Gigabyte Z690 AORUS MASTER - F5-6000U3636E16GX2-TZ5RK - not stable with XMP - non OC

[wdseith]

I totally get it. I’ve been working on mine off and on for about 8 months now. Like you, once I reach my limit, I have to step back for a bit. My wife tells me I’ll never be satisfied, and that’s probably true. But sometimes just trying different options is cathartic. Enjoy!!

[Bash13r]

I totally get it. I’ve been working on mine off and on for about 8 months now. Like you, once I reach my limit, I have to step back for a bit. My wife tells me I’ll never be satisfied, and that’s probably true. But sometimes just trying different options is cathartic. Enjoy!!

Thanx buddy!

[wdseith]

I continue to give Gigabyte and G.Skill a lot of credit for still improving DDR5 capabilities and compatibility. With the latest bios (F21), I'm now able to drive my 2 kits (4 sticks) of F5-6000J3636F16GX2-TZ5RK at 6400 Mhz without any issues or crashes. I have found that the bios combination that results in the greatest consistency and stability is as follows:

1) Set "DDR5 XMP Booster" to Samsung XMP 6400;
2) Set the timings to: a) CAS 36, b) tRCD 40, c) tRP 40, d) tRAS 102;
3) Set VDD2C CPU voltage to 1.40; and
4) Set DDR5 VDD and VDDQ voltages to 1.40.

I've tried numerous other combinations (too many to count), and while all of them will boot and be stable when I disable fast boot and prevent the computer from going to sleep, all them eventually fail if I enable fast boot or wake the computer from sleep. With the combination listed above, I can enable fast boot, allow sleep, AND run my 6000 Mhz kits at 6400 Mhz.

4 sticks, 64 gigs, i9-12900K, on a Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master.

[Bash13r]

Good for you wdseith! Glad you got it working without errors.

From what I've read online, I've found that people get their 4x16gb kits running more often than the elusive 4x32gb kits.

Even with the latest F21 bios update, guys still struggle to get 4x32gb kits working. I think 128gb is just too much of a stretch.

[wdseith]

Bash13r yeah I wondered about that difference when we were discussing your setup. I don't know if this is the case with your kits, but I know with some 64 gig 2 stick kits (and perhaps all on the market right now), the ram chips are double-stacked. Meaning, they have 2 16 gig chips on 1 stick, thus making the CPU behave as if 4 mobo ram slots are being used instead of 2. When then 2 64 gig kits are used, the CPU now behaves as if 8 slots are being used (4 actual, plus 4 virtual). My understanding is that both the 12th gen and 13th gen Intel processors are able to handle the highest speed ram when only one channel is being used (typically one ram slot on your mobo) and that their top-rated compatible speeds are reduced when more channels (typically ram slots) are used. Bear in mind, I may not be using the correct terminology here, but hopefully you get the idea--with more channels being used, the processor is less capable of running the ram's rated speed. And while the 13th gen processors are rated for higher ram speeds (5600 Mhz max instead of 4800 Mhz max with 12th gen), their speed compatibility still decreases when more mobo slots are used.

All of that said, because the 13th gen processors are officially rated for higher speed ram than 12th gen, I thought we would be able to get your setup to work. But I guess your research is revealing the limitations of the technology at the moment. It is worth noting that on this very website, G.Skill's bragging about ram speed achievements are with 1 or maybe 2 slots being used on a mobo with a max of 16 gigs on each stick. So perhaps we're just not there yet for more than one double-stacked 64 gig kit.