What memory does this board support?

[PunterCam]

I'm trying to put together a rough price list for a new computer, but as ever I'm struggling (I only look at computer specs once every 5 years, and once every 5 years I despair).

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5284#sp

On this board it says it supports "DDR4 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2133 MHz memory modules" - does this mean it actually only supports 2133mhz modules? And to get the higher speeds you're just overclocking it in the bios? Or does it support "native" 2800mhz modules?

Stupid question probably, but if they'd just word their websites like human beings... Ach well!

Cheers,

C

 

[beers]

The 'official spec' for the memory controller goes up to 2133. While the platform can handle higher frequencies, they aren't 'officially supported' and would be defined as overclocking.

 

[johnb35]

Basically all you do is go into the bios and manually set speed and timings which in turns overclocks the ram.

 

[PunterCam]

Basically all you do is go into the bios and manually set speed and timings which in turns overclocks the ram.

Ok.. but just to be clear, as the ram comes from the shop, is 2133mhz the fastest I can put in the machine? ie, if I bought 16gb if 2800mhz memory, it wouldn't work? But if I overclocked the 2133mhz module to 2800mhz that would work?

 

[beers]

Either module will work, both kits will run slow settings until you either apply the xmp profile or manually set the memory parameters in bios..

 

[PunterCam]

Either module will work, both kits will run slow settings until you either apply the xmp profile or manually set the memory parameters in bios..

Thanks Beers! Out of interest, why is this? If the motherboard can handle it, why doesn't it just work out the box?

 

[Darren]

Motherboards will default to lower settings just to prevent any potential instability. I have two ram kits, a 2x2GB that's rated at 1.5V, CAS 9, and 1600MHz. The other set is 2x4GB, 1.65V, CAS 9, and 1600MHz. It defaulted to having them run at 1333MHz because the 2x4GB kit would "need" to run at lower speeds to remain stable as it wasn't rated for the same voltage and speeds as the 2x2GB. However I set them myself to be 1.5V, CAS 9, and 1600MHz, and they work fine, even though they're not officially rated at that speed.

RAM speeds make a pretty minimal difference though in the real world except for a few high end and specific instances, or if you're running an APU that relies on faster RAM to help with the GPU workload. Even gaming benchmarks (not on APU's) between DDR3 and DDR4 are a few frames difference at the very most, usually not even that.