Mobo / ram confusion

[Raw2v07]

Ok i have been looking to build my first pc from scratch and think i have the mobo which will suit my gaming/ financial needs which is the msi z77 gd65. Where the confusion starts is that the ran supported is ddr3 ranging from 1066 through to 1600 , which i can understand however it then has 1866 through to 2667 OC which i assume is overclocked. My question is this, can i just buy ram that only sits in the 1066-1600 range then overclock it or can i just buy faster ram that already sits in the oc range of 1866-2667

 

[yassarikhan786]

When you install the RAM it will default to 1333Mhz or whatever else the default frequency for the motherboard is. You will have to manually OC the RAM to its rated speed by either using an XMP profile or by adjusting the timings and frequency manually in the BIOS.

 

[jamesriley94]

Yeh - as Yassar said, it will default to 1333mhz most likely.

If you set it to XMP, it should go to the rated RAM specs as far as I'm aware though? Including 1866mhz, 2133mhz etc...
One of the users here has 2133mhz Mushkin RAM on a HD65, so it is possible

 

[Raw2v07]

Ah cool ty guys you have shed light on my confusion

 

[Raw2v07]

Talking about ram and xmp the way I read the meaning of xmp i assume that these are pre defined ram setups on the board, is that correct? Does the timings of the ram still matter or is that taken care of with xmp profiles

 

[Josh Weston]

XMP allows the RAM to run at the specs the manufacturer wanted. I have the same board as you, and when I put my system together my RAM ran at 1333MHz. As soon as I enabled XMP it was running at 2133MHz, which is what I bought. It sets up the speed, the timings and the voltage automatically, so you don't have to worry about it.

 

[Raw2v07]

Good stuff thanks for the info

 

[Josh Weston]

No problem
Best of luck.