• EVGA Z690 Series
  • Curious what is the fastest ram you guys are using on the Z690 Classified.
2022/09/23 13:45:37
donta1979
Pretty much what the title states, I do know a lot of it has to do with the memory controller the other is the board. What is the fastest ddr5 you guys are using on your z690's? I know some boards and even some i9's have issues running 6600mhz ram. 6000mhz is normally the safe mode for any board and cpu. I really want it to run in Gear1 over Gear2... Just would like to hear what a lot of you have experienced and are running.2x16 only 2x 2x16 kits. I do know the i9's and even the 30 series love lower CL ram at least with DDR4 and what I am seeing on mod rigs on scores my 3090 TI FTW3 Ultra Gaming is out scoring on it's gpu score than a majority of those with 3090 TI Kingpins. So am really wondering what all of you are running and experienced. As mod rigs is not a good area to really see what everyone is running anymore.
2022/09/23 15:46:43
Mienko
I'm using the 6400CL32 G.Skill.  While I can run it at 6400, I have noticed occasional instability so clock it back to 6000 for everyday use.  In hindsight, I should've gone with the Dark, but it wasn't in stock, and I was desperate to move away from Asus.
 
2022/09/23 16:00:16
donta1979
Mienko
I'm using the 6400CL32 G.Skill.  While I can run it at 6400, I have noticed occasional instability so clock it back to 6000 for everyday use.  In hindsight, I should've gone with the Dark, but it wasn't in stock, and I was desperate to move away from Asus.
 

Gear 1 or 2?
The board may not even matter know people with 700-1k dollar ASUS boards and cannot run 6400-6600mhz part of it is the board the other is the CPU's memory controller.
2022/09/23 20:05:58
Mienko
donta1979
Mienko
I'm using the 6400CL32 G.Skill.  While I can run it at 6400, I have noticed occasional instability so clock it back to 6000 for everyday use.  In hindsight, I should've gone with the Dark, but it wasn't in stock, and I was desperate to move away from Asus.
 

Gear 1 or 2?
The board may not even matter know people with 700-1k dollar ASUS boards and cannot run 6400-6600mhz part of it is the board the other is the CPU's memory controller.


The board seems to matter quite a bit when considering 2 or 4 slots for the ram.  With Asus specifically, I had both the Formula & Extreme and had massive stability issues that pretty much nuked any freetime I had in both January and February.  As far as my gearing, I'll need to check.  
 
2022/09/23 21:08:26
rjbarker
Asus Apex Board pre Jan 2022 version
Dominators 6000 Cas 32 (Hynix), they are actually 6200 Cas 36, but couldn't get stable at 6200, so dropped down to 6000 and tightened timings, all good.
2022/09/24 10:39:15
donta1979
Yeah that is what I am wondering about you really need a crazy board, and really premium CPU memory controller to go past 6ghz+ Know a few people with 6600mhz kits they have to downclock the ram to 6-6.1ghz, and are forced to use Gear 2.

My thing is this how many of you are always actually in Gear 1? As I am seeing it on some of the modrigs setups with a 3090 TI Kingpins, I'm betting those I am beating GPU score wise with a similar system using DDR5 6000-6600mhz with my DDR4 4000mhz B-die's is due to my Gear 1, as it seems my GPU picks up some extra performance from that as I have seen in my bench scores and games with gear 1 2T vs gear2 1T. That is the only conclusion I have come to with the scores and rigs that are actually up.
2022/09/24 13:41:27
Mienko
donta1979
Yeah that is what I am wondering about you really need a crazy board, and really premium CPU memory controller to go past 6ghz+ Know a few people with 6600mhz kits they have to downclock the ram to 6-6.1ghz, and are forced to use Gear 2.

My thing is this how many of you are always actually in Gear 1? As I am seeing it on some of the modrigs setups with a 3090 TI Kingpins, I'm betting those I am beating GPU score wise with a similar system using DDR5 6000-6600mhz with my DDR4 4000mhz B-die's is due to my Gear 1, as it seems my GPU picks up some extra performance from that as I have seen in my bench scores and games with gear 1 2T vs gear2 1T. That is the only conclusion I have come to with the scores and rigs that are actually up.


Honestly, I didn't think DDR5 could even run in gear 1.  I thought it was limited to gear 2 or 4.
 
