Ram not running at correct frequency?

BamDanUK

New member
Hi,

So the ram I am running in my system is 8GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz
(http://www.ebuyer.com/248846-corsair-8gb-ddr3-1600mhz-vengeance-memory-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9)

The motherboard I am using is an Asus P8Z68- VLX
(https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8Z68V_LX/specifications/)

4 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
* Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs.
* Refer to www.asus.com or user manual for the Memory QVL (Qualified Vendors Lists).
* Due to CPU behavior, DDR3 2200/2000/1800 MHz memory module will run at DDR3 2133/1866/1600 MHz frequency as default.

jgtlxx.png


Could someone please explain what is going on?
I was going to be stupidly overkill and wack 32GB of ram in my machine. - Also low profile ram this time so I can fit the Dark Rock Pro CPU heatsink I have.
(http://www.ebuyer.com/407259-corsair-32gb-ddr3-1600mhz-vengeance-blue-memory-cml32gx3m4a1600c10b)

Would it be worth the extra money to put 2133Mhz ram in (http://www.ebuyer.com/697033-corsai...3mhz-1-20v-standard-dimm-cmk32gx4m4a2133c13)?

Thanks for any help,
Dan
 
The DDR in 'DDR3' RAM stands for Double Data Rate.

It is very common for software to read the RAM as 800MHz, but since it's double data rate, all you have to do is double that number and you'll see it adds up to the 1600MHz that your RAM is rated at. Your RAM kit is perfectly fine and running at its desired speed :)
 
The DDR in 'DDR3' RAM stands for Double Data Rate.

It is very common for software to read the RAM as 800MHz, but since it's double data rate, all you have to do is double that number and you'll see it adds up to the 1600MHz that your RAM is rated at. Your RAM kit is perfectly fine and running at its desired speed :)

Oh dear...haha thanks a lot for confirming that! :cool:

Would you recommend me to get the 2133Mhz Ram or the 1600Mhz ram I linked in my first post?

Thanks again for your reply.
 
Oh dear...haha thanks a lot for confirming that! :cool:

Would you recommend me to get the 2133Mhz Ram or the 1600Mhz ram I linked in my first post?

Thanks again for your reply.

No worries mate!

Really depends on what you do with your system. For rendering more RAM can definitely be beneficial, but for gaming anything over 8GB is currently a bit of a waste unless you plan to run loads of background tasks.

Same thing with speed, with anything over 1600MHz you're not going to see any sort of nice FPS increase in games, it'll just make rendering that tad bit faster. The only time faster RAM really helps for games is if you're running an APU, which you're not.
 
No worries mate!

Really depends on what you do with your system. For rendering more RAM can definitely be beneficial, but for gaming anything over 8GB is currently a bit of a waste unless you plan to run loads of background tasks.

Same thing with speed, with anything over 1600MHz you're not going to see any sort of nice FPS increase in games, it'll just make rendering that tad bit faster. The only time faster RAM really helps for games is if you're running an APU, which you're not.

I do a lot of rendering (or I used too...but I am starting to render a lot more again). I understand 32gb is super overkill but why not! I am moving my system into a new case, thought I would throw in some upgrades to keep it running nicely for a while.

Next thing on the to-do list is purchase a QNAP and setup my own cloud storage for the house and clean up my desk setup...
 
Make sure you update to the latest BIOS for your board too , version
4105, since this will ensure it has the best compatibility with high capacity and high frequency memory. With high-speed memory it's a case of diminishing returns. You'll see reasonable performance increases going from 1600 to 1866, but after that it tails off swiftly. But if the extra cost isn't much then sure get the faster stuff! Also consider that Ivy Bridge CPUs are better at handling speedy memory than Sandy Bridge CPUs, make sure your CPU can handle it, 2133 should be fine but some CPUs with bad IMCs might topple.
 
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