Memory multiplier

[stampedeadam]

Hi guys, so I have got some Gskill Ares RAM that is spec'd at 2133mhz and I've been trying to squeeze a bit more out of it.

Specs are 1.6v, 2133mhz, 10-12-12-31, 2T
I'm running 1.64v 2200mhz, 10-12-12-31 1T

Which is completely stable (it did need the slight voltage bump though). Any messing with the four main timings ends up in a crash/blue screen, so my next option would be to raise the clock speed of it a bit. BUT - the thing is - the next clock speed available is 2400mhz, and it won't even boot if I try that (have to reset CMOS).

So the question is, can I get anything in between 2200 and 2400 mhz? Or is this just a quirk of my BIOS (gigabyte z87 board)? It seems a bit odd that I can go from 2133 to 2200 (67mhz) but the next step is 200mhz?

Thanks

 

[jamesriley94]

You rarely get much of an OC out of RAM these days.

The memory chips on them themselves are only made by a small handful of companies across the world, meaning the ones sold as 2133MHz will only do that, because if they were capable of 2400MHz they'd have been sold as that in the first place.

The ratio is linked to the FSB/BCLK and it's a multiple of that - If on the newer Intel for example, it's 100MHz - ie, 100x21.33 gives you the 2400MHz.

You're better off setting the RAM manually or via XMP and just leaving it at that. Overclocking RAM just ends in instability these days. In the past if you were lucky you could get a little extra out of it, but these days it's very unlikely you'd get anything at all - especially not from 2133 up to 2400 assuming you keep the timings reasonable.

If you want to try to push it, you could increase the timings and that may allow you a little extra on the speeds, but it really isn't worth the effort and the potential instability.

 

[stampedeadam]

Thanks for the reply, I'll just leave it at the 2200mhz I've got out of it so far. I just thought it was a bit odd that there was an option to go from 2133 to 2200 but the next jump is 2400 which is three times the amount. Whereas the CPU and uncore can go up in multipliers of 1.