I have a z370 FTW board with an intel i9-9900k.  I bought some 2x8GB GSKill DDR4 RAM that is on the eVGA memory compatibility page but I can't get it to work at the XMP settings or anything nearly close.  The RAM is rated 4133 19-21-21-41 @ 1.35v.  I enabled XMP settings and tested various frequencies.  I was able to get system to boot at 3067, but it failed at 3300Mhz.  I am second guessing whether this was the right choice and maybe should have opted for 3600Mhz with lower tCL.  What do you guys think?  Do you have any suggestions on how to configure settings to get a higher frequency?
 
 
 
 

Is there a guide I should read about this?  I just bought my system and don't know much about overclocking this platform.

The Z370 FTW does not have any 4133 kits listed on the QVL page you just linked, the fastest is 4000 MHz (although the manual mentions "4133MHz+(OC)" as being supported).
 
You are going to have a hard time even getting to 4000 MHz on that board.
 
Make sure you put the DIMMs into slots 2 & 4 to increase the chance it will boot at high frequency.
 
I would suggest setting your RAM to the XMP profile for 4133 @ 19-21-21-41 and then manually changing the RAM frequency to 4000 with 1.45 VDIMM and VSA & VCCIO to ~1.3 V and see if it will POST.
 
Once you get 4000 MHz to post you can try for 4100 MHz and then 4133 MHz but it may take 1.50 V VDIMM to get there - which is not a good idea long term or if you have poor case ventilation.
 
Hitting 3733 MHz with low timings (CAS 15,16,17) is much easier and you can likely also run at 1T command rate.

chinobino.
The Z370 FTW does not have any 4133 kits listed on the QVL page you just linked, the fastest is 4000 MHz (although the manual mentions "4133MHz+(OC)" as being supported).
 
You are going to have a hard time even getting to 4000 MHz on that board.
 
Make sure you put the DIMMs into slots 2 & 4 to increase the chance it will boot at high frequency.
 
I would suggest setting your RAM to the XMP profile for 4133 @ 19-21-21-41 and then manually changing the RAM frequency to 4000 with 1.45 VDIMM and VSA & VCCIO to ~1.3 V and see if it will POST.
 
Once you get 4000 MHz to post you can try for 4100 MHz and then 4133 MHz but it may take 1.50 V VDIMM to get there - which is not a good idea long term or if you have poor case ventilation.
 
Hitting 3733 MHz with low timings (CAS 15,16,17) is much easier and you can likely also run at 1T command rate.

QVL?  What do you mean?  On the page I linked, this memory kit was listed as suggested. 

Ok with VSA and VCCIO @ 1.35V and DRAM @ 1.45V, I can boot into windows at 3733 19-21-21-45 2T so good progress.  Will keep testing tomorrow.

Yeah that was a typo, I have the Z390 FTW (updated my sig)

dcompiled
Yeah that was a typo, I have the Z390 FTW (updated my sig)

The FTW does not appear on the g.skill QVL for the F4-4133C19D-16GTZA, only the DARK.
 
The best they QVL for the FTW is 4x8 3600CL16 b-die, likely the fastest option out of the box due to it running dual rank.  Nothing above 3600CL16 at all.  2x8 3600CL16 and 2x16 3200CL14 are on there.
 
https://www.gskill.com/co...ency%C2%A716-18-18-38,
 
I'm actually kind of surprised at the mediocre memory QVL from g.skill, it reads more like a t-layout board than the daisy chain it's supposed to be.

I've run several tests today to overclock my 4x4gb Ballistix Elite 3200 cl 16-18-18-36 1,35v and managed to get good results: 3900 cl 18-22-22-44 2T 1,35v so absolutely no issue with multiples of 100 with Z390 chipset  

Memory via AIDA64 when selecting 3900 in BIOS

kevinc313

dcompiled
Yeah that was a typo, I have the Z390 FTW (updated my sig)

The FTW does not appear on the g.skill QVL for the F4-4133C19D-16GTZA, only the DARK.
 
The best they QVL for the FTW is 4x8 3600CL16 b-die, likely the fastest option out of the box due to it running dual rank.  Nothing above 3600CL16 at all.  2x8 3600CL16 and 2x16 3200CL14 are on there.
 
https://www.gskill.com/co...ency%C2%A716-18-18-38,
 
I'm actually kind of surprised at the mediocre memory QVL from g.skill, it reads more like a t-layout board than the daisy chain it's supposed to be.

Dont let the QVL lists ruin your day, they are simply SOME of the kits they had time to test with the mobo. Just because its not listed in the QVL list doesnt mean it wont work or isnt a viable option.

dcompiled

MhzManiac
This board will not support multiples of 100 on the mem bus due to the way intel onboard controllers operate on this chip set. I had to use odd multiples like 133. So like in my sig I'm running 2966 but it's rated for 3000. That was the closest I could get without mega volting it.

For what its worth, I was able to get the system to boot into windows at 2133 (default), 2667, 3000, 3067. I'll keep this in mind as I keep testing.

Thank you for this bit of info.  I've been pulling my hair out wondering how I picked up two different sets of RAM (1 mushkin 2666 kit, 1 newer Crucial Ballistix Micron E-die 3000) and couldn't seem to get anywhere with even the tiniest overclock on my z370 FTW with a 9400F.  Especially annoying with a new 3000 xmp kit that doesn't appear to post at that.
 
I've had far more success when I went to 2933, 3066, 3200, 33333 MHz and avoided the spots in-between because it just keeps cycling through to post code 4C (OEM post-memory initialization codes) for minutes until I kill the power and clear the cmos so I can load up a last good setup.  I tried both bios 1.12 and 1.13 with the same behavior (wondering if it was a bios bug or just poor ability to train newer Micron E-die chips).
 
BTW, it looks like EVGA added a FAQ bit about it and locked/Non-K CPUs back in November 2019.  Apparently K-series chips don't have this problem?  https://www.evga.com/support/faq/FAQdetails.aspx?faqid=59779