set my ram speed to 3200mhz? i've heard about people suggesting to take out the cmos battery? is this something i'd need to try/do? are there other settings i'd need to manually change in the bios along with the dram frequency, dram voltage, cpu agent and cpu vccio voltage?
i saw there are manual settings for the TPU...should that be set to 1 since i am air-cooled?

sorry for all the questions. i've been trying to get this to work for days now and think i'm losing it. i'd greatly appreciate any insights, suggestion and help.

mobo: strix z270e gaming
cpu: i7 7700k
ram: corsair vengeance led ddr4 3200mhz, 32gb (4x8gb)
(cmu32gx4m4c3200c16)
gpu: msi geforce gtx 1080ti
heatsink: cooler master hyper 212 evo
psu: evga supernova 650 g2
ssd: samsung 500gb
hdd: seagate 2tb

[Chino]

DDR2 3200 might need some work to get stable. You're on the right track with the SA & VCCIO voltages. You can follow these guidelines.

DDR4 frequency range	Required CPU VCCIO Voltage range	Required CPU System Agent Voltage range
DDR4-2133 ~ DDR4-2800	1.05V ~ 1.15V	1.05V ~ 1.15V
DDR4-2800 ~ DDR4-3600	1.10V ~ 1.25V	1.10V ~ 1.30V
DDR4-3600 ~ DDR4-4266	1.15V ~ 1.30V	1.20V ~ 1.35V

[r1381]

thanks for the reply. i'll keep tweaking and see what happens.

do you have any idea why my first cpu (7700 non-k) would have had zero issues with me setting the ram speed to 3200mhz, then when i switched my cpu to the 7700k, that speed just wouldn't work and i'd have problems?

[Chino]

Each CPU is unique.

[r1381]

good point.

i also realized that while the 4x8gb ram kits are on the QVL, that is not how my ram came. i picked up two kits of 2x8gb. 2x8gb (total of 16gb) is on the QVL, but i'm wondering if doubling up on two of those individual kits to get to 32gb and not purchasing an actual 4x8gb kit could also be causing some issues.

at least this has been a good learning experience for me.

[Chino]

That's a wise decision since combining memory kits can cause you a lot of headaches.

You should be able to return the kits to the store considering you ordered a single 32GB (4x8GB) kit and not two 16GB (2x4GB) kits. 🙂