Ram Voltages and other assorted ram questions PLZ quick reply

[Masrawy1973]

Hi guys im a 15 year old first time builedr and i have a few questions regarding Ram and its compatibility on motherboards. Iam going to get the a MSI 890 gtx gd65 mobo. and it says on the manufacturers site that the ram banks are 1.5 v or something like that...;does that mean if i buy ram thats like rated more that it will not work or work at lower specs or will it not work at all. Also i know that the amd phenom IIs support no more than 1333mhz speed so why do i see people using faster ram with them. also if i want to change the ram timings in the bios do i need like monster cooling or will the change in heat be negligible or will i have to increase the voltages? manufacturers site: http://www.msi.com/product/mb/890GXM-G65.html thanks in advance for any replies help is greatly appreciated .

 

[eightdrunkengods]

I'm not sure what that 1.5 V means. You'll have to be more specific. The motherboard manufacturer will usually have a memory QVL available for downolad. This is a list that basically shows you which memory is guaranteed to work with that board. Most recommend that you buy memory on that list.

I think all phenom IIs are rated to support 1333 MHz max. However, most people are still able to get their 1600 MHz RAM to run at 1600. You will have better luck with this if you have fewer sticks of RAM (for your motherboard, get 2 sticks of RAM as opposed to 4). If you get good RAM (which will have some kind of heat spreader or heatsink on it) then you won't need monster cooling to get to 1600 MHz.

 

[j2j663]

Yes it is true that Phenom IIs do not officially support anything higher than 1333MHz. However next to most of the motherboards you will see something like 1066, 1333, 1600 OC, 1833 OC. This just means that if have ram that can run at 1600MHz then you will have to manually set it in the BIOS to run at that speed.

I don't completely know what you mean by 1.5V for the mobo. I haven't really heard of a mobo putting limits on the ram voltage. I will say that the majority of ram runs standard on 1.5V or 1.65V so you should not have a problem finding ram that runs at 1.5V if your mobo truly limits that.

Like Mr. eight said the mobo manufacturer should have a QVL available for you to look at, just chose some ram off of that list that you like and you should not have any problems.

 

[Masrawy1973]

Yes it is true that Phenom IIs do not officially support anything higher than 1333MHz. However next to most of the motherboards you will see something like 1066, 1333, 1600 OC, 1833 OC. This just means that if have ram that can run at 1600MHz then you will have to manually set it in the BIOS to run at that speed.

I don't completely know what you mean by 1.5V for the mobo. I haven't really heard of a mobo putting limits on the ram voltage. I will say that the majority of ram runs standard on 1.5V or 1.65V so you should not have a problem finding ram that runs at 1.5V if your mobo truly limits that.

Like Mr. eight said the mobo manufacturer should have a QVL available for you to look at, just chose some ram off of that list that you like and you should not have any problems.

ok thanks guys for your reply! being a first time builder, i dont really know what that means either but this is the manufacturer's website and if you go on the specs page it says that its 1.5 http://www.msi.com/product/mb/890GXM-G65.html so basically your saying i shouldn't worry about that and just buy any ram i want?

another question if i get cl9 ram and i want tighter timings can i just change the timings without risk of system instability or is it not that simple?
thanks for any input in advance!

 

[eightdrunkengods]

so basically your saying i shouldn't worry about that and just buy any ram i want?

another question if i get cl9 ram and i want tighter timings can i just change the timings without risk of system instability or is it not that simple?
thanks for any input in advance!

Looks like MSI doesn't call it a QVL. Follow this link and click on "memory modules". Make sure the RAM you want (at the quantity you want it) is on that list. http://www.msi.com/product/mb/890GXM-G65.html#Support It looks like the 1.5V means that they recommend lower voltage RAM (although there is 1.65V RAM on that list). Anything on the list should be fine.

Setting your timings tighter than the RAM is rated for could possibly affect your stability. The lower you set them, the more risk of instability. The only way to know for sure what will be stable is to try it. It's a pretty low risk thing to try, though. If your system becomes unstable, you can always set your timings back to stock.

 

[j2j663]

another question if i get cl9 ram and i want tighter timings can i just change the timings without risk of system instability or is it not that simple?
thanks for any input in advance!

Changing any component from the stock settings can always lead to system instability. When you buy a product like ram from a manufacturer they are guaranteeing that it will work at the specs listed. The manufacturer knows they work because they have been tested at these specs. Some of the ram modules will be able to OC very well, while some modules may not be able to OC at all. But all of the modules are guaranteed to work at the listed specs. Its pretty much a crap shoot as to whether you will get a good batch or a bad one.

About OC your ram ... there are 2 different kinds of OC you can do with ram. The first is tighten your timings like you are suggesting, which will reduce the delays in many of the internal timings of the ram (9-9-9-24 --> 8-8-8-21). This will in turn make your ram more responsive. The second is to increase the ram speed (1333MHz --> 1600MHz). This will cause your ram to work faster and may need a bit of a voltage increase as well. For either OC you will probably need some kind of synthetic benchmark to see the performance difference from stock settings.

Yes, both of these OC tweaks can lead to system instability. Simply lowering the timings or raising the clock speed will not damage your ram modules permanently. However raising the voltage to achieve stability can cause damage to your ram or even your mobo. That would be why it is good to know that your mobo limit is 1.5V you should not raise the voltage above that.

My recommendation would be to install the ram and immediately go to you bios and set the timings and voltage of your ram to its stock ratings. After that run Memtest for a while to make sure you have good ram. Then if you want you can play with the timings or clock speed. But in your case I would set the voltage a 1.5V and leave it alone.

Good Luck and Have Fun!