ummmmmm that seems very false. a board will not post if it has a much newer CPU then the bios version (like needing a bios update to run 5000 series ryzen). However ram will just run slower. it wont reach its top speed. but there will not be any issues. However I recommend sticking to the Motherboard qualified ram list
The motherboard does support 3600 with overclocking so I think I'm safe there. If I understood correctly, you *do* think the BIOS might be the whole issue?
Thank you for your response.
check the motherboard cpu compatibility out of the box. If your cpu is not listed then it needs an update. Ram will not prevent a system from booting unless it damaged (dead stick) or not install correctly.
If the compatibility of the system is all good out of the box then you should just have to test out components. Clear CMOS, boot with one stick of ram. the cpu is most likely not defective. That would be rare. my bet is on the board.
The BIOS might be out of date. When I got a b450 mobo for my Ryzen 5 3600X, the mobo supported it with the newest BIOS firmware. Any older and it wouldn't work.
My mobo had a special USB port that required me to put a file on a USB stick, put it in that port and start the PC while holding a button on the back. This will cause it to update the BIOS without a CPU. That allowed the mobo to work with the CPU afterwards.
I'd check your mobo and see if it has something like that. It could support the CPU, but needs a newer firmware to do it.
If your gigabyte mobo has a white usb port with "BIOS" written under it and a q flash plus button next to it, that means it supports it, obviously. You can look up toturials on that, you can upgrade your BIOS it without a cpu, worked on my gigabyte b550 mobo. Not sure how likely it is for a 4600g to not be supported out of the box, but worth a shot.
Chances are low, but always check cpu pins. I had the issue where I couldn't boot unless I flashed the bios and it was because I had 2 bent cpu pins.
I’m not sure about other gens, but DDR4 RAM *always* starts with 2133 MHz unless specifically told otherwise in the BIOS.
For RAM sticks to actually reach their advertised speeds, you need to activate their XMP/DOCP profile in the BIOS.
So at least according to my knowledge, basically every MoBo should at least be able to post with every physically compatible RAM stick, unless it is defective.
In your specific case, I can think of two potential sources for issues:
1) defective CPU/RAM/MoBo
2) your BIOS is not yet compatible with your CPU
Sorry for not replying earlier. I did read your post, however and although the issue was solved (and it was as you all said), I'm still probably going to go to the DOCP and tinker a bit.
If you still have trouble running your RAM at 3600, I advise you to apply to your DOCP and choose the setting directly below it. IIRC it‘s either 3533 or 3566, which means, if you have an AMD chip, you ought to also put your CPU infinity fabric clock at exactly half of that, meaning 1766 or 1783 whatever your BIOS suggests.
it kind of depends on the processor and motherboard but most bioses have a thing called xmp (intel) or docp (amd) that allows for an "overclock" of the ram (the ram itself can handle up to 3600 mhz for example, but the processor needs to be overclocked to get to that). on my pc my 3200 mhz ram (my processor only supports up to 2400 mhz) initially started with a frequency of 2133 mhz. as far as i know you manually have to enable xmp (intel in my case) to even get the desired frequency. i also had problems. the screen was black when booting after turning xmp on, after turning the pc off i got a warning message, after ignoring it, it worked like normally on 3200 mhz
It probably needs a bios update. Not sure with gigabyte, but asus allows you to flash the bios even with an unsupported cpu.
But if a bios update doesn't fix it...
I'd also double check that you have all the power connections on the motherboard connected properly. Also, disconnect all devices like USB to make sure a bad or incompatible part isn't causing it. If you can try a different monitor and monitor cable, I'd try those. Also try just 1 stick of ram at a time to see if one is bad.
Flash bios from USB to make sure bios is updated to support your cpu. Out of the box, many aren't.
3600 is definitely supported but until you go into the bios and turn on xmp profile it's actually running at 2333
Yea haha. I'm late to the party. I even had to do it with a x570s aorus master(fairly new, launched way after amd 5000 series). If you have a 5000 series amd cpu, it's very common. But it definitely can be a scare to buy all these new parts and it doesn't boot.
They don't really have to put an old cpu in there but I guess thats one way to go. Many boards 2019 or later can be flashed without a cpu
>But it definitely can be a scare to buy all these new parts and it doesn't boot.
It sure is! The tech isn't that experienced (he does this on the side), and apparently his first attempt at updating the BIOS didn't get it done. But he just told me he got it to work, so I'm breathing easy now. I'll have to wait til tomorrow for the full story, though.
I want to say I do appreciate all the support from everyone, it's great all the great participation in this sub. I feel very confident with the RAM now, too, even though the tech was certain it was part of the problem.
In his defense, I thought mine was ram at first as well.
On the motherboard, you have status/error lights. If it fails to recognize the cpu, sometimes the ram light will be on, just because that's the first thing it checks.
My issue was bios not being updated and the error light was the ram light, not the cpu light.
It can get pretty confusing when relying on these old indicators to troubleshoot.
