XMP I vs. XMP II

[SteverinoLA]

I've searched and search both Google and forum for a definitive answer to this but no go. What is the difference b/t Asus XMP I and XMP II? This is not XMP 2.0 spec I'm referring to but the option BIOS when enabling XMP profile. You can select XMP I or XMP II, but what is the exact difference? Probably one is the default XMP 2.0 JDEC values and the other is enhanced by Asus? If true, which one is which and are the Asus enhancements for performance ( tighter timings) or reliability (looser timings)?

[Silent_Scone@ROG]

Hello, topic covered here:

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthrea...P-2-difference

[SteverinoLA]

I found that and still found it confusing. Xmp I is both the Asus validated settings and the optimized settings? When I see "validated", I think "safe". But in this case xmp II is in fact the safer default timings?

Is this a true statement? use xmp I profile for the tightest validated memory settings but choose xmp II if you experience any instability. Or the other way around?

[XYchromosone]

I found that and still found it confusing. Xmp I is both the Asus validated settings and the optimized settings?

Yes

When I see "validated", I think "safe". But in this case xmp II is in fact the safer default timings?

Regarding the latter not so. I believe "validated" means that ASUS has tested that particular RAM Modules with specific tighter secondary and tertiary timings to get best stability, but I'm not certain if this is 100% accurate.

Is this a true statement? use xmp I profile for the tightest validated memory settings but choose xmp II if you experience any instability. Or the other way around?

It's not a matter of which XMP profile is more stable just because XMP I being ASUS optimized / XMP II default profile. You have to try each profile to find which one is more stable for your system. CPU memory controller has a lot to do with memory stability when using tighter timing, and there's also VCCIO and VCCSA voltages to consider.

[Jesseinsf]

How do you fit you Motherboard in to that case of yours? I have the same Motherboard.

[XYchromosone]

How do you fit you Motherboard in to that case of yours? I have the same Motherboard.

You must be asking me your question for I'm the only one here so far with system specs and a photo of my rig. The motherboard fitted reasonably well, but I could not install a BD burner with my 360 AIO cooler no mater what I did. So i purchased an external case for my BD burner from e-bay.

[Silent_Scone@ROG]

I found that and still found it confusing. Xmp I is both the Asus validated settings and the optimized settings? When I see "validated", I think "safe". But in this case xmp II is in fact the safer default timings?

Is this a true statement? use xmp I profile for the tightest validated memory settings but choose xmp II if you experience any instability. Or the other way around?

Hello,

Which part of the statement is confusing?

XMP I is the validated board profile that you will have seen on past generations. Every time a board is validated, this profile is the one used by the memory vendor and ASUS.

On Z390/Z490, there is now the option to use the DIMM profile which is XMP II. These settings are not validated, so mileage will vary depending on the kit and CPU.

The DIMM profile may offer either better or worse compatibility depending on the memory kit and CPU IMC. That is why they're both available, and you're free to choose.

[SteverinoLA]

Hello,

The DIMM profile may offer either better or worse compatibility depending on the memory kit and CPU IMC. That is why they're both available, and you're free to choose.

That's the answer, thanks. Like most people on this forum, I'm a dork that sleeps better at night knowing that every aspect of my box is tweaked to run as fast as possible. I'm rock solid at either I or II.

So I'll take the liberty of pretending you also said this: If it really matters to you, you can spend days benchmarking both I and II, and you can go even further tweaking the individual RAM settings to get even closer to the edge. But if all you're doing in just playing games and web browsing, you won't be able to tell any difference bt I or II. Just use XMP I since we validated these settings for stability.