Overclocking on our Z690 APEX:
Choosing your DDR5 kit based on memory chips :
As it was already the case for DDR4, if you want to clock your memory, some brands will have a better potential. Currently, the kits announced by the various brands have either Micron, Hynix or Samsung chips. The latter two brands will be the most interesting. Our Teamgroup Delta RGB 7200 MT/S kit is equipped with Hynix chips as you can see. But be careful, there are Hynix M-die chips, the first ones that came out, but especially today Hynix A-die chips that allow to go up in frequency more easily. A small but important note: our ROG Z690 APEX is a “new version” of 2022 which eliminates the problems encountered with memory overclocking above 6600/6800 MHz.
DDR5 “key” voltages:
For memory overclocking, there are 5 key voltages. These are the voltages that will have an impact on the overclocking and therefore on the frequency rise or the tightening of the timings. These are the CPU System Agent Voltage (SA), the DRAM VVD Voltage, the DRAM VVDQ Voltage, the Memory Controller Voltage and the IVR Transmitter VVDQ Voltage. Here is where these voltages are located in the BIOS of our ROG Maximus Z690 APEX.
Beware, depending on the type of memory chips (Micron, Hynix and Samsung), the balance between these different voltages is different. Don’t panic, we will come back to this in our guide on overclocking Alder Lake and DDR5. If your PMIC module is not locked, by activating ” High DRAM Voltage Mode “, you will have access to voltages up to 2 volts. Let’s go for the overclocking of this DDR5 from Corsair.
Step 1: Change your processor
Why? Simply because the IMC(Integrated Memory Controller) on my 13900K is much better than the one on my 12900K. Now integrated into the processor, the IMC allows for more direct and faster RAM management than when the memory controllers were on the motherboard. As with overclocking, there is a “lottery” and some processors benefit from a better IMC that allows them to handle higher memory frequencies. Since in overclocking we are going to increase the frequency, especially with A-die chips, we might as well take the best CPU at this little game. We will also do a performance test with the XMP profile and our i9-13900K in order to have a basis for comparison for our overclocking results. You will also see that we will disable the E-core at some point in order to be stable in higher frequencies.
Step 2: 7800, 8000, 8160 and even 8200 MT/s
We’ve been testing DDR5 kits for several months now and are starting to get a better handle on overclocking. Important point, we received a new ROG Z690 APEX dating from 2022. The 2022 versions have the advantage of not having to worry about overclocking the memory. The 2021 versions can be very limited in terms of frequency on slot A. We were able to validate four profiles ranging from 7800 to 8200 MT/s. Regarding the voltages, they were 1.60 volt (VDD), 1.60 volt (VDDQ), 1.35 volt (IVR) and 1.30 volt (Memory Controller). The SA voltage is 1.40 volts. Here is a table that shows the different scores we obtained at these different frequencies under AIDA64 and Geekbench 3.4.4.
And to finish, the screenshots of our different results.
Please note that we have just received a copy of the ROG Maximus Z790 APEX and we will retest this kit on this new motherboard. We will keep you informed of our results by publishing a brief very soon.
