To change memory frequency in BIOS

Enable XMP, select profile 1

Where the selections are, change from auto to XMP, it will make the changes for you as to freq, timings, voltage, etc

Yes, the XMP Profile comes from data in the SPD of the sticks and is specific to the set of sticks you bought, i.e. you buy a 2 stick set the data is for the 2 stick set, a 4 stick set will have different data, which is one reason not a good idea to mix sets i.e. 2 sets of 2x2GB or whatever

Are you in the BIOS or the software program, if that's in the BIOS I'll have to pull down a manual and see where it is

Looks like take and ENABLE the Asus Multicore Enhancement, on the main tweaker page, go to AI Overclock Tuner, select XMP, then check towards the very bottom the Memory Frequency Option and see what it is now set to.....seems very disjoited, but that's how it appears to work from the manual

It syncs the CPU cores to the freq of the DRAM and should increase overall performance a bit, for most folks XMP makes it easy to set the DRAM to it's specs easily, it only w/ DRAM 1600 and up (came out when Intels CPUs were native to 1333 DRAM. So, yes, if not enabled and not to spec XMP is the easiest way to go.

I basically build higher end systems for gamers, businesses and individuals that use and push their systems, I myself am not a gamer, but I most definitely push my rigs, while not the norm, I often have in excess of 20+GB of DRAM in use, so I max my rigs out. On my SB, the 2500K, 2133/9 was the top it could run, to hit 2400 with it I had to drop the CAS to CL11, and performance was a little less than the 2133/9 sticks. Same w/ IB, but I got a good 3570K and it handles the 2400/10 just fine, to push it to 2600 or 2666 I had to go to a 12CL and raise voltages (to much to my liking)...but I'm quite happy with the 2400 sticks, I get people all the time (mainly new clients) that tell me how they have read that you see no gain above 1600, so I put them on one of my rigs and we open a few browser windows, Word, maybe a VM or 2, some other apps and I let them play around for awhile, then we shut down, I'll put 1600 or 1866 in and have them do the same basic things...almost never fails they ask if somethings wrong with the computer and I tell 'em, That's 1600 or 1866 DRAM or whatever I put in....Even when they don't ask I often run blind test and have folks use a system and then tell them I'm making a few tweaks, have them do it again and about 85% of the time when done, I ask which way was better/faster, they all will pick the one with faster sticks,,,,so what's that lady say in the commercial "they can't put anything on the internet that isn't true" I see articles all the time with the 1600 is just as good as any other, all the time, but they are running BMs and not real world scenarios, further if you read them closely you can find all kinds of faults, problems, and just plain things that aren't true, much of which is because they don't know DRAM , so they don't know what they are doing. I've seen a few 'experts' criticize sets of DRAM saying that XMP from the sticks didn't load the correct timings - well duh! the sticks aren't magicians, they have data stored in the SPD of the module taht contains the proper settings for the set of DRAM, it's up to the mobo BIOS to take that data and implement it, it can only do so as close as it can based on how it's programmed - similar to giving a chef a recipe and saying make this, he can only do as much as he can with the ingredients on hand - may not be sweet enough if he/she didn't have enough sugar.

Anyway, if I left anything out, give me holler, I try and provide the best response I can

To get best performance with a set it can vary, generally using XMP does the job. Some mobos default to 1600 now and put their own timings in. No don't know of anywhere you need to be licensed to build, I network with consultants and builders, mainly in the US but also a few abroad and haven't heard anything....A good thing to remember though, don't believe everything you read, theirs a lot of writers out there that have no idea what they are talking about

Am heading out, back in a couple hours

If running fine, no real need for it tRAW is sort of a balancing timing more so than a performance one

If it's at the spec speed and fine then basically it's OK, can leave as is or enable XMP. XMP is sort of like DRAM for Dummies, without it, when you get into high freq sticks there aren' a lot of folks that know how to set it up, unless the BIOS can make all the adjustments needed in the advance timings, and all to often they can't, that's one of the biggest reasons you see so many BIOS updates, they are constantly updating the BIOSs for DRAM though they seldom mention DRAM - and why is this You ask? Simple they want to get these mobos out to the market, so the 'testing' they do is at the mobo defaults, which is generally 1333/1600....I find it hilarious to look at QVLs on AMD 3+ mobos showing sets of DRAM up to 2400 when AMD doesn't even have a CPU that can run 2400 DRAM (Note: I say CPU, not APU which run on the FM series sockets), their APUs like fast DRAM)...It's because they take these 2400 sets, plug them in, they come up set at the mobo default of 1333 and yes they run at 1333, but a customer who spent a high premium on 2400 sticks is POed, see it all the time, even wrote an op/ed piece on it here:

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=10566