Asus Motherboard Specific Guide

This guide is written specifically for NZXT Gaming PCs using Asus branded motherboards.  You can confirm your motherboard model in the motherboard UEFI BIOS, in the System Information app, or by checking System Specs in the NZXT CAM software. Screenshots were captured on the Z890 MAX GAMING WIFI7 motherboard.  Instructions may vary from product to product.

AMD EXPO™ and Intel® XMP are a feature found on many modern PCs to allow easy access to higher RAM performance with only a few clicks.  This is done by including pre-configured profiles on the RAM modules that can be read and set up by the motherboard.

Why enable AMD EXPO™ or Intel® XMP?

Enabling AMD EXPO™ or Intel® XMP allows your RAM to run at a higher validated speed using a pre-configured profile that sets the voltage, timing, and clock speed for the RAM without the need for manual overclocking.  In terms of gaming performance, this tends to improve average FPS by 4-10% depending on the title and settings.  The main boost in FPS comes from improvements to your minimum FPS which raises your 1% lows (a measurement of the slowest 1% of frames during a session).  This can result in a smoother experience and a lower chance of experiencing stutters.

Enabling these profiles can also improve program load times as well as overall performance for CPU-bound games and applications that rely on loading large amounts of data into RAM.

Are there any downsides to enabling AMD EXPO™ or Intel® XMP?

While there are great benefits to enabling these settings, the trade-off is that it is still a form of overclocking. This means that the PC hardware, in particular the RAM and CPU, will be under greater stress due to increased power consumption which can result in increased CPU temperatures and the potential for occasional system instability (i.e. crashing).  For this reason, some users prefer to have these settings disabled to better focus on stability.

It is also worth noting that these profiles are generally meant for use with a single kit of memory (i.e. 2 modules).  Mixing modules between different kits or exceeding a single kit can result in greater instability and is not guaranteed to be supported.  For more information, please refer to your motherboard's Qualified Vendor List (QVL) for recommendations on validated configurations.

Does enabling AMD EXPO™ or Intel® XMP affect my warranty?

Enabling these features does not affect your system warranty, however we are not able to guarantee stability while these features are active.  

Enabling AMD EXPO™ or Intel® XMP

To enable AMD EXPO™ or Intel® XMP, the first step is to load your PC into the UEFI/BIOS by pressing either F2 or Delete at the startup splash screen as shown above.

Most gaming PCs will load into the EZ Mode BIOS as shown above, which gives us easy access to the AMD EXPO™ or Intel® XMP settings on the left-side of the screen.  To enable the setting, click the drop-down menu and choose Enabled or a numbered Profile (i.e. Profile 1, Profile 2, etc.).

Once the profile has been enabled, the specs of the RAM will appear to the right side of the dropdown box as shown in the above example.  From here, click the Save & Exit option at the bottom of the screen and save your settings to restart the PC.