1600MHz memory running at 667MHz?

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

I have two sets of these (2x(2x4GB)): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B-Vengeance-Performance-Desktop/dp/B004QBUL1C/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1476890423&sr=8-9

Specs:
FX-6300
Gigabyte 970A-DS3P
R9 270X
Corsair VS550 PSU

The memory is meant to run at 1600MHz but CPU-Z and task manager say it is running at 667MHz. I have tried changing the frequency in the bios but the pc then fails to boot. I have also tried changing voltage to 1.55 but to no avail.
I also tried running just 2x4GB but this also doesn't fix the frequency problem. Help?

Luminary · Oct 19, 2016

It is DDR (Double Data Rate) memory, which means you need to double the figure of 667MHz. Looks like your ram is running close to 1333MHz.

Go into the BIOS, the advanced area, and look for XMP, or DOCP or EOCP, whichever you find, enable it and select 1600, that should set the sticks up for you at 1600.

elbert · Oct 19, 2016

Memory have a few presets you have to go into bios and set them to 800.

madmatt30 · Oct 19, 2016

^ what they said , don't touch the voltage mate , it's dangerous & you don't need to.

Amd boards tend to have amp (amd memory ) not xmp profile options.

If you dontbhave an option for this set it to 1600mhz manually & set your timings manually too at 9-9-9-24
Still no luck try 9-10-9-27
You may have to do this for each stick seperately or at least for each memory channel.

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

When I enable xmp I either get failed to boot or a blue screen with error code 0xc0000221 from winload.exe

blazorthon · Oct 19, 2016

Memory isn't always able to run at spec on AMD boards. You may need slightly loosened timings (the 9-9-9-24 numbers may need to be increased as madmatt30 said).

Tradesman1 · Oct 19, 2016

Try raising the CPU/NB voltage to 1.25 and the DRAM voltage to 1.55. There are no guarantees when mixing DRAM, though voltage and/or timing adjustments can hep get them to spec

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

I tried 9-10-9-27 and it still fails.

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

Will I see much benefit when I change to 1600 or should I just leave it?

blazorthon · Oct 19, 2016

That depends on what program you run. Generally, it helps a little. Going from DDR3-1333 to DDR3-1600 is a theoretical 20% gain in bandwidth and real-world performance might get about 5% to 10% in some things, in other things it may be less than 1%. It's not a huge deal.

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

blazorthon :

I mainly use my PC for gaming. Does memory frequency effect performance in games that much?

madmatt30 · Oct 19, 2016

I'll have a look when I get home mate , I'm running 4 sticks of vengeance on a ud3p board which is very very similar apart from the vrm setup.
I know I had to loosen timings as opposed to 2 sticks.
This was a single pack quad kit though.
You sure these sticks are as near to an exact match as possible ??

Run cpu-z & check the SPD tabs for each stick .

Performance difference noticeable ?? Probably not , its irksome when you know its certifies for 1600mhz though.

blazorthon · Oct 19, 2016

Games generally aren't very sensitive to memory frequency after you go beyond DDR3-1333. Don't expect much more than a 5% difference at best in most games. It's not noticeable.

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

madmatt30 :

Everything on the each slots SPD tab are the same as each other.

blazorthon · Oct 19, 2016

There can be hardware differences beyond those. Things such as the chip quality, different types of chips, and more. RAM is sold in kits that are guaranteed to work not because thy just plopped two modules in a kit and sold them, but those modules were actually tested for compatibility before being packaged together. Even being seemingly identical never guarantees that two kits will work properly with each other.

Then you have other things like how AMD may need a little extra voltage and/or looser timings, then populating more than one module per channel can make you again need slightly higher voltages and/or looser timings or even a drop in frequency and that's all with modules from the same kit, let alone when you start mixing even seemingly identical kits... Yeah, memory is finicky.

madmatt30 · Oct 19, 2016

What are your latencies for 1600mh on the jedec table in cpu-z.

Write those latencies down in order, enter them for both a & b memory channels & be sure to change the command rate to 2t also as you're running 4 sticks.

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

Sorry for the late reply. I did as you said and it failed to boot. The latencies were just 9-9-9-24-33.

Tradesman1 · Oct 19, 2016

Have you tried the voltage increase suggested? giving a little extra boost to the DRAM and MC (memory controller) often will do the trick, especially with AMD rigs as their MCs are actually designed towards 2 sticks

Robbie E · Oct 19, 2016

What voltages would you suggest? I will try it out again tomorrow.

Tradesman1 · Oct 19, 2016

Those suggested earlier "Try raising the CPU/NB voltage to 1.25 and the DRAM voltage to 1.55. There are no guarantees when mixing DRAM, though voltage and/or timing adjustments can hep get them to spec

"

1600MHz memory running at 667MHz?

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