Yet Another XMP question

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pup_seba

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May 10, 2015
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Hi,

I can't use XMP with my memory.

I recently acquired:
1x MSI Z170A Gaming PRO Carbon ( 007A12-003R )
1x Intel Core i7 6700K Skylake ( BX80662I76700K )
2x G.Skill 16GB DDR4 16GB DDR4 3400MHz ( F4-3400C16D-16GTZ )

I checked the combination of motherboard/memory in 3 places:
1) PC partpicker
2) MSI memory compatibility list for the specific motherboard model ( https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z170A-GAMING-PRO-CARBON.html#support-mem )
3) G.Skill web page memory configurator utility ( http://www.gskill.com/en/configurator?manu=55&chip=2484&model=2766 )

At the moment, memory configuration is as "default" working at ~2.100Mhz instead of the desired 3.400Mhz. The one time I pressed "XMP", I wasn't able to properly boot again as it kept rebooting over and over.

To my sadness, for some reason I am not able to post in the official G.Skill forum but I was able to open a support ticket with MSI (i actually copied pasted the ticket here). So...let's see how it goes. At the moment, G.Skill support = nonexistent, MSI support = waiting, tomshardware community = :) it always amazes me how I usually get more useful and faster answers from user forums than official supports.

I saw others like this one (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-3091309/godlike-carbon-xmp-problem.html?5780c2aa7ba37=reload) having very similar problems, I just wasn't able to find a solution yet. Any ideas? FYI, XMP button also raises CPU clocks and voltages accordingly.

Thanks guys,
Seb
 
Solution
Tradesman1
To run 3400 you're more than likely going to need an OC on the CPU to run at full 3400, it depends on the individual 6700K, have seen some run 3200 with no OC have also seen a couple that couldn't even run 2800 with an OC. Also, make sure you have the latest BIOS
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BadActor

BadActor

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Oct 31, 2015
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Have you tried other XMP profiles or only the 3400? Did you try resetting the Bios to default and then selecting your XMP profile? Using just one stick, are you able to boot with 3400? You might also try raising the DRAM voltage manually.
 
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pup_seba

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May 10, 2015
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"Have you tried other XMP profiles or only the 3400?"
No. All I saw was the "XMP off - XMP on" huge button which I pressed. Should I try other speeds for testing purposes even when the only I want is the advertised 3400?

"Did you try resetting the Bios to default and then selecting your XMP profile?"
BIOS was "default" when I tried the "xmp on" option.

"Using just one stick, are you able to boot with 3400?"
Didn't try it. But if I did give it a shot and it works, what would that tell you? How could I go from 1 stick to 2 sticks then?

"You might also try raising the DRAM voltage manually."
I guess I could, but that also mean that I should raise CPU multiplier and other values. This memory is 3400mhz and it is compatible with this motherboard as for manufacturer specification. This should work out of the box (wasn't expecting to invest time in finding the right OC values at least in this point).
 
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BadActor

BadActor

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Oct 31, 2015
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To get those RAM speeds on your motherboard, you would probably need to overclock because that speed isn't natively supported. Did you try raising the the DRAM voltage? About the XMP profiles, you may have the option to select a lower speed profile. Trying one stick vs two was just to see if one stick may be bad or if the memory controller is weak.
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Jun 5, 2013
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To run 3400 you're more than likely going to need an OC on the CPU to run at full 3400, it depends on the individual 6700K, have seen some run 3200 with no OC have also seen a couple that couldn't even run 2800 with an OC. Also, make sure you have the latest BIOS
 
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Solution
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pup_seba

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May 10, 2015
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Well, the idea behind the XMP profiles is to OC things in a standard way. I'm too old and lazy now for investing time in finding "the right values" :p

That particular memory model only have 1 XMP profile and is supported by the motherboard which is also XMP capable.

My error was that I trusted the "Live Update 6.0 MSI" windows application which was theorically going to keep all things up to date, even the BIOS. That's why I took it for granted and that was my mistake. That application not only did not upgrade my BIOS but also lied to me saying I was up to date while I wasn't. After I found a new BIOS version (1.3) and flashed. I was finally able to simply set the XMP profile to "On". Everything works like a charm now. Memory is working @3400mhz, CPU and other voltages where authomatically tunned after the XMP profile was set.

This is how XMP should work, and thankfully, this is how it is working after the BIOS upgrade.

Thank you guys,
Seb
 
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pup_seba

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May 10, 2015
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By the way, even when i was able to find the solution by myself (saturday night CEST time), my experience asking for help was:
1) Got the right answer from tomshardware community.
2) Got the right answer from MSI support.
3) I'm still not able to post any question in G.Skills forum. Yesterday night I've got a private msg. telling me that "if I wanted to post blablabla shitty instructions".

So from my experience, kudos to tomshardware's community and to MSI support.

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