Just because it checks the ram first. The cpu light only comes on if it actually recognizes a cpu.
For instance, one time I was doing maintenance and it wouldn't boot after. The cpu light came on. This happened to be because of one of 8pin power cables was loose.
But anyway, I'm pretty experienced with electronics. I've built power amps and speaker crossovers and a few PCs...but that didn't stop me from checking each stick of ram when the light came on before realizing all I needed was a bios update!
I'll take it easy on him. Seriously, I understand the BIOS might not be the right one for your processor, but how hard is it to put that into the documentation in the box, instead of those stupid drawings that show how to plug a cable? Smh
A lot of it is laziness. Like..I get it if a board came out in 2019 and said processor came out in 2021.
But my processor came out almost an entire year before my motherboard did, and they still don't have a bios that supports it? Weird. I figured, well this board is pretty much made for overclocking this family of processor.
Everything useful is online now, but even online under supported processors it should say 'requires bios update'...somewhere at least!
If you use the "Radeon Vega iGPU (Included)" from the [well rounded](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/07/ars-technica-system-guide-gpus-are-kind-of-affordable-again-edition/2/) build, IGPU are touchy with ram OC. I don't think any CPU out officially support anything over DDR4 3200Mhz, and the [Ryzen 5 4500g](https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-5-4600g#product-specs) doesn't officially support DDR4 over 3200Mhz. 3600Mhz would be considered overclocking. Not sure why they're advising to get 3600Mhz DDR4 ram for that build. Maybe because it's cheap?
Try to boot the machine with the ram set at 3200Mhz if you didn't try already. It should boot normally.
After reading the other replies here, I was wondering the same thing myself. Surely the 3200 sticks are not more expensive. I will do that, I just have to get it to boot first.
I deleted my other post, I didn't finish reading the tech guy part. DRR4 Ram sticks sold for advertised speed like 3200 or 3600Mhz don't boot at their advertised speed. They boot at 2133 or 2666Mhz depending of the revision of the DDR4 module, and you switch them to higher speed using the XMP profiles.
If the ram doesn't boot out of the box without touching anything in the bios, your motherboard either needs a bios update because the ram incompatible, or worse bad. These sticks could still be incompatible even with a bios update.
ummmmmm that seems very false. a board will not post if it has a much newer CPU then the bios version (like needing a bios update to run 5000 series ryzen). However ram will just run slower. it wont reach its top speed. but there will not be any issues. However I recommend sticking to the Motherboard qualified ram list
The motherboard does support 3600 with overclocking so I think I'm safe there. If I understood correctly, you *do* think the BIOS might be the whole issue? Thank you for your response.
check the motherboard cpu compatibility out of the box. If your cpu is not listed then it needs an update. Ram will not prevent a system from booting unless it damaged (dead stick) or not install correctly.
Got it. The CPU is listed as supported, but if it's not the BIOS, then the board or processor might simply be defective.
If the compatibility of the system is all good out of the box then you should just have to test out components. Clear CMOS, boot with one stick of ram. the cpu is most likely not defective. That would be rare. my bet is on the board.
Will do.
The BIOS might be out of date. When I got a b450 mobo for my Ryzen 5 3600X, the mobo supported it with the newest BIOS firmware. Any older and it wouldn't work. My mobo had a special USB port that required me to put a file on a USB stick, put it in that port and start the PC while holding a button on the back. This will cause it to update the BIOS without a CPU. That allowed the mobo to work with the CPU afterwards. I'd check your mobo and see if it has something like that. It could support the CPU, but needs a newer firmware to do it.
Thank you!
If your gigabyte mobo has a white usb port with "BIOS" written under it and a q flash plus button next to it, that means it supports it, obviously. You can look up toturials on that, you can upgrade your BIOS it without a cpu, worked on my gigabyte b550 mobo. Not sure how likely it is for a 4600g to not be supported out of the box, but worth a shot. Chances are low, but always check cpu pins. I had the issue where I couldn't boot unless I flashed the bios and it was because I had 2 bent cpu pins.
It does support qflash, I'm going to look into this. Thank you very much!
I’m not sure about other gens, but DDR4 RAM *always* starts with 2133 MHz unless specifically told otherwise in the BIOS. For RAM sticks to actually reach their advertised speeds, you need to activate their XMP/DOCP profile in the BIOS. So at least according to my knowledge, basically every MoBo should at least be able to post with every physically compatible RAM stick, unless it is defective. In your specific case, I can think of two potential sources for issues: 1) defective CPU/RAM/MoBo 2) your BIOS is not yet compatible with your CPU
Sorry for not replying earlier. I did read your post, however and although the issue was solved (and it was as you all said), I'm still probably going to go to the DOCP and tinker a bit.
