Don't make the same mistake I did. Make sure your RAM is set to the right speed.

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When you build a PC and look at the RAM, there are many different speeds to choose from. I have 32GB of 3600MHz CL18 Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RAM, which is pretty good when paired with an Intel Core i9-14900K. It's not the best RAM or anything, but it's good enough, especially for applications that are RAM sensitive. However, when I was doing some routine maintenance on my PC, I noticed that I was running my RAM at a much, much lower speed than I should.




When I built my PC in 2022, I had migrated my Windows installation from my old PC to the same SSD I transferred, and when I enabled XMP in the BIOS, my PC bluescreened. Everything else worked fine, so I disabled XMP expecting to come back to it in the future. Then I forgot I'd disabled it, and only in the last few weeks did I realize I'd disabled it and never turned it back on. It was defaulting to 2133 MHz, way below what it should have been.

If you are using AMD, this setting may be called DOCP or EXPO. This is the same as XMP.


How to check if your RAM is set to the correct speed

You can do it in Task Manager

A person holds a USB stick in front of a monitor running Ubuntu from RAM

First, you should check what RAM your PC has. If you don't know the exact model number, you can easily check it using the command prompt.

  1. Open the Start menu on your PC and search for the Command prompt.
  2. Click Run as administrator.
    Screenshot of the Windows 11 Start menu showing the search for Control Panel

    Screenshot of Windows 11 showing a search for Command Prompt in the Start menu with the Run as administrator option highlighted.

  3. type WMIC memory chip list completeThis will display a full list of specifications for the RAM in your PC, including details about the memory type (e.g. DDR4 or DDR5).
    Screenshot of the command prompt with a list of specifications for a RAM module


Here you can see your model number. Google it and you will see what speed your RAM is should operate. Next, open Task Manageron Performanceand click on Memory. Make sure your speed matches the target speed. For example, my PC has 3600 MHz RAM, so the speed is listed as 3600 MT/s.

Screenshot of Windows 11 Task Manager showing the Performance tab in the Memory section. RAM specifications are highlighted

If the speed is not set correctly, you need to adjust it in your BIOS!

How to set your RAM to the right speed

You activate XMP

Depending on the motherboard you are using, this setting may be in a different location.


  • MSI: You can find XMP in the OC menu under DRAM settingor it is called A-XMP
  • ASUS: Extreme Tweaker is what you want to look for and a setting for AI Overclocking
  • ASRock: Search for OC Tweaker Menu containing an entry for XMP or EXPO
  • Gigabytes: Search for Tweaker Menu containing an entry for Extreme Memory Profile

When you first boot up your PC, it will use the default settings that ensure a stable first boot. However, the default JEDEC profiles for RAM are quite conservative and can be outperformed by the speeds your motherboard or CPU may support. Technically, you're still overclocking your RAM, but in a way the RAM is designed to support. You should also be sure to test the stability of your computer as soon as you enable it. This is why I had initially disabled XMP when I first built my PC and never got around to fixing it.


Additionally, if you're trying to run four DDR5 modules on a modern motherboard, you may need to lower the speeds on the XMP settings to get them to run reliably. Modern CPUs support faster RAM better when only two modules are installed, as four can put more strain on the onboard memory controller.

Why the speed of your RAM is important

Apps and games run better with faster RAM

Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 RAM Kit close-up of the label


First and foremost, your RAM speed is important because you should get what you paid for. If you paid for 3600MHz DDR4 RAM, you should get those speeds instead of running on 2133MHz. This part is obvious, but the reasons are pretty important. You will get significantly better CPU performance with faster RAM because your RAM speed refers to the bandwidth of data the RAM can transfer per second. For example, my 1% lows have massively improved in Counterstrike 2 since I enabled XMP again.

The question of why it's faster is surprisingly easy to answer. Running your RAM at a higher speed will allow your CPU to access data faster, because higher bandwidth means more data is being transferred at once. Modern systems are also optimized for faster RAM, and that's especially true for AMD's Ryzen CPUs, where the effect is even more pronounced. AMD CPUs use CCXs, and most high-end AMD CPUs have two CCXs that communicate over Infinity Fabric, an interconnect architecture that connects the two.


If you're building a PC with Ryzen, you'll want to make sure your RAM speed matches your FCLK, because if they don't match, you can get “decoupling,” which massively increases latency. If a core in one CCX needs to fetch data from another core in the other CCX, it will need to use the Infinity Fabric connection, or if it needs to fetch data from RAM, your BIOS will usually do this for you if you set FCLK to “Automatic” in the BIOS, but you may need to adjust this manually if your RAM is too fast.

With faster RAM you get better performance, and with faster RAM that matches your FCLK on Ryzen you get the best possible performance out of your system. Without it you are missing out on performance that could massively benefit you.


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