Question on compatibility of RAM speeds and Mother Boards

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CliffDeWiz

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I have a Dell Optiplex 790, the mother board model is a dell e93839 ka0121.

The RAM pre-installed is 2x 2GB DDR3-1333.

I was wondering what the max speed would be for a single 4GB RAM

Truly, I'm wondering if DDR3-1600 would be compatible. Thank you for your time!
 
Solution
Karadjgne
Because of dual channel and latency timings of the 2x2Gb sticks, you'll more than likely see better performance from the 2x1333MHz ram vrs 1x 1600MHz.

Also, according to the Dell optiplex 790 manual, that mobo only supports 1333MHz ram, which is a little odd, so whether 1600 is supported is hard to say, but I'd guess not, so installing 1600 could either get 1600 or have the bios default to 1333, which is within the 1600 capability.

If you have a 32bit version of Windows (x86), you have maxed out capability at 4Gb 1333MHz, I'd only suggest 8Gb 1333MHz in 2x4Gb if you have a 64 bit (x64) version of Windows.
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Karadjgne

Karadjgne

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Because of dual channel and latency timings of the 2x2Gb sticks, you'll more than likely see better performance from the 2x1333MHz ram vrs 1x 1600MHz.

Also, according to the Dell optiplex 790 manual, that mobo only supports 1333MHz ram, which is a little odd, so whether 1600 is supported is hard to say, but I'd guess not, so installing 1600 could either get 1600 or have the bios default to 1333, which is within the 1600 capability.

If you have a 32bit version of Windows (x86), you have maxed out capability at 4Gb 1333MHz, I'd only suggest 8Gb 1333MHz in 2x4Gb if you have a 64 bit (x64) version of Windows.
 
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Solution
geofelt

geofelt

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You want documented ram compatibility. If you should ever have a problem, you want supported ram.
Otherwise, you risk a finger pointing battle between the ram and motherboard support sites, claiming "not my problem".
One place to check is your motherboards web site.
Look for the ram QVL list. It lists all of the ram kits that have been tested with that particular motherboard.
Sometimes the QVL list is not updated after the motherboard is released.
For more current info, go to a ram vendor's web site and access their ram selection configurator.
Enter your motherboard, and you will get a list of compatible ram kits.
While today's motherboards are more tolerant of different ram, it makes sense to buy ram that is known to work and is supported.
 
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CliffDeWiz

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Thank you! This helps a lot! Being a junior technician, I have a lot more to learn as far as compatibility goes.
 
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CliffDeWiz

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Thank you! With that combined information from you and geofelt, I think I've got this in hand. This is extremely helpful!
 
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