Greetings everyone,
 
I wanted to get some input on RAM overclocking. So, I had my PC for almost 3 years and I started learning to overclock the day I finished it. I did a lot of research on CPU overclocking (settings, etc.), and I made some really good progress messing around with that stuff. However, no matter how many articles I read I still can't quite grasp RAM overclocking. Between all the acronyms and numbers it's really hard to absorb much. My question primarily is how can I tell if I have a good overclock? I've read that having a high frequency isn't great if your timings are loose, and vice versa. I currently have 32GB of stock, currently, in BIOS I have it set to 4000mhz(18-21-21-40) @ 1.350 volts. Are these settings terrible? I used Geekbench to benchmark for a baseline, and as I stepped it up the benchmarks were seeing improvements. Essentially, I really do not know where I stand on the "quality" of the overclock.
 
Also some background information, I have a 9700k currently @ 5.3GHz with the voltage set to 1.4ish. My motherboard is an Aorus Pro z390 with version f9 for the bios. I have ample cooling on the CPU with a 360mm NZXT AIO. Is there anything I can do to make this overclock a quality one? I would appreciate some feedback and opinions if I can make this RAM have higher improvements. I appreciate any help or information I can get, thanks!!

transdogmifier
RAM Overclocking is confusing for me too.....so I'm watching this thread!
 
 

At least I am not the only one!

Rigs using an iGPU will benefit from faster RAM
 
How to Overclock RAM - Intel 
 
Usually good for small gain in benchmark score .... depending on Your software / use .... you'll have to test your settings & see what "works" 
 
Outside of benchmarks .... no t sure it is worth the trouble ... small gains usually in real world applications PC is always only as fast as the slowest part .... so, if your RAM is not the bottleneck - not going to see improvements
 
Stability is application specific - one sized does not work for everything, the closer you get to the "edge of stability" the more this applies
 
 some good info Tom's Hardware Memory Overclocking on Z390 Coffee Lake: What RAM Speed Do
 
igorslab - different MB .. still informative  RAM-OC Guide for Intel Rocket Lake and Z590 - Tips, Tricks ..
 
How to Geek Why You Should Overclock Your RAM (It's Easy!)