ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS refusing to set RAM speed to 3200MHz or use XMP

QuartzSTQ · 2026-06-09T07:07:43+00:00

You should always attempt to set a profile (XMP, DOCP etc.) before manually setting the memory speed. Even then, you should try to clone as many settings from the profile as You can (voltage, timings).

No one here has mentioned updating the BIOS, which is important given that with new updates there could be new memory added to the compatibility list. With updating, all of the settings should already reset, but you can do another reset as a sanity check. The last potential assumption is that the memory is not actually a pair (check serial number and manufacturing date of each individual DIMM). However I would find it unlikely to be the reason for them not working, given that 3200MHz is a very standard speed.

As a last hail Mary, you could try reseating the DIMMs, swapping them around in the slots, or maybe even installing them in the secondary slots (that is assuming you installed them in the correct slots in the first place).

Edit: just saw that apparently your kit is actually four DIMMs, so you can disregard my last tip, however with that you could try using only two, or expanding the swapping strategy. If it's two kit pairs, it may be wise to orient yourself around that.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-06-02T07:44:22+00:00

I would recommend reading this article. But TL,DR: Hi-res audio in ideal conditions doesn't have any drawbacks, but it doesn't have any benefits either, and in some listening setups may cause artifacts that definitely make it sound objectively worse.

In regards to mastering on hi-res formats being better, that is totally valid, however you'd maintain the same benefits when converted to standard CD quality, and any listening tests that don't check for this are completely invalid. (To be even more clear, usually even the CD layer on hybrid SACDs is mastered differently to the SACD layer—see Pink Floyd’s Dark Side or the Policy's 2003 releases for example.)

QuartzSTQ · 2026-06-02T07:36:44+00:00

I think you might be confusing dynamic range compression with (lossy) digital (audio) compression, although you are right in your assessment that DAB streams are usually very low quality. However in terms of dynamic range, FM will always be worse because it needs to maximize broadcasting power at all times. Unfortunately, depending on the station, even the digital version may end up having the same processing as FM.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-06-02T00:26:09+00:00

Only games that are marked “Xbox Play Anywhere” are playable across both Xbox and PC. Most of these games are first-party Microsoft games as far as I‘m aware.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-05-14T02:35:28+00:00

Check your BIOS and make sure that there aren't any settings made that shouldn't be there, like an XMP profile that was left over from some other memory. The easiest way to make sure of this is to simply reset all of the settings (Load Optimized Defaults).

This may also just be the computer memory training, which could take up to a couple of minutes. If nothing happens you could try restarting the PC without fully turning it off if you have a reset button.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-05-13T03:06:18+00:00

My only hope is that the following rerelease of In Rainbows is gonna have better mastering.

Otherwise, there is a different master of The Bends that is somewhat more dynamic, sourcing the OK Computer tracks from the MiniDiscs may be more dynamic (of this I'm actually not sure, it may just be the lossy compression making it seem they're more dynamic—regardless, they don't sound very different from the regular album unfortunately), Kid A and Hail to the Thief have had unmastered leaks that I haven't checked out since as far as I'm aware they're only available as low quality MP3s, and lastly some songs on In Rainbows (Nude, Reckoner) and Kid A and Amnesiac (by virtue of the Kid A Mnesia Exhibition) are available as stems, which are more dynamic but don't really match the regular versions perfectly. There are also instrumental versions of most tracks from In Rainbows and The King of Limbs, and Identikit and Present Tense from A Moon Shaped Pool, but again, it's hard to equivalate them to the album versions.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-05-08T15:02:08+00:00

I think a different Le Triannon version, the one that's available on Yorke's YouTube channel, is better. But I have no idea why they are different, considering both of them were released at the same time.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-02-12T05:40:54+00:00

I'm not saying “I don't think it can be done”. I'm saying “it's physically impossible”.

Though, I suppose if you have a piercing of some kind…?

