Review on 💾 Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM Kit - Black | Fast Performance Desktop Memory (2x8GB) - CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 by Nicole Mcleod

I wanted to like this RAM, but I couldn't get it to work reliably at the advertised voltage, speed (1.35V/3200MHz). This prompted me to do some research and I've learned a lot in the last few days, so I thought I'd try to summarize the important points below as it might be helpful for those thinking about upgrading. 32 GB of "fast" DDR4 RAM. The stated usage characteristics of this RAM are not supported. I mean the RAM is rated at 3200 MHz and 1.35 Volts, but it's not supported at those values. On Crucial's website, if you've read the FAQ section on this RAM (and many other DDR4 offerings), it states that the RAM's supported voltage is 1.2 volts, allowing for a standard speed of 2133MHz. It also implements a second "XMP" voltage option of 1.35V, giving a speed potential of 3200MHz. However, higher voltage, speed is not guaranteed and "not supported" according to Crucial's FAQ. So RAM can run at higher voltage, speed if you are lucky with your choice of motherboard and CPU, but, on the other hand, it may not work and you may have problems. Your problems may be simple, and obvious: your computer may not boot. Or, if you're less fortunate, problems may go undetected, resulting in memory and file corruption. You may also get a random Blue Screen of Death (if you are using Windows). The RAM I bought gave me a lot of grief while trying to get it to run at advertised speed. I had motherboard error indicators and BSOD. I updated my board's BIOS (ASUS Rog Strix B450-F Gaming) to the latest version, which actually made things worse (although I suspect there was a bug in the newer BIOS related to my M.2 boot drive). At some point I had to reinstall Windows due to corruption that couldn't be fixed, and now I'm back to square one (with a fresh install of Windows) by selecting the lower - "automatic" in my BIOS - speed option of 2133MHz. But at least at 2133 MHz it seems reliable :) - so it has one advantage! Now I'm torn between getting back that RAM that caused me a lot of pain, or maybe just keeping it. I've looked around and it seems that even faster DDR4 RAM is also "supported" by Crucial only at a lower voltage, speed. And it looks like 2133MHz RAM isn't much cheaper than 3200MHz RAM. Maybe the whole thing should be advertised as 2133MHz RAM with a potential "X" overclock speed. In any case, I hope my review is helpful to those who are thinking about buying the fastest RAM they can afford. The advertised speed is definitely not an indication of what it will reliably handle. Read the FAQs on the manufacturer's websites carefully, especially about DDR4 voltages and speeds, as higher voltages, speeds seem to be risky.