What am I missing?

[Seinnhai]

Okay, I'm kind of at my wits end (it was a short trip, undoubtedly =). I understand some of the basics of overclocking, but this is a case where I don't think it should be necessary. Here's the specs

Gigabyte GA-970a-DS3
Phenom II x4 965 Deneb 3.4 (Black)
G.Skill PC3-12800 (F3-17000CL11-4GBXL) x2

According to everything I've read (w/o OC), the board/CPU/RAM should give me

4000 Freq
2600 HT
1866 RAM (at 1.6v) (not overclocked)

However, the RAM won't run above 1600 and the Freq won't go above 3400. The only thing that performs at the rate I'm expecting is the HT.

If I try to adjust the CPU clock speed to 233:

Freq goes up to 3946
RAM goes up to 1864
HT drops to 2074.

I suppose I'd be okay with those numbers, but the problem is as soon as I reboot I get a "System has suffered boot failures" message (not BSOD), but gives me the option to load the OS anyways. I drops the CPU Clock back down to 200 (which , resets the RAM to 1600, and resets the HT to 2600, and the CPU Freq goes back to 3400).

If I load the OS and run CPU-Z right after:

RAM is running at 2013 MHz nb Freq (Win 8 says its 1600)
HT is running between 1900-2020
Core Speed sits around 800MHz

So what am I missing here? It seems to me that, considering everything (with the exception of upping the voltage on the RAM) should be a plug and chug sort of move, why isn't my RAM giving me it's maximum output according to what the board supports (w/o OC)?

Thanks!

 

[Seinnhai]

... this was one of those RTFM questions that I shouldn't have asked and I'm not sure how to delete my own threads, but if you read this and are wondering:

Phenom II x4 is an AM3 processor, not AM3+ and the manual clearly states "Speeds of 1866 (or higher) require an AM3+ processor be installed first"

So there's my answer. Moderator, if you want to delete this please, by all means, do so.

 

[nikorr]

Best answer selected by Nikorr.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr