Issue getting my ram to actually be 1600

[gammerthemad]

I just built a new build of the following parts:

Windows 7 64-bit
Antec 1200 case
Corsair 850w power supply
Corsair 6gb of DDR3 1600 RAM
750gb hard drive
Asus P6t SE mobo
Intel i7 920 processor
liteOn dvd/cd burner
and finally a EVGA Nvidia gtx 260

what I am trying to do with this rig is get my memory actually working at 1600mhz the board defaults the ram to 1066mhz. I read through some of the guides posted at the top of the forums but none really helped me understand my boards way of configuring things. I tried just setting the speed to 1600 but it hands my computer at the windows startup screen. So any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[gammerthemad]

self bump i'm still looking for an answer to this, because when i follow the guides my system fails to boot into windows it just hangs at the loading windows screen.

 

[gammerthemad]

your statement is semi incorrect. All i7 chipsets from my research support 1600 its weather or not you have to tweak with the bios to do it.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The default RAM speed for the i7 920 is 1066

The reason people buy DDR1600 is so they can overclock the CPU w/o the RAM speed holding them back.

-The 920's "stock" BCLK is 133.33 (say 133) MHz

-with a CPU multiplier of 20 and BCLK of 133, the 920's speed is 20 x 133 MHz = 2.66 GHz
-with a memory multiplier of 8 and BCLK of 133, the memory speed is 8 x 133 MHz = 1066 MHz

-with a CPU multiplier of 20 and BCLK of 133, the 920's speed is 20 x 133 MHz = 2.66 GHz
-with a memory multiplier of 12 and BCLK of 133, the memory speed is 12 x 133 MHz = 1600 MHz
So simply changing the memory multiplier to 12 gets your memory at rated speed

On the other hand....

-with a CPU multiplier of 20 and BCLK of 160, the 920's speed is 20 x 160 MHz = 3.20 GHz
-with a memory multiplier of 10 and BCLK of 160, the memory speed is 10 x 160 MHz = 1600 MHz

-with a CPU multiplier of 20 and BCLK of 180, the 920's speed is 20 x 180 MHz = 3.60 GHz
-with a memory multiplier of 8 and BCLK of 180, the memory speed is 8 x 180 MHz = 1440 MHz

-with a CPU multiplier of 20 and BCLK of 200, the 920's speed is 20 x 200 MHz = 4.00 GHz
-with a memory multiplier of 8 and BCLK of 200, the memory speed is 8 x 200 MHz = 1600 MHz

 

[gammerthemad]

then why does my board specifically allow me to clock my memory up to 1600 with out fiddling with anything else? I'll admit though it doesn't boot properly if i do, but.......it still lets me.

 

[cjl]

That's just doing the second scenario in JackNaylor's post, where the bclk is 133.33 and the memory multiplier is 12.

Are you setting the memory voltage and timings as well? Often, with a non-standard speed (like 1600), you have to manually set the memory voltage and timings for it to boot properly.

 

[gammerthemad]

That is why I came here for help.......to figure that out

 

[jitpublisher]

Trying to run your RAM faster than the default speed will gain you practically nothing (except maybe no-posts and blue screens). The speed increase is tiny to practically none. Honestly.
Go back and read JackNaylorPE's post 1 more time, very carefully. Especially the first 2 sentences. They basically tell you all need to know. If you are not trying to overclock your processor by a substantial amount, then you didn't need to buy 1600mhz memory.

What I would do is instead of trying to get the memory bus to run faster, is leave the memory bus where it is, and work with lowering the timings.
If you had memory running at 1066, but the timings were all 2 clicks lower than the same memory running at 1600, the 1066 memory speed with faster timings is going to net you memory performance that is far more effective, or a gain you may actually be able to "feel" in everyday use.

 

[gammerthemad]

I've decided to, after further research of this matter, wait till I go with liquid cooling to overclock anything. I want to, as soon as I get some money, make this system into a liquid cooled system. I am a broke college student though so I might have to wait till over the summer when I get a job. Anyhow thanks for the tips folks and you all take care. Oh and have a very Merry Christmas.