Overclocking is an artwork that has existed all through the historical past of the PC — who wouldn’t need to extract extra efficiency from a chunk of {hardware} they’ve already bought? Overclocking your CPU or graphics card normally will get all the eye due to the numerous efficiency good points you get from overclocking. Nevertheless, reminiscence overclocking may also produce noticeable advantages when you’re keen to place within the work.
DDR5 introduced many thrilling enhancements over DDR4, together with efficiency, bandwidth, and capability uplifts, when it debuted with Intel’s Alder Lake. As you’d think about, the next-gen chips, like Raptor Lake and AMD’s Ryzen 7000, may even assist the brand new reminiscence, so you may see loads of new choices in the marketplace quickly.
The one caveat is that DDR5 is within the early phases of its life cycle, so it isn’t completely on the identical stage as high-performance DDR4 reminiscence. That is sensible since DDR4 has been out for some time now. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply we will’t overclock DDR5 to squeeze extra efficiency out of a reminiscence equipment. There’s all the time a danger when operating {hardware} exterior the producer’s specs, and product warranties don’t cowl overclocking, both. Nevertheless, overclocking doesn’t influence your {hardware}’s well-being if completed accurately and inside affordable limits.
Many fanatics and informal customers alike will merely use their reminiscence kits’ in-built XMP profile, which is an automatic methodology of overclocking reminiscence. For those who’re eager about utilizing that approach, head to our Tips on how to Allow XMP article. For those who’re seeking to extract much more efficiency, this is our information to wringing the utmost efficiency out of your DDR5 reminiscence equipment.
Know Your DDR5 ICs
Completely different built-in circuits (ICs) behave in a different way, and it’s the identical state of affairs for DDR5. Whereas some ICs could also be extra outstanding to hit greater frequencies, others are higher when aiming for low timings. The large producers, together with Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix, have launched their preliminary ICs for DDR5. Nevertheless, DDR5 continues to be moist behind the ears, so we don’t have a big selection of ICs.
No two ICs are the identical, even when they’re from the identical model and product lineup. So, for instance, even when a sure “X” IC can overclock past DDR5-6000, that doesn’t imply that every one “X” ICs have the potential to take action. So, in the end, there’s nonetheless slightly silicon lottery concerned.
Thaiphoon Burner was an excellent utility to learn the SPD on DDR4 reminiscence modules to find which ICs they carry with out taking the warmth spreader aside. Sadly, as a result of lack of documentation from JEDEC, the developer behind Thaiphoon Burner hasn’t been in a position so as to add assist for DDR5.
Fortunately, CPU-Z can decide up the IC vendor on DDR5 reminiscence modules even when it can not pinpoint the precise IC mannequin. For the second, the characteristic is useful since there aren’t loads of ICs from the identical firm. Nevertheless, as soon as producers have multiple IC in the marketplace, CPU-Z gained’t be any assist in any respect until the developer finds some option to detect the particular ICs.
| IC Vendor | IC Half Quantity | Die Revision |
|---|---|---|
| Micron | MT60B2G8HB-48B, MT60B1G16HC-48B | A-die |
| Samsung | K4RAH086VB-BCQK | B-die |
| SK hynix | H5CG48MEBDX014, H5CG46MEBDX015 | M-die |
Within the DDR4 days, Samsung B-die ICs have been the golden normal for tight timings. With DDR5, we discover that SK hynix M-die can run comparable timings to B-die. Based mostly on our expertise with completely different DDR5 reminiscence kits, SK hynix’s M-die ICs have the very best overclocking potential. For instance, we have been in a position to get M-die as excessive as DDR5-6600, equally overclock a DDR5-4800 M-die reminiscence equipment, and discover stability at DDR5-6000.
Once more, we’ve got to emphasise that these are simply our preliminary observations with the present technology of ICs. The state of affairs may change as time goes by and the ICs mature, or new ICs hit the market. However, a minimum of for now, we rank the ICs on this order for overclocking: SK hynix M-die, Samsung B-die, and Micron A-die.
