Z690 Apex + G.Skill DDR5 F5-6000U4040E16GX2-TZ5K Stability and OC

[neveragain_]

Hello Everybody,

Need your advise and opinion about my situation below.

I'm start reading this forum since April this year after I bought desktop system. This is my first desktop system since 2010.

My configuration is:
I9-12900K
ROG MAXIMUS Z690 APEX
G.Skill DDR5 F5-6000U4040E16GX2-TZ5K 6000 MHz
Asus ROG Strix 3080Ti

Since beginning my DDR5 doesn't work stable on XMP profile's (I and II).
With some advises which I found in this forum I was able to stabilize my system with voltage increased on BIOS 1505. Also I used AI Suite 3 for auto overclocking my CPU. It was overclocked by 68% (starting screen says me that) and 3 P-cores was on x54, 3 cores on x53 and 2 cores on x52. Everything works stable. I checked my memory by Memtest86 - passed and AIDA64 stability stress test during 30 minutes works well.

That was a good part of my story.

Everything was changed after BIOS 1720 when Windows update my BIOS. All previous OC's was changed to default. My previous settings doesn't works well on this BIOS. It means Memtest86 passed well but AIDA64 stress test - not. CPU was OCed by AI Suite 3 till 68%. Sometimes some games crushed but I leaved with this.

Finally, I installed BIOS 2004. I tried to use AI Suite 3, it overclocked my CPU up to 71% (starting screen says me that), 3 P-cores was on x55 and others was upgraded too. But Windows didn't boot. It freezes at login window forever. Also all my previous settings from BIOS 1720 doesn't works for XMP (I and II). Now I was able to pass Memtest86 with voltage VDD and VDDQ by 1.4. AIDA64 stability test didn't passed at all. I receiving failure "hardware failure detected" after 1-3 minutes of test. I continue to use my system and till now no crushes during work or playing games.

And now I need your advises:

1) Is it normal that Memtest86 passed but AIDA64 stability stress test not.
2) Should I OC my CPU manually or I can do it somehow with AI Suite 3.
3) What's the safest voltage for my Samsung memory and can I improve timing somehow.

Sorry for the long read, I never create a threads in forums before. Thank in advance.

[JohnAb]

Hi neveragain,

In my opinion, since memtest86 runs directly from boot on a USB and not within Windows, I think you can be confident that your XMP memory overclock is working as it should. If AIDA 64 is having issues, then I think it's fair to assume that your CPU overclock is probably causing problems in Windows for whatever reason. In that more complex environment, it will be far more likely to reveal weaknesses. BIOS 2004 seems quite good according to the feedback from other users so far, but you will need to find new, stable settings. If you didn't know, 2004 does not allow the BIOS to be changed back to an earlier version. A lot of problems were reported with 1720, so you did well to get that stable as you wanted.

My plan would be to set everything back to BIOS defaults and establish the overclock settings that work for you by changing one thing at a time. I think you will be fine, it's just going to take some time. You have a nice build there, so good luck. I see nothing wrong with using AI suite 3, but perhaps it is too aggressive. As a shortcut, you could make a note of the settings it uses and then try making them a bit more conservative. Core speeds of up to 55x are really pushing things to the max, so I'm not surprised that you're getting issues. You have a great processor anyway, even at default speeds

[JohnAb]

So sorry, I didn't read your post properly - so you had trouble with 1720 like many other people. I still think that you are likely to be good with 2004, it just remains to be seen what speeds you can achieve by trial and error...

[neveragain_]

Thank you JohnAb for your reply.

But I still haven't received answers for my initial questions:

1) Is it normal that Memtest86 passed but AIDA64 stability stress test not.
2) Should I OC my CPU manually or I can do it somehow with AI Suite 3.
3) What's the safest voltage for my Samsung memory and can I improve timing somehow

[Silent Scone@ROG]

Hello,

1) Yes, this isn't uncommon. AIDA64 stresses multiple subsystems, not just memory.

2) Per core usage or using AI OC is the best method on this platform. You can find all the predictions under AI Tweaker menu.

3) Under 1.5v, however Samsung does not scale very well beyond 1.45v.


Be sure to try Tweak Modes 1 and 2 when dialling in memory. You should remove XMP / Memory overclocking and retest with AIDA to verify whether the CPU OC is stable or not. Do not test FPU and CPU at the same time. Apply an AVX offset of 1 or 2 if failing FPU test.