2022/09/24 14:44:33
frankd3
Mienko
donta1979
Yeah that is what I am wondering about you really need a crazy board, and really premium CPU memory controller to go past 6ghz+ Know a few people with 6600mhz kits they have to downclock the ram to 6-6.1ghz, and are forced to use Gear 2.

My thing is this how many of you are always actually in Gear 1? As I am seeing it on some of the modrigs setups with a 3090 TI Kingpins, I'm betting those I am beating GPU score wise with a similar system using DDR5 6000-6600mhz with my DDR4 4000mhz B-die's is due to my Gear 1, as it seems my GPU picks up some extra performance from that as I have seen in my bench scores and games with gear 1 2T vs gear2 1T. That is the only conclusion I have come to with the scores and rigs that are actually up.


Honestly, I didn't think DDR5 could even run in gear 1.  I thought it was limited to gear 2 or 4.
 

I think you're right. That's part of the reason it was harshly reviewed for gaming when it came out.
2022/09/24 17:15:19
donta1979
Mienko
donta1979
Yeah that is what I am wondering about you really need a crazy board, and really premium CPU memory controller to go past 6ghz+ Know a few people with 6600mhz kits they have to downclock the ram to 6-6.1ghz, and are forced to use Gear 2.

My thing is this how many of you are always actually in Gear 1? As I am seeing it on some of the modrigs setups with a 3090 TI Kingpins, I'm betting those I am beating GPU score wise with a similar system using DDR5 6000-6600mhz with my DDR4 4000mhz B-die's is due to my Gear 1, as it seems my GPU picks up some extra performance from that as I have seen in my bench scores and games with gear 1 2T vs gear2 1T. That is the only conclusion I have come to with the scores and rigs that are actually up.


Honestly, I didn't think DDR5 could even run in gear 1.  I thought it was limited to gear 2 or 4.
 

You are correct, I asked in several other places. None could answer. So I did some reading it cannot run in gear one. If it could people would be getting way better CPU scores even benching at those speeds they would also get a couple extra hundred points benching while at stock. Rightnow it's like brute force in gear2... It would explain why my DDR4 system with a 3090 TI FTW3 Ultra Gaming is scoring higher than most on mod rigs with 3090 TI Kingpins, DDR5 kind of creates a bottleneck to the gpu and even the cpu to some extent. I'ts kind of weird what gear 1 and gear 2 means in terms of performance all around from the CPU to the GPU. Once DDR5 with new boards and chips can run in Gear 1 yeah it's going to race ahead. Glad I didn't impulse by a Z690 DDR5 board with the prices and the lower priced DDR5. Quite happy what my DDR4 4000mhz CL16 B-die is slower yes but running in gear 1 has its advantages to getting data to the cpu and even the gpu. I wont ever catch DDR5 cpu benches, but GPU benches it appears to give me a little small edge and for gaming that is appreciated.
2022/09/24 22:33:12
rjbarker
donta1979
Yeah that is what I am wondering about you really need a crazy board, and really premium CPU memory controller to go past 6ghz+ Know a few people with 6600mhz kits they have to downclock the ram to 6-6.1ghz, and are forced to use Gear 2.

My thing is this how many of you are always actually in Gear 1? As I am seeing it on some of the modrigs setups with a 3090 TI Kingpins, I'm betting those I am beating GPU score wise with a similar system using DDR5 6000-6600mhz with my DDR4 4000mhz B-die's is due to my Gear 1, as it seems my GPU picks up some extra performance from that as I have seen in my bench scores and games with gear 1 2T vs gear2 1T. That is the only conclusion I have come to with the scores and rigs that are actually up.




I did read somewhere (have read through so many threads when /i first started seriously playing with RAM in my Apex Board), the the first gen of Apex Boards definitely have issues pushing higher than 6000 Mhz. this is why I figured I couldnt seem to go higher ....my first DDR5 Dominator kit were 5600 C32 and they easily OC'd to 6000.
From what I understand the post Jan 2022 Apex Boards are far better for higher RAM speeds, but at this point im certainly not tearing down my loop to replace a $800 Z690 Board with another Z690 Board....the next tear down will be to replace my Apex Z690 with possibly a Z790 n Rocket Lake...or I may just ship Rocket Lake altogether....
Currently my Alder Lake 12900K is rocking along nicely at an all core 5.2 Ghz...DDR5 @6000 cas 32 ...3080Ti +135 / 725....for 24/7 gaming Im quite happy with the speeds...BUT, we always want a bit more right... ;)
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