RAM optimization - new build.

**Bryan** · 09-07-2022, 08:15 AM

I have upgraded my PC to an Asus Z170 board. It was necessary to upgrade the RAM to DDR4 so I got 3200Mhz. It seems that I am using only 1662Mhz.

I am working in the dark here and cannot work out how to get the maximum of 3200Mhz. I have looked but am flummoxed. Could someone help me fix this please?

**piroska** · 09-07-2022, 08:59 AM

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthrea...l-what-s-wrong

Short version;

1) No matter what speed your ram kit is rated for , stock speed for most DDR4 kits is 2133Mhz hence why unless you manualy OC your kit or enable XMP/DOCP profiles ( i would advise you to set speed and timings manually and not touch DOCP ) your ram will ran at stock speed ! Corsair iCue shows 1065Mhz because DDR stands for '' Double Data Rate'' so a kit running at 2133 is '' effectively '' running at half the rated speed !

2) Now that you know the basics lets move to the next topic . Just because you bought a kit rated for 3600Mhz it doesn't mean that your processor will be able to run at this speed and that's especialy true for Ryzen ! Indeed Ryzen memory controller on 1000 and 2000 series ( wich is responsible for RAM speed ) is pretty sensitive when it comes to RAM speed , much better on 2000 series than 1000 series but still . In general you will have hard time to achieve 3600Mhz on Zen+ ( 2000 series ) on dual channel ( 2 memory sticks ) let alone on quad channel ( 4 memory sticks ) hence why you are experiencing those instability issues !

**Bryan** · 09-07-2022, 09:12 AM

Thank you piroska. I had a feeling that was what was happening. My system is however intel with an i7 6700k processor. I have set the dram to XMP and the Dram speed is set at 3200Mhz. ASUS instructions point to XMP1 which does not appear in the BIOS of my motherboard.