Just can't get XMP (or Manual) to give me love

[Trihugger]

Hello!

I can't get the XMP (XMP mode or manually inputting) the RAM speed to work. I have TridentRGB 3600 C16 RAM (F4-3600C16-8GTZR). I will basically have one of two things happen when I try to do it:

1) Bootup will hang with a white light on B2 (I think it's B2, comes right after 96 in the screen order and when the light goes yellow is when the BIOS entry screen appears). This seems to be the case I experience if I perform a restart rather than a power off/on. When I power off and back on I can sometimes bypass this and proceed to #2.

2) Will boot to Windows but all sound is a horrid mix of cracking, lagging, etc. My CPU usage skyrockets and my system basically goes borderline unresponsive just doing simple things like opening Chrome.

Specs:
i7-8700k - Tried @ Stock & 5GHz Overclock according to Der8auer's video & an Adaptive Vcore 5GHz overclock (0.01 IA AC/DC) w/ auto offsets. Cache tried @ 42 per Der8auer's video and auto. All OC's were stable enough to never cause a BSOD at or below 1.35 vCore by themselves (Adaptive seems to like 1.3 idle and 1.33 load). Temps ~65 after an hour of RealBench and OCCT and <45 gaming. Chip is delidded.

32 GB F4-3600C16-8GTZR RBG RAM - Tried Using XMP, Manually inputting speed/timings, and Mode 1/2 Tweak. Also tried manually seting VCCIO and System Agent to 1.15, 1.2, and 1.25. Was not brave enough to go further since still fuzzy on what this does. Works perfectly fine with Auto mode settings. Unsure if it matters but w/o ASUS Aura the RAM lighting will start of sync'd and then start to do its own thing. Do not know if this is normal.

Tried 32 GB of Gskill 3200 C14 RGB RAM as well, same exact problems.

Maximus Hero Wifi - 0505 and 0802 BIOS both tried

GIGABYTE AORUS GTX 1080 Ti XTREME Edition - Tried with all the 388.13 drivers, Just the Graphics driver and PhysX, and Graphics, HD audio, and Physx. Also have two separate 8 pin power cables powering it per Raja's advice in another thread. Didn't help in this particular case, but good to know! Also tried with another graphics card. Still had the same problems.

Asus ROG PG279Q x2 Gsync Monitors. G-sync tried enabled and disabled. Running at 2k Resolution. Using the Display Port Cables that came with the monitors. I am assuming these are reputable in quality per Raja's instructions to mess with HDMI cables in another thread. I have not messed with HDMI yet.

Samsung 960 Pro 1TB Main (Bottom slot) and Samsung 960 EVO 1 TB Data (Middle slot). Bottom slot set to PCIE x4 in BIOS. Samsung Magician has them Trimmed and updated to the latest Firmware.

Tried in Windows 10 64 bit builds 1709, 1703, and currently in 1607. Each one a clean install on BIOS 0505. Only tried 1607 with BIOS 0802.

Corsair Commander Pro Fan Controller - As an aside, this and Aura don't like each other. RAM lighting gets super choppy as soon as Corsair Link loads, XMP or not. Currently only running with Link, uninstalled Aura.

I feel like I've tried everything Raja and others have listed as possible *somethings* across multiple threads here but I've gone ahead and listed what I've done. Maybe I'll get lucky and I missed something bonehead. I don't really understand RAM OC'ing enough to know what to mess with given the problems I'm having.

Please ask me any questions or for any further clarification. I think I was complete but then again I'm the n00b :cool:

[JustinThyme]

First thing to do is pare down the other issues first. Uninstall aura and Corsiar commander Graphics should have nothing to do with it.
The fact you are not posting to bios half the time points at hardware though.

First bit of advice, dont jump in bawlz deep. Start with one thing at a time or you will never know which is the right thing. Whatever your best stable CPU multi is back off of that by one and get the cache up after. Then try the ram one thing at a time. Run the Vram to full spec and nothing else except walk the speed up a level at a time.

Make sure yout kit is on the QVL and its not a mixed kit as in 2X 16GB kits. Should be all a single 32GB kit. If Im reading your part number right you didnt follow the golden rule of ram. This is a huge mistake that a lot of people make. The faster it gets the more important this is. They bin the sticks with similar properties then test them to full XMP as a kit. Not saying that it will never work as some do get lucky but others have posts that look just like yours, some not posting at all.

If you can identify which sticks are from which kit try with just 2 sticks in a single kit and see what you get.

