[GoLLuM13]

@Saka I also prefer the Micron chips they have less compatibility issues either with Intel or AMD (and God knows how AMD and memory compatibility is a long story) 👀

[Saka]

@GoLLuM13 I know your pain with a launch day 3700X and a B450 board, the early days were a rollercoaster trying to ensure the system posted every time with a memory OC. But also Micron is how I have 32GB at 3600CL16 (2 dual rank sticks, so even more demanding on the IMC) running on that system with memory rated to run at 3000CL15. E-dies FTW.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Your technical knowledge is impressive, so much so that I feel underwhelmed, good thing that @GoLLuM13 has the know-how to get all that. This is a bit too technical for me to fully grasp. What can I do to help?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I think for now it's just praying that the laptop doesn't give up with the memory training when the second stick arrives next week.

I found some detailed but not-extremely technical rundown of memory training here. A full magical explanation for DDR4 is here, the process doesn't differ much for the next gen.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka good luck let us know how it goes and if your prayers bore any fruit!

[GoLLuM13]

@Saka OMG I'm still with a 3900X I had to change the RAM for some reason when they did a new BIOS they messed up with the RAM 😅 at first I thought my sticks were dead, but they were working at 2133 or 2400 (not their XMP speed of 3000) and when I tested them on an Intel PC, well you guessed it, everything worked like a charm 😂 I also had an issue with a 3400G on B450 and 2800 MHz sticks, but for this one, speeds weren't a priority (it's basically an office/web browsing PC) 😜

and the E-Die reminded me of when people kept telling me you should get C-Die, no, E-Die chips are better ... no this and that, and told them OK it's a Jedi 😂😂😂

[Saka]

@GoLLuM13 Fun fact is I got the sticks first, a good before the Zen 2 release, because they were available for very cheap. It was 32GB for 160 euros back when flash prices were pretty high in general. I got them based on spreadsheets where people were able to get it to run at good speeds on 1st gen Ryzen. And that one had BAD memory compatibility problems. Gamble paid off.

BIOS updates did mess up ram few times, but usually wiggling around in the tertiary timings helped (tRAS, tWRD etc.). DOCP/XMP never worked anyway, only manual overclocking.

Resetting CMOS on a mini-itx board is "fun". You have to poke a screwdriver in and short pins, while praying that the CPU heatsink doesn't attack you with the sharp fins.

[GoLLuM13]

@Saka Believe me I tried everything Gear Down Mode On/Off/Auto, manual timings, voltage, everything... but nothing worked 😅 my only options were "deal with it", change CPU or change RAM, changed RAM went from SK-Hynix chips to Micron chips and everything's fine so far (but I know people with Micro chips who had the same issue 😅) just like you I gambled and it paid off 😂

[Saka]

@GoLLuM13 The SK Hynix dies were very whimsical on Zen 1/2. I must say I have not kept up to date lately, but I know IMC got a lot better in Zen 3 and later processors.

Had a friend who grabbed one of the popular at the time Corsair Vengeance LPX kits, because they were considered good bang for buck. Hah, not if you had AMD. While most of people with Zen 2 still managed to get the XMP working with these sticks somewhat, the 3600 the friend had decided to keep crashing on anything but JEDEC table with it. As the friend lived in another city, troubleshooting the memory was doomed as he isn't the kind to attempt manual timings on his own.

Meanwhile some people who salvaged some Samsung B-dies from prebuilts were able to get them to 3200 and beyond from 2133-rated sticks on first generation Ryzen... Huge disparity. I remember even for GPUs the make of the memory mattered too in a few cases. Vega 56 with Samsung memory performed better.

[GoLLuM13]

@Saka What I found whimsical is the IMC on AMD CPUs 😂 my kit was working for years and was even on the motherboard's QVL list, but one day out of nowhere, it decided that it wasn't compatible with my AMD CPU anymore 😂
and indeed, B-Dies were praised, overclockers were all talking about them, before something changed, and it became the worst nightmare ever 😂 (and it's not 100% AMD's fault this time 😜)