RAM Issues with XMP on with ROG STRIX Z790-E GAMING WIFI 2

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

Hi,

I've been experiencing some issues with my RAM. Enabling XMP seems to cause problems, and I keep failing Test 8 with Memtest86. However, when I run Memtest86 without XMP enabled, it passes successfully. I conducted individual tests with a single stick in slots A2 and B2 with XMP enabled. Stick 1 passed in both A2 and B2, while Stick 2 passed in A2 but failed in B2. I reran the tests several times and obtained the same results. Initially, I suspected an issue with the B2 slot on my motherboard, but since Stick 1 passed in B2, that seems unlikely.

System Details:

Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z790-E GAMING WIFI 2 (BIOS Version 1202)

Case: Corsair 7000D Airflow

PSU: Corsair RM1000x

CPU: Intel i9-13900K

GPU: GIGABYTE 4070 Ti Super

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB

Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB

I'm at a loss about what to do next. I'm considering an RMA for the RAM, but I'm not sure if anyone else has encountered similar issues. The RAM kit I have is Corsair Vengeance 32GB (SN CMH32GX5M2E6000C36), and I have checked my motherboard QVL, and it shows it as listed.

[Ixion]

If you're correct with BIOS revision 1202 the current version is 2202 which is around 8 revisions newer, probably worth flashing that before returning anything and doing some further testing. Early BIOS revisions are often unstable and QVLs typically relate to the latest BIOS revision for the motherboard. If it was just a typo and you're already on 2202 feel free to ignore this

[Sulphy]

What Ixion said, and assuming you are only using 2 DDR5 ram modules, in A1 & B2 as outlined in the manual... once you have updated to latest bios, you "should" be more stable. I had similar issues as well... mine mainly were down to me not reading things right, and had 4 modules, and tried to enable XMPII which caused me all sorts of issues!

Double check the specs of the exact model of ram, and compare the timings to what your bios XMPII timings, voltages etc are!

[hellowalkman Reporter]

Yeah, try updating the bios first. If that doesn't work, manually up the DRAM voltage slightly.

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

1202 is the Lastest BIOS Version for my Motherboard which I'm on right now

Here are the Specs for my RAM.


I also tried to set my  Memory Controller Voltage to1.35 which seemed to work at first but then I was unstable again. 

[hellowalkman Reporter]

On 31/05/2024 at 07:47, Richard Hammers said:

I also tried to set my  Memory Controller Voltage to1.35 which seemed to work at first but then I was unstable again. 

Your RAM is rated for 6000 at CL40 at 1.35v. Since it's unstable at these specs, you'll need to go for ~ 1.375 volts. Just make sure to stay under 1.4v.

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

Ok are you saying to try to set my Memory Controller Voltage to 1.375 volts and see if that works? If that is the case I will try running Memtest86 again since that is the best way for me to make sure my RAM is stable.

[hellowalkman Reporter]

A lot of Intel 13th and 14th Gen CPUs are currently having stability issues which is why Intel had to add that Baseline settings. It could well be that your CPU is causing the trouble and the memory kit and the board may be fine. Hard to say.

Still, you can try increasing these voltages slightly:

• Dram VDD voltage

• Dram VDDQ voltage

• CPU System Agent voltage

• IVR Transmitter VDDQ voltage

• Memory Controller voltage

You don't want to go too overboard though.

[Ixion]

Looks like Asus just released a new BIOS to throttle back the automatic overclock of 13th/14th gen processors which was causing reported stability problems (1301) I can only think I got linked to the wrong motherboard before!

https://rog.asus.com/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z790-e-gaming-wifi-ii/helpdesk_bios/

Interesting that your spd speed rating on the DIMMS is Cas 40, I guess that's a different XMP profile or lower voltage. If you're still struggling with stability you could try using the SPD ratings rather than the XMP and back things off a little, you probably won't notice the difference as the clock speed makes a lot more difference than the latency.

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

Oh neat. I will update my BOIS to (1301) and see if that helps and report back. It just came out today

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

Hey, So Memtest86 passed runs 1 and 2 but failed runs 3 and 4, indicating it's still unstable with BIOS version 1301. I also reverted to version 1201 because 1301 caused my CPU multipliers to fluctuate erratically, jumping from 55 to 8 on cores 1-9 and from 43 to 8 on cores 10-24. This erratic behavior seemed unusual and might be related to the Intel default settings. After reverting to version 1201, this issue stopped.

