Dell XPS 8300 BIOS doesn't show correct RAM speed

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npthaiduong

npthaiduong

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Dec 4, 2011
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Hello guys,

I bought my new XPS 8300 for gaming on Thanksgiving, and it has been working perfectly for me (of course after lot of tweaks and adjustments). The system originally comes with 8GB DDR3 RAM 1333 (Dual channel - 2 x 2GB). I recently bought a new kit of RAM on NewEgg to upgrade the memory to 16GB DDR3 RAM 1600 (4/- x 4GB) from GSkill Ripjawsx.

I installed the sticks and hasn't encountered any issues like freeze, slow or any problem at all. However, when I check the BIOS, it only shows 1333 for the memory speed instead of 1600 as it is supposed to be. I also check with CPUZ and get this validation (Link http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2132127)

From the validation, everything looks normal to me. I tried to update the BIOS, but I couldn't set up the speed on BIOS because the vendor limits me doing so.

Can you guys give me some suggestions how to fix this issue? It would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much

CPU Arch : 1 CPU - 4 Cores - 8 Threads
CPU PSN : Intel Core i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
CPU EXT : MMX, SSE (1, 2, 3, 3S, 4.1, 4.2), EM64T, VT-x, AES, AVX
CPUID : 6.A.7 / Extended : 6.2A
CPU Cache : L1 : 4 x 32 / 4 x 32 KB - L2 : 4 x 256 KB
CPU Cache : L3 : 8192 KB
Core : Sandy Bridge (32 nm) / Stepping : D2
Freq : 3692.1 MHz (99.79 * 37)
MB Brand : Dell
MB Model : 0Y2MRG
NB : Intel Sandy Bridge rev 09
SB : Intel H67 rev B3
GPU Type : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
GPU Clocks : Core 732 MHz / RAM 1900 MHz
DirectX Version : 11.0
RAM : 16384 MB DDR3 Dual Channel
RAM Speed : 665.3 MHz (1:5) @ 9-9-9-24
Slot 1 : 4096MB (12800)
Slot 1 Manufacturer : G.Skill
Slot 2 : 4096MB (12800)
Slot 2 Manufacturer : G.Skill
Slot 3 : 4096MB (12800)
Slot 3 Manufacturer : G.Skill
Slot 4 : 4096MB (12800)
Slot 4 Manufacturer : G.Skill
 
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J

jitpublisher

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May 16, 2006
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Hello and welcome!

Seems this is one of the most asked questions anymore.

Memory is sold at the fastest speed it is guaranteed to work at, not the speed it will actually run at when you plug it into your board.

Memory speed is set by your motherboard/CPU combination. Now, on retail motherboards, they have options in the BIOS to overclock your memory to that fastest setting it is supposed to work at. On an OEM system, yes, it would be doubtful they allow settings for you to do this.

Hopefully without making you feel too bad about spending the money on new memory you really didn't need, you would never notice the speed difference between 1333mhz and 1600mhz memory, if both the 1333mhz and 1600mhz memory are operating at the same timings. There is very, very little performance difference, only a couple of percent. While you may have benefited some from adding more memory, that is about all you will get. It could be even that if the memory is running higher or "looser" timings than your original memory, it may in fact "feel" slower than what you had to start with.

If all is working fine, just enjoy the system.
 
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C

calilaker

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Dec 9, 2011
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I just got the same computer but installed 2 Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 XMP Dual Channel Memory Kits for 16gb. My computer shows it's running at 1333. Is there a software that will allow me to adjust this in the bios?

 
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J

jitpublisher

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May 16, 2006
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The memory is running the correct voltage and latency for the board its on, did you not read the first answer in this thread? Memory is sold at the maximum speed that it can possibly work at. It is NOT sold at the speed it may or many not run at when you plug into your motherboard. The speed it will actually run at is set by the processor/board combination. If your board/CPU combo runs memory at 1333mhz by default, then you have to overclock to make it run 1600mhz.
Most OEM systems will not allow you to do this, they simply don't build the options into the boards or BIOS chips. They want you to buy a new computer rather than upgrade, they are not in the business of upgrading computers, they are in the business of selling you complete new systems.
 
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R

RichAC

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Feb 1, 2013
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so basically what your saying is dell is scamming people. Figures. They should be telling people what the ram will run at. not what it would run at if you bought a real motherboard lmao. when these companies put that speed on their chips thats what it supposed to run at.

i have the same problem on my dell studio xps 7100. the ram which is pc 10600 has only been running at 1066mhz all this time. I never even realized. what a fool I am. and yes the 1600hz ram is only being recognized at 1333hz.

I think its just a case of the bios not automatically setting the correct ram speed. I bet if i bought 2400hz or w/e the next speed up is it would recognize as 1600. what a joke.

It has nothing to do with what the amd processor specifications are. And if amd says the phenom II's will run at 1066 in dual channel or w/e. Then you should be able to put in a 1066 frequency chip and have the bios read it at that speed. But i guarantee you if you put it in a 1066mhz chip in these faulty bios's it will only come out at 800mhz! The problem is this bios is just not automatically recognizing the right speeds. Its a step behind. which happens. which is why a real motherboard lets you manually change it. Because sometimes automatic isn't correct. Its not only about overclocking.
 
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RichAC

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Feb 1, 2013
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the automatic bios is reading the rams wrong. you have to put 1600mhz ram in there to get the pc to run at 1333. 1333=1066 1066=800, etc.... I don't believe the myth that number memory manufacturers put on there is only the "overclockable" speed according to cpu...... I bet if I put 1800 ram in there it would read at 1600. or maybe your right and its possible it will still read 133 or not function at all.


how did you overclock the cpu on your inspiron?

is the only thing still dell on your machine the case? lol.
 
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Kisianik

Kisianik

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Jan 24, 2013
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@richac: have you read the manual from the link I provided? You cannot run faster RAM than it permited by Dell, in many models you can double amount of RAM, meaning if your Dell model specs for 8 GB maximum, most likely actual maximum RAM can be 16 GB, with a few exceptions.
 
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RichAC

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Feb 1, 2013
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lol. I put actually put in 1600mhz ram it posted fine but downlocked to 1333. and as i've said 1333mhz ram downlocks to 1066.

the manual really doesn't tell you much. according tot he manual i can't put anything higher then 1333....so thats wrong. according to amd my processor can't go higher then 1066hz ram... so thats also wrong.

the website says it can go to 16gb. i put in 2x4gb's in two out of 4 slots for dual mode.

so is the only dell component left in your system the case? how did you overclock that cpu with a dell inspiron mobo? lol.
 
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Kisianik

Kisianik

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Jan 24, 2013
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And I placed 1333 RAM and it recognized as 1333, maybe you are using non friendly to Dell RAM. Overclocking is easy, but you have to use processors with unlocked multipliers only - you can do software overclock only (with very few exceptions), no BIOS overclock, Dell locked BIOS very well.
 
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