Right speed of RAM

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v3nes

New Member
I have crosshair iv formula witch supports "4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600(O.C.)/1333/1066". I also have corsair dominator which comes with speed 1600 MHz.

I found option in bios to change ram speed. It was set to 1200+ MHz not I set it to 1500+ and I also have option to set it to 1700+

+ means more than the number before because i don't remember exact number :D

My question is if I set it to higher rate (1700+) it will be "overclocked" and could not work properly? And what does 1600(O.C) stands for? I know o.c means overclocked but my ram runs at 1600 (stock) so it's not overclocked. Does it make any difference?

I also open CPU-z and there is only 620.8 MHz in (DRAM Frequency). Should it be 1600 MHz?
 
The 1600 OC means the BIOS can be set to run at that but it's not a stock setting for the memory controller. It's basically a factory overclock. It's pretty safe, you shouldn't have to worry about anything not working.
 
DDR3 1600 really runs at 800mz. If CPUz says your memory is at 620.8, then your memory is at 1241.6mhz. So its under clocked right now.
 
The stock memory controller on the chipset or cpu or whichever (i think it's on the cpu for lga1155) is only programmed to handle up to 1333mhz, that's its "limit," but most motherboards have a special feature which can force the memory controller to accept the higher speed ram that you have.

I wouldn't set it to 1700+, if you overclock it from its settings it says, it can cause some issues, and idk if they are permanent or just undoing it will solve them. Overclocking ram past its limits just isn't the best thing to do, and the reward for the little you can do safely isn't even noticeable generally.
 
Thanks for answers guys!

jonnyp11 said:
The stock memory controller on the chipset or cpu or whichever (i think it's on the cpu for lga1155) is only programmed to handle up to 1333mhz, that's its "limit," but most motherboards have a special feature which can force the memory controller to accept the higher speed ram that you have.
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So when I buy RAM that comes with 1600 speed it means that it's overclocked? Or this is highest stable speed I can achieve or something like that?

I wouldn't set it to 1700+, if you overclock it from its settings it says, it can cause some issues, and idk if they are permanent or just undoing it will solve them. Overclocking ram past its limits just isn't the best thing to do, and the reward for the little you can do safely isn't even noticeable generally.
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I did research on that and I agree many people say that higher speed isn't noticeable.
 
v3nes said:
So when I buy RAM that comes with 1600 speed it means that it's overclocked? Or this is highest stable speed I can achieve or something like that?
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The RAM isn't overclocked, but your memory system will be. When you buy DDR 1600 or 2000 or whatever, the manufacturer says the RAM is ok at that speed with specified settings.
 
Like said above, your not overclocking the memory. Your technically overclocking the memory controller. Its really odd that you just have 1200/1500 and 1700 memory dividers. That just doesnt seem right.
 
StrangleHold said:
DDR3 1600 really runs at 800mz. If CPUz says your memory is at 620.8, then your memory is at 1241.6mhz. So its under clocked right now.
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eum, I bought my 8gb 1600mhz kingston ram and it's also clocked at 667.
later on I bought some more ram from G.skill (1600mhz 8gb), and that's clocked on 800...
Can it bother my system? Or does is work just fine?
 
SmileMan said:
eum, I bought my 8gb 1600mhz kingston ram and it's also clocked at 667.
later on I bought some more ram from G.skill (1600mhz 8gb), and that's clocked on 800...
Can it bother my system? Or does is work just fine?
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The Kingston probably defaulted to 1333 by its SPD settings. By JEDEC standards it has to run at its stated speed with 1.5V. So at 1600 if it needed more voltage it would default to 1333 at 1.5V. The GSkill probably would do 1600 with 1.5.V

Bother your system? Are you running them together? If so, by auto settings it will default to the slowest speed of both sets
 
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StrangleHold said:
The Kingston probably defaulted to 1333 by its SPD settings. By JEDEC standards it has to run at its stated speed with 1.5V. So at 1600 if it needed more voltage it would default to 1333 at 1.5V. The GSkill probably would do 1600 with 1.5.V

Bother your system? Are you running them together? If so, by auto settings it will default to the slowest speed of both sets
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And is it supposed to run better then?
 
SmileMan said:
if I clock it on auto and not on 1600
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Well AMD and Intels memory controller will run alot higher then the standard JEDEC standard of 1333 at 1.5V. Well AMD now supports 1866 by default. But if you have 1600/1866/2133 set to its speed/timing and voltage correct, it will run just as stable as it would at 1333. Any thing above that you might have to bump up the Memory Controller voltage a tad.
 
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