Something wrong with my RAM? Maxmem results

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Mookeylama

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i don't know much about this stuff. all i know is i spent lotta money few months back to get a capable beefy rig built but think something may be wrong w/ memory. here's some pics of CPUZ and Maxmem results. oh and this is the memory.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/383618/Vengeance_Series_16GB_DDR3-1600_%28PC3-12800%29_CL10_Dual_Channel_Desktop_Memory_Kit_%28Two_8GB_Memory_Modules%29
http://www.corsair.com/en/memory-by-product-family/vengeance/vengeance-16gb-dual-channel-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz16gx3m2a1600c10.html

pics of CPUZ and Maxmem...
lbfd.png

4167.png

qgxz.jpg


now i'm not sure that there even is anything wrong. system doesn't crash and all runs well. what got me looking was the game Skyrim seemed to be crashing due to memory issues that i wouldn't think i'd have w/ 16gb of decent DDR3-1600 ram. so i started checking. some things that worried me...
the numbers from CPUZ seem weird. only 1 XMP profile. it's labeled single channel when it is actually dual. low frequencies. shown as 800mhz when it should be 1600 (or is that each stick? i have 2 sticks of 8gb each).
and the Maxmem seems off too. the *** at top, like it can't even determine what type ram i have. the "Reached memory score; 12.70gb" that seems low. other results i've seen of this test show double that (22-24gb) and lower latency too. also when i try to do i quick comparison of my Maxmem results i get an error that just states "DUAL"
any advice here much appreciated!
 
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chriss000

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When somebody used to up to date ram sees this you will get an answer. FSB DRAM 1; 6? That screams setup error to me. Also single channel shouldnt happen with same size ram modules, unless the motherboard
only cost £20. I am sure someone here will see you rite quick enough.
 
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Mookeylama

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h3sham
heh, sadly i don't know what you mean. i'm an old fart and tech illiterate. i HOPE to be using all of what i paid for lol. always figured i was using all 16 gb. or at least that all 16 were available. knew they weren't being used all the time. and how would i find out the order? i know that i had bought a fan to put on the Coolmaster 812 so that it'd have a push pull, but tech couldn't install it because ram was too tall.

chris, they should be same size modules. they were bought together from that Microcenter link i posted above. specifically bought them together and in 2 sticks rather than 4 because i heard that was better
my full specs are...
Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz (oc'd to 4.4ghz)
ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherb
GTX 670 Superclocked 4GB
coraair atx850w
Crucial m4 CT256M4SSD2 256GB SATA
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB IntelliPower SATA
 
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Pinhedd

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The number of channels is not a function of the memory modules themselves but the physical connections that the chips on the memory modules have to the memory controller. Memory that is marketed as dual, triple, or quad channel is simply an indication that the individual memory modules have been tested to work together in those environments. There is no electrical or logical difference between a module that's packaged in a set of two, three, or four modules, it's all about testing.

If you take a look at your motherboard you'll see that the memory module slots are typically separated into two different colours. Red/Black, Blue/White, Blue/Black, etc... If your motherboard has 4 module slots, two of them will be tied together on the same channel and will be coloured the same. For example, two black slots may be channel A, and two red slots channel B. If you want to run your memory in dual-channel mode, you must put them in different coloured slots such that there is at least one module on each channel.

Furthermore, DDR stands for "Double Data Rate" which means that the IO bus between the memory controller and the active rank on the memory module transfers data on both the rising edge and the falling edge of each clock cycle. In simpler terms, there are two transfers per cycle. DDR3-1600 Memory is often marketed as "1600Mhz" but this is erroneous, there is no 1600Mhz oscillator or reference clock involved, there is an 800Mhz reference clock which is responsible for 1,600 megatransfers per second (1600MT/s).

Move that DIMMs so that they are on separate channels, enable the highest XMP profile (if you haven't done this already) and you'll be good to go.
 
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Mookeylama

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ok, i think i got it. please forgive my "paint me a picture" methods but i'm old, and have a condition that's made my hands shake and eyes lousy. so i just wanna make sure i have it right. in this crappy pic, i should take the ram under the left yellow side (marked w/ a ugly #1 over it) and move it to blue side, into slot w/ ugly #2 over it? then will i need to reconfigure anything? bios? download drivers, reboot ect
f3gs.jpg


i'm confused tho. the Microcenter tech specifically stated that he couldn't put the fan on the front of the cooler because that ram was too high. but now it seems that ram shouldn't even have went there in the 1st place??
 
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h3sham

h3sham

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yup exactly that way from 1 to 2 , u will only have to activate activate the xmp profile again and u wont need to reinstall drivers , as for the ram placing its alright to leave it there but u will get the most out of it when u move it to the other slot , if he had put the cooler in that place it render the slot useless since it will be blocked by the fan
 
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Mookeylama

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thanks so much for your help H3sham. also i think i finally understand what Pinhedd meant...

"If you take a look at your motherboard you'll see that the memory module slots are typically separated into two different colours. Red/Black, Blue/White, Blue/Black, etc... If your motherboard has 4 module slots, two of them will be tied together on the same channel and will be coloured the same. For example, two black slots may be channel A, and two red slots channel B. If you want to run your memory in dual-channel mode, you must put them in different coloured slots such that there is at least one module on each channel."

so let me see if i understand this...
basically the ram was installed sorta okay, in that it partially works. but as of now it's working in a single channel manner, when it should be in dual channel to get the full benefit. and if i want the full dual channel benefit, i need to switch slot #1 over to the redish slot (my labeled #2).
so now i ask, what is this "full benefit"? what will the benefit be of now running this ram in dual channel? faster more efficient performance? would this possibly benefit my gaming (which is why i was testing to begin with).
 
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Tradesman1

Tradesman1

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Try the DRAM in slots 1-3 from CPU or in 2-4, that will put you in dual channel which is up to a 10% increase w/ AMD systems

As far as the stability problems with AMD try raising the DRAM voltage to 1.55 and the CPU/NB MC (memory controller) voltage about + 0.07 from current (AMDs have weak MCs and the extra voltage helps them stabilize)
 
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Pinhedd

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I may have gotten it backwards in my post above.

You have 4 memory slots which should be labeled something like A1,A2,B1,B2. A/B refers to the channel, and 1/2 refers to the slot on that channel. You want one module in A1, and one module in B1. Off the top of my head I had assumed that the colours on the channels would be opposed (so A1 and B1 would be different colours, but A1 and A2 would be the same colour) rather than the colours of the slots on each channel opposed (so A1 and A2 would be different colours, but A1 and B1 would be the same colour). There's no standard for this, just a bunch of motherboard manufacturers observing similar practices. Your motherboard manual will tell you for sure but it may just be quicker to experiment and see what happens.

Regardless, it appears from your CPUz screenshot above that the current setup is sub-optimal. Shift that module that is in the second slot from the left to the slot to its immediate right and see if it changes from single to dual channel operation.
 
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