Is my ram compatible with DDR4 non Z OC?

Bhav wrote: Hello, I just built a minimum spec ITX backup PC, and just want to check if my ram can be OCed or not. Motherboard - Asrock H170M-ITX/AC wifi Ram - Crucial 8 gb ballistix sport: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-crucial-ddr4-ballistix-sport-lt-pc4-19200-(2400)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-16-xmp-20-12v Doesnt matter much if it cant.  Also how can I change the command rate to 1N in the bios? The default is 2N, but when I try selecting the setting, typing in 1 or 1n doesnt do anything, and pressing the arrow keys changed to the next bios menu rather than changing the setting. I just bought whichever ram was the cheapest and a G4400.

Just to be sure, you have this board:

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H170M-ITXac/

It seems this memory works with your board and CPU now, correct? It should.

All DDR4 memory will run at 2133 by default in any ASRock board, regardless of its maximum speed. That is normal.

Your board should have the DDR4 Non-Z OC feature in the UEFI/BIOS, on the OC Tweaker page.

You'll need to change to the UEFI/BIOS Advanced Mode to access this page, if you are in Easy Mode now, which is the default. What UEFI version do you have now?

You can OC your memory in two ways.

One is with the DDR4 Non-Z OC feature, listed near the top of the OC Tweaker page. But those built in settings only work with certain brands of memory, and that option might not be displayed with your Crucial memory. If it is not there, that is not a problem.

The other way is to use the DRAM Configuration screen, listed on the OC Tweaker page. You can enable your memory's XMP profile on that page with the Load XMP Setting option, setting it to Enabled.

The one possible issue with using the XMP profile is DDR4 memory can be used by two different PC systems, your Skylake board and CPU, and also Intel's X99 HEDT platform that uses a different type of chipset and CPU. Some of the memory option settings are slightly different between those two platforms. Since the memory controller is part of the CPU itself, these differences can matter. We can't be sure if the XMP profile in some DDR4 memory will work correctly on both platforms. Plus DDR4 memory is still relatively new.

If you enable the XMP profile, and the PC does not boot after that, you'll need to set the memory settings manually. That is simple with your Crucial memory, which I also use in one of my PCs.

All you would do in that situation, is disable the XMP profile (which might be done automatically by the UEFI if the PC does not boot), and then set the memory speed to 2400 with the DRAM Frequency option, again in the DRAM Configuration screen. You should not need to change the DRAM Voltage from its standard 1.20V. After doing this, see if the PC boots and seems stable in Windows.

Changing the Command Rate can be more difficult with DDR4 memory. I don't know why your board's UEFI does not seem to have that option available, maybe a newer version has added that option. But as I said, using 1N with DDR4 memory does not always work, as it usually easily did with DDR3 memory. That could be a limitation of the memory controller in our CPUs.

I suggest first setting the memory to 2400 and if that works well, you could try to change the command rate. Your memory is rated at 2400 speed, so can work at that speed. Your board does not seem to support higher DDR4 memory speeds, given the Memory Support list, but the newer UEFI versions may have improved its capability.

Let us know what happens with your memory. I have some even cheaper Crucial DDR4 memory, just rated for 2133, but I can OC it to 2666 with the same timings as 2133.

BIOS 1.10 does not have EZ Mode, I just discovered that now.

As I said in my previous post, your Crucial memory is probably NOT included in the Non Z Memory OC feature. You must change the memory speed to 2400 yourself, in the DRAM Configuration screen, as I described in my previous post.