- Feb 23, 2016
- 3
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- 1,510
Ok, here is the situation:
I originally had two single DDR3 G-Skill sticks F3-12800CL9S-4GBXL (note the 'S'). Total 8GB in dual-channel running in slots 1 and 3.
The two sticks were running XMP at 1600 MHz with the rated 9-9-9-24 timings.
tRFC was at 128 (confirmed in CPU-Z and BIOS).
Motherboards (Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D) 'Memory Insight' also showed tRFC for the sticks to be 128 as well.
Now the problem:
I recently purchased the dual stick kit of the same model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (note the 'D') to upgrade my memory to 16 GB total. This is a 2X4GB kit.
I inserted the two sticks in slots 2 and 4 only to find that the system does not post. So after several failed POST attempts the BIOS got reset to its default settings and the POST was successful. Went into BIOS and found that the new sticks had tRFC rated at 208 compared to 128 of the original single sticks.
After enabling the XMP the system booted fine. The speed was 1600 in dual channel with 9-9-9-24 timings. However, with four sticks in place the tRFC was at 208 (as reported in CPU-Z and BIOS)
Motherboards memory insight showed tRFC for the new sticks to be 208 (slots 2 and 4).
Questions:
- Why do the single sticks have better rated tRFC of 128 while the dual stick kit has 208?
- tRFC being secondary timing is not found in the specifications at the products site and the package. How would a customer come to know about it before purchasing?
- The general understanding is that the dual kits and quad kits tend to be expensive since they have been tested to work well together. However, the single sticks have better timings and had no issue running XMP in dual channel. Then why are the dual kits more expensive?
I understand that two different makes of same model can have different secondary timings but this information should be available to the purchaser before hand so that he is able to make an informed decision.
Now, I tend to believe that I would have been better off with purchasing two single kits itself that would have yielded better tRFC and would have been less expensive as well (not by a great margin though)
Other Information:
CPU: i5 4670K
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D
I originally had two single DDR3 G-Skill sticks F3-12800CL9S-4GBXL (note the 'S'). Total 8GB in dual-channel running in slots 1 and 3.
The two sticks were running XMP at 1600 MHz with the rated 9-9-9-24 timings.
tRFC was at 128 (confirmed in CPU-Z and BIOS).
Motherboards (Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D) 'Memory Insight' also showed tRFC for the sticks to be 128 as well.
Now the problem:
I recently purchased the dual stick kit of the same model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (note the 'D') to upgrade my memory to 16 GB total. This is a 2X4GB kit.
I inserted the two sticks in slots 2 and 4 only to find that the system does not post. So after several failed POST attempts the BIOS got reset to its default settings and the POST was successful. Went into BIOS and found that the new sticks had tRFC rated at 208 compared to 128 of the original single sticks.
After enabling the XMP the system booted fine. The speed was 1600 in dual channel with 9-9-9-24 timings. However, with four sticks in place the tRFC was at 208 (as reported in CPU-Z and BIOS)
Motherboards memory insight showed tRFC for the new sticks to be 208 (slots 2 and 4).
Questions:
- Why do the single sticks have better rated tRFC of 128 while the dual stick kit has 208?
- tRFC being secondary timing is not found in the specifications at the products site and the package. How would a customer come to know about it before purchasing?
- The general understanding is that the dual kits and quad kits tend to be expensive since they have been tested to work well together. However, the single sticks have better timings and had no issue running XMP in dual channel. Then why are the dual kits more expensive?
I understand that two different makes of same model can have different secondary timings but this information should be available to the purchaser before hand so that he is able to make an informed decision.
Now, I tend to believe that I would have been better off with purchasing two single kits itself that would have yielded better tRFC and would have been less expensive as well (not by a great margin though)
Other Information:
CPU: i5 4670K
Motherboard: Biostar Hi-Fi Z87X 3D
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