QVL - Myth, Legend, Marketing/Advertising, what is your take?

[Contra]

I'll add that people return "non-working" memory under warranty a lot, especially TG and GSkill. And very often it turns out to be the inability of the motherboard or processor to run XMP... well, that's also why more responsible manufacturers write more than one profile

 

[Bill_Bright]

Apologies for replying after I said I was done. But I was quoted so feel I must reply to the inaccuracies that followed.

The problem is, the QVL list has been proven to be useless. (Correct?)

No, not correct.

As is now typical, you only listen to those with the same opinion as you, and can't tolerate and therefore ignore, and/or disparage everyone else.

Nearly 80% of the poll responders have indicated the QVLs help. That clearly indicates they are not useless to the overwhelming majority.

Shit in bold has nothing to do with QVL lists.

Sure it does. I even explained how. You just don't get it - or as I said above, can't tolerate and choose to ignore it because it does not align with your own opinion.

Even your own QVL list is a joke.

Huh? And as is also now typical, you throw out nonsensical stuff to obfuscate the issue. No one, including me, has created our own QVL.

Why can't you simply say that, for you, QVLs are not useful? Why must you try to force your opinion on everyone else as the only possible option?

Why can't you accept that for some (most it seems) QVLs are useful? I have totally accepted, as I said multiple times before, that for many advanced, experienced, enthusiast builders/upgraders, QVLs may not be useful.

It really is not hard, or should not be hard to accept that opinions opposite ours can still be right too.

Now - to stop ShrimpBrime from degrading sneekypeet's thread further, he can post his inevitable, must-get the last word in. I am moving on for good now.

Have a good day.

 

[thestryker6]

I think QVLs have both gotten better and worse over time. Better in terms of being updated more often and generally providing a little more detailed information (how many modules the speeds work with etc). The place where they're worse is that all the manufacturers are clearly using top bins to get the results. If you don't know what a CPU is generally capable of running it would be easy to fall into the trap of buying something that will never work at its rated speed.

For my own builds I think my current one was the first time I've used a QVL to pick a kit. That's because I just wanted a kit that just drop in worked while I waited for CUDIMMs to drop in price. I did look at the QVL for my W680 setup because I wanted to make sure the ECC memory was compatible, but none of the modules listed even existed on the open market.

When giving someone else build advice I tend to stick to QVL unless they're knowledgeable about memory tweaking. One other place I've found it can be beneficial is running XMP kits on AM5 as sometimes it seems like some boards just aren't properly designed to.

Overall though I mostly just view it as a general guide as to what may work on any given motherboard.

 

[TheLostSwede]

I can sort of answer this, as I've written about this before, but a lot of people don't seem to believe me, despite the fact that I have lived in Taiwan for 15 years of my life and been to the head quarters of all the motherboard makers except ASRock. Yes, that includes DFI, ECS, EVGA, Biostar, Jetway and more. I have also asked some of them about this in the past.

The QVL isn't marketing from the motherboard makers side for sure, unless they make their own DRAM of course, which I guess only Gigabyte has done and it wasn't widely available afaik.

However, it most definetly is marketing from the memory module makers, as they pick the kits they send in to the motherboard makers, especially during the early days of a new platform.
In fact, the motherboard makers buy very few of the kits in the QVL, as this is only done in rare cases when they have to test a specific kit they don't have, due to complaints from users to support.

Another thing to keep in mind here is that not all memory kit makers have a working relationship with all of the motherboard makers, so some brands would be missing entirely from a QVL, but might work just fine at the end of the day. Some of this is based on the fact that there are memory makers that do branded kits for one or the other motherboard maker, then the others are less inclined to work with them.

Yes, the QVL can be an ok guide, but ultimately, it's just the memory kits at hand at the motherboard maker and it doesn't mean other modules won't work or work better than the ones in the QVL. It's important to note that the QVL only applies to the same testing conditions as the board makers used as well, i.e. same CPU model, UEFI release etc.

Also keep in mind that the motherboard makers generally only tests with the default settings or the various profiles available and won't try any kind of tuning/tweaking. If they have an in-house overclocker, that person might do such things, but those results are not posted on the QVL.

I should also add that some memory makers have their own QVL's where they test different motherboards with their RAM, which might be different from what the motherboard makers QVL for the same board.

 

[freeagent]

good to know

 

[TheLostSwede]

I tell everyone who is a new builder that it is basically Legos and really hard to mess things up now. No longer do you have to read a manually or move dip switches.

Dip switches? What kind of luxury hardware did you grow up with.
Moving jumpers on pin-headers was the way to do it back in the day...
Sometimes it still didn't do what it was supposed to do. No, I do not miss those days.