When overclocking reminiscence, we first attempt to decide the utmost secure voltage we will use for the completely different ICs. Samsung instructed us that the corporate doesn’t assure an overclocking voltage for its ICs, however the absolute most DC of the drain voltage is 1.4V. We have contacted SK hynix and Micron representatives to inquire about their respective ICs. Sadly, we’ve not acquired any suggestions on the matter. Nonetheless, we have spoken with numerous reminiscence distributors, and the consensus is that 1.4V is the utmost voltage for every day utilization.
Overclocking Course of
1. Set your DRAM goal knowledge fee. Step one is figuring out how far you need to push your DDR5 reminiscence. There are two approaches: You’ll be able to select a excessive knowledge fee and work down from there, or you possibly can decide a extra modest knowledge fee and work as much as discover the ceiling on your reminiscence equipment.
For reference, the default ratio for DDR5 is 100:100. Nonetheless, particular knowledge charges are solely accessible with the 100:133 ratio, resembling DDR5-5333 or DDR5-6666.
Like Rocket Lake, Alder Lake additionally presents the 2 BCLK/DRAM ratios: 100:100 and 100:133. With Rocket Lake, the 100:133 ratio performs higher. Nevertheless, on Alder Lake, the 100:100 ratio presents comparable efficiency.
Alder Lake has three gear modes for reminiscence, however Gear 2 is the one setting that basically issues for enthusiast-level DDR5 overclocking. The reminiscence and reminiscence controller run on the similar frequency in Gear 1(1:1), whereas Gear 2 lets the reminiscence function twice as quick because the reminiscence controller (2:1). Lastly, Gear 4 runs the reminiscence 4 instances sooner than the reminiscence controller (4:1).
Gear 1 would not work with DDR5 because the default configuration is Gear 2, and Gear 4 will not come into play till you most likely hit knowledge charges as excessive as DDR5-8000 and above. As such, it’s best to solely use Gear 2 for almost all of DDR5 reminiscence overclocking, although excessive overclockers utilizing liquid nitrogen may must step as much as Gear 4.
2. Tweak reminiscence timings. This step is the trial-and-error a part of the overclocking course of and may be time-consuming. DDR5 has the identical 4 main reminiscence timings (CAS Latency, tRCD, tRP, and tRAS) as DDR4. The trick is to make use of child steps, rising the person timings by one or two clock cycle increments after which testing for stability.
We advocate you begin together with your reminiscence equipment’s marketed timings and go from there. In case your overclock is unstable, add one clock cycle to the timings. If it is secure, you possibly can strive lowering one clock cycle on the timings to optimize your overclock.
You can too strive enjoying with the command fee when you’re feeling adventurous. For DDR5, the default command fee is 2T; nonetheless, 1T is feasible relying on the IC. We have been in a position to get Samsung and SK hynix ICs to run at 1T however did not have a lot luck with Micron ICs.
Reminiscence overclocking is extra than simply enjoying with the 4 main timings: You may get important efficiency good points from tweaking secondary and even tertiary timings. Nevertheless, that is past the scope of this text, so we can’t go down that rabbit gap.
3. Enhance voltages. There are fairly a number of voltage settings that have an effect on reminiscence overclocking, however the common consumer can get by with tweaking 4 of them. You’ll be able to go away the opposite voltages on the discretion of your motherboard.
DRAM VDD: This voltage is among the most important because it powers the reminiscence chips. For on a regular basis use, we advocate conserving it under 1.4V for secure measure.
DRAM VDDQ: The voltage feeds the reminiscence chip’s I/O. VDD and VDDQ usually go hand-in-hand. Nevertheless, in some circumstances, desynchronizing the voltages and operating the next VDDQ (50 mV – 100 mV) can assist stabilize reminiscence overclocks.