[neveragain_]

Hello,

1) Yes, this isn't uncommon. AIDA64 stresses multiple subsystems, not just memory.

2) Per core usage or using AI OC is the best method on this platform. You can find all the predictions under AI Tweaker menu.

3) Under 1.5v, however Samsung does not scale very well beyond 1.45v.


Be sure to try Tweak Modes 1 and 2 when dialling in memory. You should remove XMP / Memory overclocking and retest with AIDA to verify whether the CPU OC is stable or not. Do not test FPU and CPU at the same time. Apply an AVX offset of 1 or 2 if failing FPU test.

Thank you Silent Scone@ROG.

1) Understood.

2) I will try to do CPU overclock manually.

3) In BIOS In my current settings I can increase voltage only up to 1.435 V.


Understood about FPU and CPU. Story is, my system didn't pass stability test with CPU OC. I just trying to stabilize XMP profiles.

[neveragain_]

Quick update.

AI CPU OC not working. It's freezing on Windows logging page...

Could you please advise me range of settings/voltages which I can try to stabilize XMP profiles?
Till now can't pass AIDA64 stability stress test. MemTest86 is fine but AIDA not...

Thank you in advance... I starting to lost my hope...

[JohnAb]

If Memtest86 is OK, then I still think your memory is running as it should and I'm not clear why you are still trying to stabilise XMP?

If you can't get a stable CPU overclock using AIDA with v2004, then it might be related to the BIOS itself because you said it was all working fine prior to 1720. One option is to use defaults for now and simply wait until another BIOS is released.

Sorry that I can't recommend any specific settings, but one thing to remember with overclocking is that you probably won't see a huge improvement (maybe 5%) overall, so I guess you have to judge how much effort is justified. Like SilentScone said, it would be a good idea to try AIDA with memory on defaults. At least you will be able to isolate the effects of RAM and CPU settings. Maybe get each working on their own and then try them both together? Changing two things at once means that if you get instability, then it's hard to know for sure what's causing it.

Finally, just my opinion, but overclocking the CPU hard is always going to place everything under extra stress. If you have a reason to do it, then I understand, but personally I have no need for it. The 12900 is a great CPU for me even at defaults. I'm not saying that overclocking is a bad idea, but you need to invest a good amount of time to find settings that work reliably. Remember that AI overclock isn't guaranteed to work, but it's a good way to get close to peak performance and then dial back slightly if you need to.

[neveragain_]

If Memtest86 is OK, then I still think your memory is running as it should and I'm not clear why you are still trying to stabilise XMP?

If you can't get a stable CPU overclock using AIDA with v2004, then it might be related to the BIOS itself because you said it was all working fine prior to 1720. One option is to use defaults for now and simply wait until another BIOS is released.

Sorry that I can't recommend any specific settings, but one thing to remember with overclocking is that you probably won't see a huge improvement (maybe 5%) overall, so I guess you have to judge how much effort is justified. Like SilentScone said, it would be a good idea to try AIDA with memory on defaults. At least you will be able to isolate the effects of RAM and CPU settings. Maybe get each working on their own and then try them both together? Changing two things at once means that if you get instability, then it's hard to know for sure what's causing it.

Finally, just my opinion, but overclocking the CPU hard is always going to place everything under extra stress. If you have a reason to do it, then I understand, but personally I have no need for it. The 12900 is a great CPU for me even at defaults. I'm not saying that overclocking is a bad idea, but you need to invest a good amount of time to find settings that work reliably. Remember that AI overclock isn't guaranteed to work, but it's a good way to get close to peak performance and then dial back slightly if you need to.

Hi JohnAb,

Now, I don't try to OC my CPU. I can't stabilize XMP profiles on stock CPU settings after BIOS upgrade to 2004.

For example, this morning, my memory pass Memtest86 and Cinebench R23 without issues but Aida64 stress test not. Settings of memory below:

Dram VDD voltage - 1.435v
Dram VDDQ voltage - 1.435v
CPU System Agent voltage: 1.30v

Advanced memory voltages:

IVR Transmitter VDDQ voltage - 1.435v
Memory Controller voltage: 1.30v

All CPU setting set on default. Now I'm suspecting some problems with my CPU setting which maybe comes from BIOS 2004.
If somebody had similar problem, maybe you can advise me the possible solutions?

[JohnAb]

We have different motherboards (690 Hero), memory (Corsair 5200) and I'm on BIOS 1601, but just in case it helps a little, here are my settings from HWInfo and CPU-Z...