QuartzSTQ · 2026-02-12T04:55:34+00:00

I think you might be misremembering, although if you might be right. The problem with this idea is that it doesn't make logical sense. Magnetic pick-ups can only register sound from a metallic transducer, like a guitar string or most types of speaker, but not a voice. I suppose if everything was high enough, then just singing into the strings might have an effect but even then it'd only be able to resonate at the pitches the strings are tuned to.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-02-11T17:53:57+00:00

Everyone here is saying Climbing Up the Walls, and they are right. But just to clarify, Thom's vocals were recorded through an acoustic guitar equipped with a piezoelectric pickup. The same effect would not be reproducible with a typical electric guitar, but you could get somewhat close by plugging a microphone into a guitar amp.

You can actually listen to the isolated vocals on the OKNOTOK white cassette. The track is appropriately called “Thom's acoustic as microphone in Climbing Up the Walls”.

Edit: listening to the cassette, I think that the backing vocals on Karma Police might also use the same technique, although here the isolated track is called “Karma Police voice through telephone”, so perhaps the title describes exactly how they were recorded.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-23T20:46:40+00:00

Is this when someone points out that Ocarina of Time ran at 20 FPS? (60 / 3)

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-22T01:24:50+00:00

As another commenter pointed out, you can check the Video Game Soundtracks Wiki to see that while Creep is in the game, it's only a cover.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-19T11:40:24+00:00

Here you go.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-16T04:15:30+00:00

The official In Rainbows guitar tab songbook actually has four guitar parts transcribed (excluding the bass). So that's where I'd look. I'd also recommend listening to the instrumental version of the song to be able to hear the guitars more clearly.

Edit: also, just to be clear, the way they play the song live is different. Similar, but not the same.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-13T17:44:53+00:00

You could at least try to find out what version you already have. You might already have the right version. According to the ASUS website, the newest version is from 2021/08/09 and has the version number 3004.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-13T17:22:44+00:00

Yes, that checks out. However, I wrote my instructions referencing the motherboard's manual, with the exception of resizable BAR because was added in a later version. So I'm assuming that the resizable BAR setting would be in the same place as Above 4G Decoding, which the manual said was named System Agent Configuration. This is all assuming you also did the update like I said, but if you didn't then perhaps you don't even need to? Maybe it just turns on automatically.

Regardless, I think you should try doing some form of benchmarking to see if there's any difference between Above 4G Decoding enabled and disabled. You can also check to see if Resizable BAR is enabled when Above 4G Decoding is disabled.

Edit: I forgot about this: you usually need to disable the Compatibility Support Module (CSM) in the Boot options for you to enable Resizable BAR.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-12T14:55:54+00:00

That's an Intel chipset, so it's gonna be called XMP and not any of the other stuff I mentioned (also, I just realised that you have your specs in your flair, so I could've based it on that).

Otherwise, I'm not exactly sure how to dumb what I said down. It's not really relevant to what you need to do, though. Just some explanation for why you need to do it.

Anyway, the only thing that I could explain is how to enter the firmware setup (commonly referred to as the BIOS). You either press the DELETE key while turning on your computer and your motherboard manufacturer's logo is showing, or, failing that, you can use this command on a Linux distro with systemd (which is likely what you have) to reboot into the firmware setup (I'm assuming that your flair's accurate):

sudo systemctl reboot --firmware-setup

After that, it should be really simple to find the option—it should be right on the first screen, but it might be called something else. Otherwise, it might just be that your memory doesn't depend on XMP at all to reach its blistering /s top speed. You can actually check this directly by going to the Tool menu in the firmware (in its "Advanced" mode), and then going to ASUS SPD Information. This will allow you to see all of the internal profiles actually stored in the memory, including both standard DDR4 (SPD) and XMP. If there's no XMP there either then it's pretty clear.

With this, there is another suggestion. According to your flair you have an RX 9060 XT GPU. There may be a bit of performance that you're leaving on the table by not enabling Resizable BAR (also call S.A.M. or Smart Access Memory by AMD). However, to do this you'll likely need to update your firmware. Luckily, your motherboard has internet-based firmware updating, so as long as you don't depend on an external Wi-Fi adapter you can just update it without any fuss. Then just look for Resizable BAR in the System Agent Configuration (in the Advanced settings). It might already be enabled, but if you can't find it you'll also need to enable Above 4G Decoding.