CPU VDDQ: The voltage that goes to the processor’s reminiscence controller. 1.2V is enough for DDR5-4800 to DDR5-6000, whereas 1.4V must be excessive sufficient for DDR5-6200 and past.
VCCSA: That is the voltage for the system agent however helps for reminiscence overclocks. It is one of many extra delicate voltages, so use small increments. For instance, 1.25V to 1.35V is enough for many reminiscence overclocks. It is best to maintain VCCSA beneath 1.4V.
4. Check overclock stability. Whereas some customers run stress exams for a number of hours, others run them in a single day. You must resolve simply how necessary reminiscence stability is on your system and the way a lot time you are keen to put money into testing. As well as, completely different applications use completely different algorithms for catching errors. As an alternative of counting on a single program, we advocate you utilize a mixture of two or extra to check for stability.
At any fee, do not get too fixated on punishing your DDR5 reminiscence. When you’re happy together with your overclock, every day utilization is in the end the very best stability take a look at.
5. Save your overclock. Again within the outdated days, you both must memorize your reminiscence overclock settings or jot them down on a chunk of paper. DDR5 arrives with the brand new XMP 3.0 normal, pushing the whole variety of reminiscence profiles to 5. Two of those profiles can be found to the consumer, so we advocate utilizing them. As soon as you have discovered your secure reminiscence overclock, do not forget to put it aside to your DDR5 reminiscence module. The choice varies per motherboard, however you possibly can normally discover the characteristic within the DRAM part.
Stability Testing Software program
There are various choices for testing reminiscence overclocks, however we have compiled a small checklist of probably the most prevalent and sensible instruments. A lot of them are free, however some require a license.
- Memtest86: That is old-school software program for testing reminiscence however it’s nonetheless among the best choices. This system will boot off a USB pen drive so you possibly can take a look at your overclock’s stability with out having to enter Home windows.
- HCI MemTest: The software program picks up reminiscence errors fairly rapidly. The optimum method is to open one occasion per CPU thread and divide the reminiscence into equal components for testing.
- Google Traumatic Software Check (GSAT): For those who’re a Linux particular person, there is no higher utility for reminiscence testing than GSAT. Google makes use of this software program to check its machines.
- Karhu RAM Check: The software program is nice at what it does and helps as much as 8TB of reminiscence. Sadly, it isn’t free and requires a $10 license.
- TestMem 5: This light-weight and strong piece of software program helps customized configurations. The Anta777 Excessive configuration is at the moment the preferred and broadly used preset.
Optimized DRAM Timings
There are not any shortcuts to hitting your most reminiscence overclock. Nonetheless, we have put collectively a small desk with attainable optimized configurations on current DDR5 reminiscence kits. These aren’t magic formulation that you may plug into your motherboard with out testing, although — keep in mind that each reminiscence equipment is completely different regardless if they’ve the identical IC. Nevertheless, these primary configurations can function a stepping stone for you, and you’ll go from there. Do not be afraid to strive different mixtures.
We caught to the extra normal knowledge charges you’ll find in the marketplace, like DDR5-4800, DDR5-5200, and many others. Nevertheless, you too can experiment with different unusual knowledge charges, like DDR5-5066.
| Knowledge Price | Timings | Voltage |
|---|---|---|
| DDR5-6400 | 40-40-40-90, 42-42-42-90, 44-44-44-90 | 1.35V – 1.40V |
| DDR5-6200 | 32-38-38-77, 36-36-36-77, 36-38-38-77 | 1.35V – 1.40V |
| DDR5-6000 | 36-36-36-77, 36-38-38-77, 38-38-38-77 | 1.35V – 1.40V |
| DDR5-5600 | 36-36-36-77, 36-38-38-77, 38-38-38-77 | 1.30V – 1.35V |
| DDR5-5200 | 36-36-36-77, 36-38-38-77, 38-38-38-77 | 1.20V – 1.30V |
| DDR5-4800 | 34-36-36-77, 36-36-36-77, 36-38-38-77 | 1.10V – 1.20V |