I might just keep my RAM at the baseline 4800 MHz for now and wait for any new BIOS updates that might fix the issue, or I might consider buying new RAM. When I had XMP enabled, I didn't notice a significant difference between 4800 MHz and 6000 MHz, especially since I usually game at 60 FPS in 1440p, so I'm not sure how much 6000 MHz would benefit me.

[Kelxin]

Try XMP with a single DIMM, then swap and try with the other DIMM, if both those pass tests, try the other two DIMM sockets on the motherboard for dual channel. If that still fails, try putting them into slots next to each other so they run in single channel and test.  That's a fast way to check if it's a DIMM, socket or motherboard.

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

On 02/06/2024 at 09:55, Kelxin said:

Try XMP with a single DIMM, then swap and try with the other DIMM, if both those pass tests, try the other two DIMM sockets on the motherboard for dual channel. If that still fails, try putting them into slots next to each other so they run in single channel and test.  That's a fast way to check if it's a DIMM, socket or motherboard.

So I have tried that before. When I had a single ram in A2 it passed with both but within B2 with a single ram, ram stick 1 was passing but ram stick 2 was failing. 

[heslo]

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to run that board at 6000MT/s unless you've got a particularly terrible IMC on the CPU. Increase the VDD and VDDQ on the mem to 1.4 manually and see what happens

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

On 02/06/2024 at 15:30, heslo said:

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to run that board at 6000MT/s unless you've got a particularly terrible IMC on the CPU. Increase the VDD and VDDQ on the mem to 1.4 manually and see what happens

I tried that and it didn't work

[heslo]

Go 1.45 (it's safe, don't worry)

 

If not then I'd say your CPU's IMC is just ###### and can't support the faster than JEDEC speeds. If the RAM works at the stock 4800 then I doubt it's that. If you can get a hold of someone else's sticks to test that might be a good idea. Or go single stick and see what happens, that should be kinder on the IMC as well

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

On 02/06/2024 at 17:04, heslo said:

Go 1.45 (it's safe, don't worry)

 

If not then I'd say your CPU's IMC is just ###### and can't support the faster than JEDEC speeds. If the RAM works at the stock 4800 then I doubt it's that. If you can get a hold of someone else's sticks to test that might be a good idea. Or go single stick and see what happens, that should be kinder on the IMC as well

Ya I have ran Memtest86 with XMP off with base 4800 it passes all 4 runs. When I set the Memory Controller to 1.35v and DRAM VDD/VDDQ 1.4V  Memtest86 will pass runs 1-2 but fail runs 3-4. Also to note it fails mainly on Test 8 ( random number sequence)

Also I did Test running single ram with XMP on

On 02/06/2024 at 13:49, Richard Dewey Hammers said:

So I have tried that before. When I had a single ram in A2 it passed with both but within B2 with a single ram, ram stick 1 was passing but ram stick 2 was failing. 

 

[heslo]

If one was passing and the other failing then yeah, sounds like possibly a dodgy stick. Just RMA it and get another kit, hopefully no issues with that one!

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

On 02/06/2024 at 17:44, heslo said:

If one was passing and the other failing then yeah, sounds like possibly a dodgy stick. Just RMA it and get another kit, hopefully no issues with that one!

I have a open ticket right now with Corsair and I think I might just RMA the ram and see if it was Stick two that was the issue. But Like I said Stick 2 Passed in A2 but failed in B2 which was super odd lol.

[heslo]

In theory it could be the motherboard but try the RAM RMA first

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

On 02/06/2024 at 18:23, heslo said:

In theory it could be the motherboard but try the RAM RMA first

The same issue was  happening on a second Motherboard I tested also

[heslo]

Same CPU?

[Richard Dewey Hammers]

On 02/06/2024 at 21:30, heslo said:

Same CPU?

Yes same CPU

[heslo]

Could still be a really poor IMC but I've never seen one that bad. Stick with the RAM being defective for now and see how you go!

[Ixion]

Yeah, I think it's probably RMA time on the RAM. Good luck!