Noob RAM setup question

[jetpack]

Hi all,

I just finished a build this w/e with the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, i7-930, and Corsair Dominator RAM.

I'm just learning about OCing and the first thing I wanted to do was just get the memory to run at the rated 1600MHz. I read about XMP and thought that might be a good way to go.

So I set the bios to use XMP with no other changes. The bios reported that the RAM was running at 1600MHz. Sounds good. The system booted fine and ran fine last night.

Today, when I tried to boot, I had a couple of failed boots and then a message from the bios.. "The system has experienced boot failures because of overclocking of changes of voltages. Last settings in bios may not coincide with current H/W states. Current CPU Speed 2.92Ghz current BCLK: 133MHz, Current Memory speed: 1066 MHz".

I switched XMP off in the bios and then was able to boot.

My questions are:
1. What's the proper way to set the RAM speed
2. Should I be worried about the message saying that last settings in bios may not coincide with current H/W states? Do I need to reset CMOS or anything?

Thanks!

 

[EXT64]

It varies. Technically, 1366 only supports 1066 ram. Of course, you can set it higher (and many do).

Personally I'd probably keep it at 1066 and instead tighten the timings and keep the voltage low.

For testing ram, use bootable memtest86+ 4.0 and Prime95 (in Windows).

 

[jetpack]

Best answer selected by jetpack.