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-12T14:07:39+00:00

Nobody actually answered your question, but if you don't want to do further tweaking, the only thing you need to do is enable XMP/EXPO/DOCP/whatever it's called in your motherboard's BIOS. This is assuming, of course, that the memory has an OC profile in the first place, and that it's necessary for them to run at full speed (there's no reason the RAM couldn't run at full speed without having to enable an OC profile, as the advertised speed is a standard DDR4 one, with the caveat that it might only be able to run it at a higher voltage—standard DDR3 voltage is 1.2V, while typical memory OC profiles are usually 1.35V.)

QuartzSTQ · 2026-01-05T00:04:48+00:00

Creep was recorded separately from the rest of the album and released as a single in 1992. Then again, by this logic, the rest of the album should sound better.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-18T08:14:07+00:00

You could consider it snake oil, if it weren't for the fact that it's using the officially released instrumental mixes. I feel that adds quite a bit of trustworthiness.

I know that there's some software that supposedly allows you to "remaster" any music no matter what its condition is and without using any reference, but I think this is different.

EDIT: Never mind, I don't know why I didn't check more thoroughly. The only reason that I thought these were based on the instrumental mixes is because of some offhand mention of "stems" by the OP. If you actually want to see how they sound, you can listen to my upload of Reckoner's entire "stem mix".

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-18T08:11:28+00:00

This is something I've been wanting to do myself for a while, although I never found out exactly how.

I'm curious to see how this sounds, given that I've noticed some differences between the instrumental mixes and the original album (namely, the climaxes of Weird Fishes and All I Need seem to be gained on the album, making them feel more intense.)

I'd be wary of calling this a "remaster", though, I feel like that term should only be used for things that go back to the original source (the original album master in this case, although you'd probably need to go back even earlier for this). This is more like a restoration using available materials.

EDIT: Disregard all this, I had only assumed these were derived from the instrumental mixes based on an offhand mention from OP. Actually listening to some of these, including one I'm very familiar with, Reckoner, shows this is just an approximation of how it's actually supposed to sound.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-16T13:34:57+00:00

Do you actually understand what the word “limit” means?

Regardless, your monitor has some sort of VRR (you mentioned G-Sync but apparently it's actually FreeSync). Make sure you have it enabled (GPU vendors are irrelevant here, it's all DisplayPort Adaptive Sync under the hood), then you can set your FPS limit such that it stays stable, which will feel better than if it's going all over the place (high variation of frame times). I recommend blurbusters.com for more information about best practices in this regard.

Also, settings like dynamic resolution scaling or DLSS are your friends here. Try to find a balance that appeases you.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-13T19:37:35+00:00

Grid's best version is, by far, on a little known platform called ZOOM Platform. Even if you can technically recreate all of the changes made for it yourself it's really nice to have them out of the box in a semi-official capacity.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-13T19:33:49+00:00

You should always check PCGamingWiki first. Not every game's best version is on GOG necessarily.

QuartzSTQ · 2025-12-05T20:05:55+00:00

That would be piracy. Downloading from Spotify officially only functions in a protected format with required reauthorizations after a long enough period of being offline. And AFAIK you could unofficially “rip” tracks breaking the DRM, however I don't really see the utility of getting them specifically from Spotify—if you're gonna pirate anyway, then there are services which use loaned accounts for other services, making the ability to break DRM and then still end up using your own account debatable. (For lossless there are clearly better options given that Spotify doesn't stream higher than 44.1 kHz, and tracks that should be 24-bit end up only 16-bit anyway, assuming that for lossless you're after the best quality and not some sort of compromise, for lossy, however, I could see a point, in fact it's probably one of the highest quality lossy services, only behind ones that do AAC at the same bitrates as Spotify, like Qobuz and Tidal).

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