DRAM Frequency problems

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Kyttens

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Apr 13, 2013
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I currently have 3 sticks of 1 gb DDR3, When I run speccy it shows me running them at 533.3 mhz.

It shows the RAM having a max speed of 667 mhz. How do I change them?

When I go into the BIOS screen that is no option to adjust the mhz frequency. Why would my "Auto- Detect" function not select their optimal speed?

Thank you.
 
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The_OGS

The_OGS

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533 MHz is 1066 DDR.
667 MHz is 1333 DDR.

For example, most PC3-12800 is rated to run at 800 MHz (1600 DDR) but the SPD on the sticks defaults to 1333 DDR for compatibility.
You usually have to setup the 'max' rated speed manually, within the BIOS...

Same with the slower PC3-10600 memory. It is rated for 1333 DDR but defaults to 1066 DDR within the chip's SPD for enhanced compatibility.
(To make sure it will always 'start'.)
Once it starts (POSTs) without issues, you can try to run the higher speed through BIOS setup.

Hope this helps,
Regards
 
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The_OGS

The_OGS

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Yes - sometimes they call it 10600; sometimes 10700 (as in my own sig!) but it can run 1333 MHz DDR.
However it will always default to 1066 MHz at the default voltage, for POST compatibility.

Many motherboards do not offer advanced memory timing settings...
So it runs @ 1066 MHz. That's just how it goes... :shrug:

This will provide you 8.5 GB/s memory bandwidth, or 17 GB/s in dual-channel.
(I get 25.5 GB/s because my memory is in triple-channel.)
The higher speed would provide you 10.6 x 2 = 21.2 GB/s vs. the default 17 GB/s.

It depends on your CPU, platform and FSB or 'base' speed.
Typically 17 GB/s is perfectly adequate for most older CPUs...
So don't worry too much! Memory bandwidth beyond the requirement of the CPU could be considered to be 'wasted'.
 
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Kyttens

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Well I am currently running; Intel Core i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz with a TBGM01 (CPU 1) motherboard.

Do you know of any RAM (manu/type) that I could run at peak performance? Apparently one of my games is "Stuttering" and the belief is because my RAM is under-clocked.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Nope, RAM is not such a limiting factor in games, what game are you trying to play?

What graphics card do you have?
 
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K

Kyttens

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1024MB ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner)

And Guild Wars 2.

I have been going over everything with them for days. Including Fresh OS updates. Fresh Driver uninstall/Reinstall. The latest thing was that my RAM was under-clocked and they had reports of under-clocked machines having a screen disconnect issues. So when I had my RAM tested. It tested fine; So then I came here to see if there was a way to bring it up to speed.
 
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The_OGS

The_OGS

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Then you're in Triple just like me!
25.5 GB/s is totally adequate for our platforms/CPU.
I have manually set my memory faster and there is no difference (and I'm a heavy Skyrim player).
Stuttering is typically an overworked vidcard...
Also, your swapfile (virtual memory page file) is very important.
I have a large swapfile on its own harddisk, separate from the Windows OS harddisk.
With moderate settings / no crazy huge textures / easy on the mods, I get zero stuttering and fast, fluid framerates.
 
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The_OGS

The_OGS

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Forgot to mention - technically, 1066 MHz memory is the max supported by Intel's older Core i7 chipset (X58 for me) and 1333 MHz is 'overclocked'.
For the motherboard (not the memory).
So technically, your memory is not 'underclocked' - it is running at the default speed.
In triple-channel, 25.5 GB/s...
 
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The_OGS

The_OGS

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Get yourself a little tool called CPU-Z.
It will show you that our Bus Speed (the basic clock upon which all else is based) is 133 MHz.
The basic memory speed is 533 MHz, which is 1066 DDR.
Therefore my memory runs at a 1:4 ratio (or 133:533).
Within your BIOS setup, this is how you must think - to achieve different memory speeds you are 'altering the ratio'.

Newer motherboards with modern BIOS will translate this for you heheh, and simply offer memory speeds...
But again; technically you are overclocking your memory and I have no idea how your BIOS is setup to work - it may not offer any adjustment of these factors at all.

Actually, if you buy modern 1600 MHz memory it will fall back to an SPD default of 1333 MHz... which is what you desire.
Expensive (although memory is at all-time historic low prices) but it is another possible way around the issue.
Afraid this is about as helpful as I can be...
Good luck to you.
 
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