Question about RAM installation.

[Guest]

Ok, when I get my DDR2 800 ram, with AM2, at a voltage rating higher than 1.8v, what will my mobo do with it? Will it automatically detect say 2.0v and set it to that or what? My mobos stock voltage is 1.8v, like everyone elses.

Thanks for the help.

 

[elpresidente2075]

If I'm not mistaken, the ram would still function, just be undervolted and not liking to run. What you would do (assuming that is right) is set the voltage to 2.0 volts as soon as you can. That is, again, assuming the first statement is correct. Otherwise, get a cheap DDR2 stick of like 128 or 256 with the right voltage, then set the bios to the correct voltage and put the DDR800 sticks in. I had to do that with a pair of DDR sticks I had on another motherboard before I could update the bios to support my chips. Not fun, but necessary.

 

[Guest]

I've been googling and have found a lot saying that it will just undervolt and underclock the ram until I change it. I have just emailed Gigabyte about that question and the maximum voltage on my certain mobo. I got the M55SLI-S4.

Hopefully they will respond before thursday. I will probaly buy on friday, they should have sales going on this weekend. I still need my gpu, ram, and os.

 

[Slobogob]

Usually the voltage gets set wrong by the bios. Since the chip won´t run with 800FSB at 1,8 volts, it usually gets downclocked to 667 or even 533 mhz. On the other hand it might just not run either. Check the RAM list of the mb manufacturer.

 

[Mondoman]

The simple fact is that if it doesn't run at all at the industry-standard 1.8V, it is by definition defective (assuming it was sold as being DDR2 RAM), and the manufacturer must replace it with a non-defective module or refund your money. Note that some modules are only guaranteed to run at a certain speed/timing at a higher-than-standard voltage, but they are still required to run at the standard 1.8V (perhaps at a slower speed or timings).
Since "undervolting" would mean less than 1.8V, in practice nobody "undervolts" RAM. Many modules may require factory-sanctioned "over-volting", but "not overvolting" is not the same as "undervolting". Also, unless both the MB BIOS and the memory module supports EPP, the BIOS will not adjust the memory voltage, leaving it at the most-compatible standard 1.8V, so a BIOS cannot auto-set memory voltage to a wrong value.
This post may help clarify the whole speed/timings/advertised specs mess:
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=1249881#1249881

Bottom line: if a memory module doesn't work with the BIOS auto-setting the memory parameters, either the DIMM or the MB is defective (it's almost always the DIMM).