Ram not Running at 1066Mhz

[Xitium]

Hello all, I just bougt some OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) to go in my new system. When I look it it in PC Wizard it only shows at 400mhz (I understand DDR2 so its 800Mhz)

I don't understand how to adjust this in the bios of my mobo which is a GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard,

Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.

I also read somewhere and not sure if this is correct but that for energy reasons I may run at a slower speed until it is needed. Is that true?

 

[Nik_I]

this is a common problem. DDR2 can only officially be clocked up to 800Mhz, anything over that is considered overclocked, even if you buy 1066Mhz ram. you'll have to go into the bios and set everything manually to the specified settings.

 

[pinaplex]

you need to set it manually to run at 1066mhz in your bios. by default, the ram will run at 800mhz.

 

[Xitium]

Very cool to know.. thanks for your help on that. Not sure I know how to do that but I will try and find out.

Another thing. A guy I work with said I shouldn't even bother tho because my FSB isn't really 1066 so having the RAM run at that would be pointless... Is that true?

 

[MaDMagik]

Pretty much, yeah. As data exchange between cpu and ram is limited by fsb speed, having ram running faster than fsb wont bring any real-life benefits.

 

[Agent_137]

Conversely,

If i have 2 sticks of DDR2 1066 and i combine it on ANY motherboard (havent bought one yet) with my already owned Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.1 (an am2 not am2+ cpu). . .

will the 1066 ram run OK as 800? Will it boot? If so, could i then OC it? (or would that be pointless without an am2+ cpu sitting on the other side?) It seems ever mobo only supports 1066 if you have an AM2+ cpu or better.

If it will run as 800, then i plan to get this mobo so that eventually I can drop in a quadcore am3 and a new vid card for an easy upgrade.

p.s.
I've read a vid card built for pci-e x16 v1.0 will work in a pci-e x16 v2.0 slot. Are there notable exceptions to this rule?

thanks,
Agent_137

 

[gamerk316]

1066 RAM will run fine at 800. Most of the time, you need to go to the BIOS and OC the RAM to its "proper" rated speed/timings. Most mobos now support 1066 RAM, although there are a few that may have problems.

 

[Lee-m]

I have the exact same ram, and a 6000+ I run it at 1100Mhz as part of my overclock.
12 x 274, gives me 3.3Ghz and 1100Mhz ram

Make sure you check what voltage your BIOS is giving your ram, mine wasnt giving it the rated voltage by default, so I set it manualy.