What clock speed should I set my RAM to, based on my CPU's limitations?

[Muxxer]

Hi people.

I just upgraded to 16x2 gigs of RAM (Kingston Fury Beast DDR4 RGB KF432C16BBA/16). This RAM is clocked at 3200mhz, but my CPU (i3 10105f) only supports up to 2666mhz of RAM speed. My mobo is an ASRock B560M-HDV.

I've tried a few things on the UEFI just to play around:

1. Setting XMP to Auto and clock speed to auto sets speed to 2400mhz, which seems to be the JEDEC standard for this RAM, according to the specs PDF.

2. Setting the clock speed to 2533 and 2666 automatically while the XMP profile is set to Auto.

3. Setting the XMP profile to "Profile 1", which sets the clock speed to 3200, which is more than the CPU can supposedly handle.

So far none of these seem to have caused any trouble but I haven't really put my RAM under any sort of stress so far. What is the recommended clock speed given these conditions? What could go wrong if I clock my RAM above the CPU's limit?

[Snow]

Originally posted by Muxxer:

What could go wrong if I clock my RAM above the CPU's limit?

Nothing really, errors is worst you might get, or having to reset CMOS. Leave it at third option, 3200 sure sounds better and was tested on those DIMMs to work.

[Muxxer]

Originally posted by Snow:

Originally posted by Muxxer:

What could go wrong if I clock my RAM above the CPU's limit?

Nothing really, errors is worst you might get, or having to reset CMOS. Leave it at third option, 3200 sure sounds better and was tested on those DIMMs to work.

I'm more concerned about how the CPU might react to a 3200mhz memory, given that its specs say that it can only work with up to 2666mhz. So far I haven't seen an issue really.

[Omega]

The memory frequency mentioned on the CPU spec page is just what is officially supported, anything above that is considered overclocking. Going above the supported RAM frequency on these Intel CPUs only extremely rarely causes any issues. Especially for 3200Mhz, which is the go-to for anyone building a modern gaming machine.

You can safely enable XMP to get the best possible performance without having to worry about a thing.

[Muxxer]

Originally posted by Omega:

The memory frequency mentioned on the CPU spec page is just what is officially supported, anything above that is considered overclocking. Going above the supported RAM frequency on these Intel CPUs only extremely rarely causes any issues. Especially for 3200Mhz, which is the go-to for anyone building a modern gaming machine.

You can safely enable XMP to get the best possible performance without having to worry about a thing.

Ah, that makes much more sense now. Thanks. I'll keep using 3200mhz then and if I find any issues I'll underclock it to 2666mhz or 2400 then.

[_I_]

just enable xmp in bios if using a dimm kit

[Bad 💀 Motha]

CPUs are only limited to RAM speed on certain Motherboards and/or Chipsets.
If your board specs says it supports; lets say DDR4 up to 3600 (OC) then it shouldn't have any issues running most RAM modules (as long as they all match) UP TO 3600 XMP.

If your RAM and Motherboard supports XMP; just enable that, done.
Enabling of XMP profile will in-turn set the correct settings for DRAM Frequency + Timings + Voltage based on the onboard profile on the RAM.

Please note some RAM might have multiple profiles; such as 2666, 3200; etc. Just use the highest one your RAM + Motherboard supports. If you have system stability issues, then that is something to look into, but otherwise it should all work fine.

[StealthMode℠™©®]

its all about that front side bus speed, x the core multiplier...
adjust the base speed slightly, till it hits 3200mhz ( 3.2ghz ), make sure you have extra cooling, and keep in mind, your gpu/vpu will also overclock.
liquid cooling recommended.
its all about that setting on the board, and in the cmos/bios.