G.Skill Flare X unstable with XMP enabled

[LakeShow]

Hello all,

I purchased 16GB of G.Skill f4-3200c16d-16gfx ram for my new build. I enabled the XMP and was able to see 3200MHz. The system was stable for about 24 hours and then gave me a BSOD. The first thing I did is run memtest86. It started throwing errors on first pass test 9. I went back into bios and disabled the XMP. Ran memtest86 again and this time it passed without errors. It seems my system does not like the XMP profile. Anyone got any tips on how to properly get this ram to 3200MHz manually?

System Specs:
ASRock B450M Steel Legend
R5 2600x
G.Skill Flare X 16GB
Sapphire HD 6970
Antec NeoECO 550w PSU

EDIT: I have the sticks in slots A2 and B2 and only seeing 2133Mhz without XMP.

[GSKILL TECH]

Do you have the latest BIOS for the motherboard? With XMP enabled, manually set DRAM Frequency to a lower value such as DDR4-2933 to see if it can work better. If it can, try boosting DRAM Voltage and/or SoC Voltage to see if you can stabilize DDR4-3200. Let us know how it goes.

[LakeShow]

Hey! Thanks for the reply.
I just noticed that ASRock has a newer version bios on their website. However, they have the following warning message "ASRock do NOT recommend updating this BIOS if Pinnacle, Raven or Summit Ridge CPU is being used on your system."


After doing some research, I found posts on reddit with change logs on this bios version. Supposedly one of the improvements is memory compatibility. I just don't know if I should risk it. I do have a Pinnacle CPU.

[Homer69]

Hello LakeShow,
ASRock motherboards have this common BIOS issue. Not all their BIOS versions properly handle the XMP. That's why I've upgraded my PC to a new B550 Motherboard and a new 850W PSU.

I would suggest you to use custom overclocking. And it's better for you to start from 2400Mhz. I think your PC will be stable at 2666Mhz-3000Mhz.

Don't try to use XMP as your PSU isn't sufficient for it.

Whatever you do, make sure that your PSU is atleast gold standard because the non rated and bronze certified ones are usually unable to supply the same power constatly.

Your Antec NeoECO 550w PSU is not designed for XMP overclocking. XMP puts your RAM to the highest speed which requires a good amount of constant power. Hopefully My suggestion will work for you. Let me know if you have any other problem.

[LakeShow]

I'll play around with the overclocking and see what works. Right now I have the XMP enabled and have the ram set at 2933Mhz. I ran memtest and it passed without errors. Will leave it at that setting and see how stable the system is.

There is a new Bios update for the board with new AGESA Combo-AM4 PI 1.0.0.6, which supposedly improves ram compatibility. I have not flashed to the newest bios yet. If my system runs stable at 2933-3000Mhz, I'll leave it at that.