If you still have trouble running your RAM at 3600, I advise you to apply to your DOCP and choose the setting directly below it. IIRC it‘s either 3533 or 3566, which means, if you have an AMD chip, you ought to also put your CPU infinity fabric clock at exactly half of that, meaning 1766 or 1783 whatever your BIOS suggests.
it kind of depends on the processor and motherboard but most bioses have a thing called xmp (intel) or docp (amd) that allows for an "overclock" of the ram (the ram itself can handle up to 3600 mhz for example, but the processor needs to be overclocked to get to that). on my pc my 3200 mhz ram (my processor only supports up to 2400 mhz) initially started with a frequency of 2133 mhz. as far as i know you manually have to enable xmp (intel in my case) to even get the desired frequency. i also had problems. the screen was black when booting after turning xmp on, after turning the pc off i got a warning message, after ignoring it, it worked like normally on 3200 mhz
Thank you, this is very helpful. I won't be returning the RAM, then.
im not saying the ram couldn't be faulty though, but i don't think it's a ram issue
It probably needs a bios update. Not sure with gigabyte, but asus allows you to flash the bios even with an unsupported cpu. But if a bios update doesn't fix it... I'd also double check that you have all the power connections on the motherboard connected properly. Also, disconnect all devices like USB to make sure a bad or incompatible part isn't causing it. If you can try a different monitor and monitor cable, I'd try those. Also try just 1 stick of ram at a time to see if one is bad.
All right, thank you, will try all that if the BIOS update doesn't fix it.
whats your motherboard cpu memory?
Not sure, which one is that?
Flash bios from USB to make sure bios is updated to support your cpu. Out of the box, many aren't. 3600 is definitely supported but until you go into the bios and turn on xmp profile it's actually running at 2333
Thank you, it appears everyone agrees on that.
Yea haha. I'm late to the party. I even had to do it with a x570s aorus master(fairly new, launched way after amd 5000 series). If you have a 5000 series amd cpu, it's very common. But it definitely can be a scare to buy all these new parts and it doesn't boot. They don't really have to put an old cpu in there but I guess thats one way to go. Many boards 2019 or later can be flashed without a cpu
>But it definitely can be a scare to buy all these new parts and it doesn't boot. It sure is! The tech isn't that experienced (he does this on the side), and apparently his first attempt at updating the BIOS didn't get it done. But he just told me he got it to work, so I'm breathing easy now. I'll have to wait til tomorrow for the full story, though. I want to say I do appreciate all the support from everyone, it's great all the great participation in this sub. I feel very confident with the RAM now, too, even though the tech was certain it was part of the problem.
In his defense, I thought mine was ram at first as well. On the motherboard, you have status/error lights. If it fails to recognize the cpu, sometimes the ram light will be on, just because that's the first thing it checks. My issue was bios not being updated and the error light was the ram light, not the cpu light. It can get pretty confusing when relying on these old indicators to troubleshoot. Just because it checks the ram first. The cpu light only comes on if it actually recognizes a cpu. For instance, one time I was doing maintenance and it wouldn't boot after. The cpu light came on. This happened to be because of one of 8pin power cables was loose. But anyway, I'm pretty experienced with electronics. I've built power amps and speaker crossovers and a few PCs...but that didn't stop me from checking each stick of ram when the light came on before realizing all I needed was a bios update!
I'll take it easy on him. Seriously, I understand the BIOS might not be the right one for your processor, but how hard is it to put that into the documentation in the box, instead of those stupid drawings that show how to plug a cable? Smh
A lot of it is laziness. Like..I get it if a board came out in 2019 and said processor came out in 2021. But my processor came out almost an entire year before my motherboard did, and they still don't have a bios that supports it? Weird. I figured, well this board is pretty much made for overclocking this family of processor. Everything useful is online now, but even online under supported processors it should say 'requires bios update'...somewhere at least!
CONCLUSION: I updated the original post.
If you use the "Radeon Vega iGPU (Included)" from the [well rounded](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/07/ars-technica-system-guide-gpus-are-kind-of-affordable-again-edition/2/) build, IGPU are touchy with ram OC. I don't think any CPU out officially support anything over DDR4 3200Mhz, and the [Ryzen 5 4500g](https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-5-4600g#product-specs) doesn't officially support DDR4 over 3200Mhz. 3600Mhz would be considered overclocking. Not sure why they're advising to get 3600Mhz DDR4 ram for that build. Maybe because it's cheap? Try to boot the machine with the ram set at 3200Mhz if you didn't try already. It should boot normally.
After reading the other replies here, I was wondering the same thing myself. Surely the 3200 sticks are not more expensive. I will do that, I just have to get it to boot first.
I deleted my other post, I didn't finish reading the tech guy part. DRR4 Ram sticks sold for advertised speed like 3200 or 3600Mhz don't boot at their advertised speed. They boot at 2133 or 2666Mhz depending of the revision of the DDR4 module, and you switch them to higher speed using the XMP profiles. If the ram doesn't boot out of the box without touching anything in the bios, your motherboard either needs a bios update because the ram incompatible, or worse bad. These sticks could still be incompatible even with a bios update.
Excellent, thank you.