The game requires your RAM to be “overclocked” to work properly.

[C1REX]

I see about 2 or 3 topics about performance on every single page. Similar to most recent console ports of different games actually - not just this one.

Many modern games WILL stutter a lot if you don’t activate XMP/DOCP in BIOS.
The game will run like a$$ without that option that is considered overclocking and even prebuilds often come with this option off by default. Some prebuilds don’t even have that option at all.

It’s quite stupid that you buy a 3600Mhz RAM that you must overclock to work at the advertised speed. Otherwise it will run at 2666Mhz and the game will stutter like crazy. But it’s what it is. Welcome to PC gaming.

So double check if your RAM is working at full speed with DOCP/XMP on. It’s usually off by default and it’s a HUGE hit to performance.

You also need a decent CPU. Anything slower than Ryzen 3600 can cause problems.

To double check if your RAM is working fine:
CTR+ALT+DEL -> Task Manager -> Performance -> Memory -> Check speed value.

Just a friendly reminder as it’s very common to forget to switch XMP on.

[MJ]

No it doesnt.

[C1REX]

brimstone původně napsal:

i don't have any stutters and my mobo doesn't even support xmp

Swagwalk původně napsal:

No it doesnt.

So you don’t have XMP/DOCP and the game works fine?
What is your RAM speed when you check in system info?

[Fineous🔥]

Dont ask me about numbers please, i get dizzy.

Works fine without touching anything and even "bigger" and worse optimized things works ok.

[nfinite.recursion]

When a motherboard has XMP / DOCP disabled or it's a cheap desktop motherboard or (most) laptop motherboards that doesn't offer XMP / DOCP, it falls back to SPD. SPD uses standard JEDEC-approved speeds that work with any motherboard / CPU combo with official support for it. SPD speeds on DDR4 goes all the way up to 3200MT/s. Just be sure to pay attention to whether or not the RAM module's max speed is described as XMP; e.g. - 3200MT/s (XMP) would suggest that the RAM can only hit 3200MT/s with XMP / DOCP enabled. Without XMP / DOCP available, the RAM will only run at (probably) 2666MT/s.

That said, yes, always be sure to check your BIOS options and ensure that XMP / DOCP is enabled. When purchasing RAM, make sure that you check to see if its max speed requires XMP / DOCP. It doesn't make sense to buy RAM that hits 3600MT/s but only with XMP / DOCP enabled and your motherboard doesn't support that speed or doesn't let you enable XMP / DOCP at all. In this case, save some money and get a 3200MT/s SPD kit instead.

EDIT:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2897918627

The SPD section of CPU-Z shows a module's supported SPD speeds. This is from my laptop.

[C1REX]

𝕱𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖔𝖚𝖘🔥 původně napsal:

Dont ask me about numbers please, i get dizzy.

Works fine without touching anything and even "bigger" and worse optimized things works ok.

If you didn’t touch and didn’t check anything how do you know your RAM isn’t working at full speed already?

[mpcgannon]

nfinite.recursion původně napsal:

When a motherboard has XMP / DOCP disabled or it's a cheap desktop motherboard or (most) laptop motherboards that doesn't offer XMP / DOCP, it falls back to SPD. SPD uses standard JEDEC-approved speeds that work with any motherboard / CPU combo with official support for it. SPD speeds on DDR4 goes all the way up to 3200MT/s. Just be sure to pay attention to whether or not the RAM module's max speed is described as XMP; e.g. - 3200MT/s (XMP) would suggest that the RAM can only hit 3200MT/s with XMP / DOCP enabled. Without XMP / DOCP available, the RAM will only run at (probably) 2666MT/s.

That said, yes, always be sure to check your BIOS options and ensure that XMP / DOCP is enabled. When purchasing RAM, make sure that you check to see if its max speed requires XMP / DOCP. It doesn't make sense to buy RAM that hits 3600MT/s but only with XMP / DOCP enabled and your motherboard doesn't support that speed or doesn't let you enable XMP / DOCP at all. In this case, save some money and get a 3200MT/s SPD kit instead.

EDIT:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2897918627

The SPD section of CPU-Z shows a module's supported SPD speeds. This is from my laptop.

I'm sorry. There's a lot here to unpack. Will you please offer a "dummies guide" answer that either confirms or denies OP? You're the only one here I trust for tech.

[nfinite.recursion]

mpcgannon původně napsal:

I'm sorry. There's a lot here to unpack. Will you please offer a "dummies guide" answer that either confirms or denies OP? You're the only one here I trust for tech.

For example, if you have a motherboard that supports XMP and you buy some RAM that can operate at 3600MT/s (XMP), once installed it will only run at 2666MT/s. ONLY when you enable XMP in BIOS will you get the advertised 3600MT/s speed. Until then, you are leaving a lot of performance on the table. Some anecdotal evidence suggests that players are much more likely to experience stutters even after the patches when their RAM speed is below 3000MT/s.

Enabling XMP / DOCP isn't technically overclocking because these speeds are tested by the manufacturer and guaranteed to work so long as your motherboard and CPU support it. However, there are plenty of folks that incorrectly say that XMP / DOCP is overclocking, so perhaps OP is just speaking to them on their own terms.

https://www.crucial.com/support/articles-faq-memory/what-is-xmp

^
This is a (relatively) short explanation from DRAM manufacturer Crucial. Their word can definitely be trusted with respect to what XMP is and how and when to use it.