[Trihugger]

The RAM is all from a single kit, each one a 4x8gb. I just tried two different kits (one 3200 one 3600) with the same results. I know better than to try to mix kits =D.

[Menthol]

I had similar issues as you with same board, CPU, and same memory kit, I had to tweak voltage settings to get memory to boot at XMP speeds, I bought another CPU and XMP settings work without issue and CPU overclocks higher with less voltage and much more stable

I guess what I am trying to say is Intel does not guarantee anything above default specs, there CPU's quality varies widely and the motherboard manufacturers gets stuck explaining why, updating bios's to accommodate weaker CPU's, and takes the brunt of the blame that is not always there's

[Trihugger]

Menthol wrote:
I had similar issues as you with same board, CPU, and same memory kit, I had to tweak voltage settings to get memory to boot at XMP speeds, I bought another CPU and XMP settings work without issue and CPU overclocks higher with less voltage and much more stable

I guess what I am trying to say is Intel does not guarantee anything above default specs, there CPU's quality varies widely and the motherboard manufacturers gets stuck explaining why, updating bios's to accommodate weaker CPU's, and takes the brunt of the blame that is not always there's

Thank you for the reply! *I also think it’s probably the CPU being the stinker at this point buuuut it’s more or less impossible to get another one of these damn things right now so I’m left tweaking the Mobo in a ditch effort.*

Can you link me to that post or just copy the settings you had to use to get a baseline? *I think I remember the post where you needed 1.22 volts for either SysAgent or VCCIO but if you could give me the full tilt deal of everything you tweaked in a manner that my tiny brain could replicate I’ll be on cloud 9.

Also, using adaptive vcore, is there a “best” way to add a little voltage to it for stability needs if that ends up being the issue? *I’m very unsure of how the offset works in terms of when it adds extra vcore. Super hesitant to do anything that may snap crackle pop the CPU since I can’t replace it.

Edit - Sorry about the *’s damn iPhone. *

Edit #2 - Found the post, thank you again Menthol. I will play with higher Vdimm's when I get home to see if that doesn't magically fix it. I don't think in any tweak I ever allowed that over 1.35V.

[Carbonicdk]

Asus's Z370 boards don't seem to like certain memory GSkill memory kits from my experience - how GSkill could put them on their QVL list for the boards I have no idea and their support is pretty much useless and the only solution I seem to be able to get in here is that you manually have to adjust the subtimings. I have a thread here you probably want to read:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?96979-New-Z370-system-unstable-memory-and-AURA-issues

[Trihugger]

Carbonicdk wrote:
Asus's Z370 boards don't seem to like certain memory GSkill memory kits from my experience - how GSkill could put them on their QVL list for the boards I have no idea and their support is pretty much useless and the only solution I seem to be able to get in here is that you manually have to adjust the subtimings. I have a thread here you probably want to read:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?96979-New-Z370-system-unstable-memory-and-AURA-issues

Thank you for the reply!

Can anyone confirm/deny that these compatibility issues basically limited to GSKILL? Come to think of it I haven't read any threads where the problem was with Corsair memory. Also seems that this'd have the added benefit of all my lighting I actually care about being with the same controller... tempting proposition...

[Silent_Scone]

Carbonicdk wrote:
Asus's Z370 boards don't seem to like certain memory GSkill memory kits from my experience - how GSkill could put them on their QVL list for the boards I have no idea and their support is pretty much useless and the only solution I seem to be able to get in here is that you manually have to adjust the subtimings. I have a thread here you probably want to read:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?96979-New-Z370-system-unstable-memory-and-AURA-issues

Did you relax some of the sub timings as was suggested, though? When overclocking memory this can often be necessary, and isn't exclusive to any particular chipset or board.

[Trihugger]

So everything seems to point at my graphics card at this point. *RMA to gigabyte in progress. All issues would start if sound was going over the DP or HDMI cables (tried both) and even if there was no sound I would get strange artifacting during playback from YouTube and other similar sites using Chrome, Firefox, and even the PoS Edge. *Hopefully that fixes it. I think I may have fried it by only having a single 8 pin cable to the PSU but two 8 pins on the other end as the sole power source. *We shall see!

On another note, would the memory being OC’d have the potential to exacerbate the problem? *As it stands now I get the problem with the whole computer BIOS set to defaults minus MCE being disabled. *Before however I had to OC the RAM for this to happen.**

[morph_]

I had intermittent issues posting with my Gskill 2x16gb 3466 on XMP.

Managed to resolve it by increasing dram voltage to 1.36v from 1.35v