Cubase memory problem

Hi all,
About two weeks ago I replaced my memory banks with new ones.
4x24GB 7600Mhz, brand and type approved by the motherboard manufacturer.
Memory was automatically detected by the bios and set to XPM1 7600Mhz.
Windows 11pro and other programs are running fine.
For Steinberg the following happened:

  • Steinberg download assistent, lots of download errors.
  • Cubase 13, spikes, freezing, gone in a blink of an eye, Windows freezing.
  • Halion 7, freezing, all types of errors.

When I manually change the memory speed in the bios to 4533Mhz everything works fine. Issue is reported to Steinberg and under investigation.

What I like to know if this is a problem what more often is happening?
Thanks for your reply.

Couple things, 4 sticks of DDR5 is hard on the memory controller, it doesn’t matter that the modules are on your board’s QVL. Even if you are able to post at 7600, have you ran memtest at all? Overclocking memory, especially 4x DDR5 sticks is not entirely a set and forget affair, especially at that speed. Run memtest overnight, see if you get any errors (I would suspect you will), then you can better determine if Cubase is at fault, or if you need to revisit your overclock settings.

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thanks Semarus :+1:

Did you get any errors?

I went from 2x32GB @6000 to 4x32 GB @5600 and my previous projects are all glitchy now. Makes the new memory completely unusable.

I’m impressed that a loss of 400 makes SUCH a difference. Could it be that Cubase dispatches the instruments on multiple modules, and now the memory controller has a hard time managing things, y’all?

I suspect this is a hardware issue. You need to run a complete memory test and frankly, let it run an extended overnight memory test and then consider running a stress test on your system too to see how stable it actually is. Having the BIOS report that the modules are up and running at their full performance spec profiles does not mean that they are actually stable under heavy load. Especially 4 sticks of DDR5 at the overclocked speed. Chances are not very high IMO that they are stable overclocked under heavy/stressful load. If you have 4 sticks overclocked at extended heavy load, then count yourself very lucky indeed.

I always run an extended memory test on a new build and when adding RAM, and then I slam it with a stress test (aka “torture test”) in Prime95 blend mode with I believe roundoff checking enabled (can’t remember the setting offhand).

I would also monitor your temps carefully since a Prime95 torture test will push the temps above what Cubase will ever do. This will be good info for you to know about the overall efficiency of the cooling system. If it can handle the Prime95 torture test, it can handle whatever you throw at it with Cubase.

If it passes all that for extended overnight tests, then you’re good to go for system stability! Good luck!

Hi fullfacile,

A fully agree with uarte.
When I build my pc I got 4x24 gb ddr5 7600mhz installed.
In bios and gigabyte control center I could do settings:
XPM 1 4533 mhz, XPM 2 7600mhz and XPM 3 6000mhz.

The 7600mhz setting works great for windows, but not for Steinberg.
Lots of problems running Download Assistant downloading big files for Halion and Iconica Opus. Running Cubase was a drama.
I started testing my memory (thanks to uarte) with Windows memory test in extended mode and the results where shocking. My system could not handle the 7600mhz even Windows 10 and 11 where running smooth. After going for the 6000mhz I have a very stable system and did not have a single issue with the Steinberg software.
There is one other thing I noticed. Latency in Windows 10 is much better than Windows 11, but for my system it does not influence Cubase.

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I’ve been dealing with strange hang-ups with Cubase 13 Pro as well. I’m still testing things out but this may be a factor with your issues.
Using 4 sticks of memory vs two can cause performance issues (especially with overclocking). OC works better with two sticks vs four. The link below explains why.
I originally had 4x32GB paired sticks (128GB ) but switched to 2x48GB (96GB was the max I could find) as my MSI PC motherboard would slow the memory channel speeds down with 4 sticks. MY speed is fixed now but there are still a lot of issues with Cubase 13 Pro and Windows 11 which I’m trying to parse out.

btw I was able to easily sell my two pairs of 2x32GB ram on Ebay after I installed my 2x48GB sticks for pretty much what I originally paid for them :slight_smile:

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/ram-explained-why-two-modules-are-better-than-four-single-vs-dual-rank-stability-testing.363139/

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