[PainkilleR]

Absolutely not... I have a 32gb DDR3 (quad channel, 1600MHz, 9,9,9,24, 1.5v). Even speeds slower than 1600MHz aren't enough to cause stutters in this game (I know because I have tested all that stuff on release).

As for stutters themselves, there are two kinds of stutters in this game. One is related to shader cache, which some people have and others don't for some reason (I am one who never had this problem, even if I have a decade old pc at this moment (+gtx 1080)). The other is related to borked v-sync implementation. This can be "fixed" by using 1/2 or 1/3 v-sync models.

[nfinite.recursion]

PainkilleR původně napsal:

Absolutely not... I have a 32gb DDR3 (quad channel, 1600MHz, 9,9,9,24, 1.5v). You won't see any additional stutters even at lower speeds than 1600MHz.

As for stutters themselves, there are two kinds of stutters in this game. One is related to shader cache, which some people have and others don't for some reason (I am one who never had this problem, even if I have a decade old pc at this moment (+gtx 1080)). The other is related to borked v-sync implementation. This can be "fixed" by using 1/2 or 1/3 v-sync models.

That reminds me... I forgot to mention that channels matter as well.

In your case, you have a quad channel setup. (Intel HEDT, Xeon, Skull Trail?) This gives you roughly the same bandwidth as DDR4 3200MT/s in dual channel.

It might be better to place importance upon total bandwidth rather than just speed because a single DIMM of DDR4 3600MT/s RAM running in single channel offers less bandwidth than 2 DIMMs of DDR4 2400MT/s RAM running in dual channel.

So I'd say that it's incumbent upon users to check that their RAM is operating in dual channel (or whatever number of channels they have available) and the correct RAM speed. These can be checked with an analysis tool like CPU-Z. The user can move their RAM to different slots (if their RAM is only running in single channel) or enable XMP / DOCP in BIOS to get the performance they paid for.

[königplatzen]

C1REX-PL původně napsal:

Just a friendly reminder as it’s very common to forget to switch XMP on.

This is basically TL;DR

But, it's not true or at least very exaggerated, that the game has to run bad, if it is switched off. Just know your hardware and set it according to specs.

Overclocking is a bit different, it's more that you deliberately change the clock and voltage to run outside of the specs. While higher clock is not so dangerous except crashes and freezes, overvolting can damage hardware a lot more, f.e. if not cooled properly.

[C1REX]

königplatzen původně napsal:

C1REX-PL původně napsal:

Just a friendly reminder as it’s very common to forget to switch XMP on.

This is basically TL;DR

But, it's not true or at least very exaggerated, that the game has to run bad, if it is switched off. Just know your hardware and set it according to specs.

Overclocking is a bit different, it's more that you deliberately change the clock and voltage to run outside of the specs. While higher clock is not so dangerous except crashes and freezes, overvolting can damage hardware a lot more, f.e. if not cooled properly.

I put “overclock” in quotes. It’s like boost or factory OC I guess.
DOCP stands for “Direct Overclock Profile”.
Many policies (AMD, INTEL, ASUS) say that DOCP/XMP may void your warranty. (You can google that info).

https://community.intel.com/t5/Processors/XMP-Warranty-void/m-p/1196241

Also here is one of anecdotal examples. A guy @jonfairhust with 3080Ti and 32GB 3600Mhz RAM had horrible performance even in 1080p.
Activating DOCP let him enjoy the game at 4K.

Most games will be fine without DOCP/XMP but ELDEN RING seems to be unusually demanding on RAM speed.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1245620/discussions/0/3368153731106195928/?ctp=8

[Kleerex]

RAM speed isn't as important as the number of channels. RAM in single-channel mode can significantly affect performance in games.

[Viper]

Ram Speed has little effect on performance. Its been tested over and over again.It doesn't have a noticable impact. Memory is so fast anyway it spends little time doing operations compared to the time it is doing other things.

https://www.drtechreviews.com/how-to-blog/how-does-ram-affect-computer-performance/#:~:text=In%20both%20cases%2C%20RAM%20speed%20had%20no%20noticeable,memory%20and%20the%20width%20of%20the%20memory%20module.

https://www.howtogeek.com/303455/how-does-ram-speed-and-timing-affect-my-pcs-performance/

Every single study and comparison between different ram through the spectrum has come to that conclusion.Major tech sites don't even review memory any more.
It doesn't mean a whole lot. XMP..no XMP. your not going to notice any difference.

[C1REX]

Viper původně napsal:

Ram Speed has little effect on performance. Its been tested over and over again.It doesn't have a noticable impact. Memory is so fast anyway it spends little time doing operations compared to the time it is doing other things.

https://www.drtechreviews.com/how-to-blog/how-does-ram-affect-computer-performance/#:~:text=In%20both%20cases%2C%20RAM%20speed%20had%20no%20noticeable,memory%20and%20the%20width%20of%20the%20memory%20module.

https://www.howtogeek.com/303455/how-does-ram-speed-and-timing-affect-my-pcs-performance/

Every single study and comparison between different ram through the spectrum has come to that conclusion.Major tech sites don't even review memory any more.
It doesn't mean a whole lot. XMP..no XMP. your not going to notice any difference.

XMP and DOCP are not needed in most games but ELDEN RING is extremely sensitive to that. Missing this option may lead to frame drops below 20fps.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/tpkg8r/psa_pc_performance_tip_no_one_is_talking_about/

[DamZe]

Sadly RAM speed has little effect as the single-threaded nature of the game's engine smashes the CPU into the ground when specific particle effects are displayed.