Ram speeds and i5 3570K

[zcoot]

From what I have read on Intel's website, the i5 can only work with ram up to and including 1600 Mhz. Yet though I see people who can use faster ram at 1866 Mhz and 2100 Mhz.

Just wondering how this is possible?

My first guess would be OC on FSB but anyway.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

It'll work because that's dependent on the motherboard being able to support it, not really the CPU.

Yes, a 3570K only"officially" supports up to 1600 RAM, but a a 2500K only "officially" supports up to 1333 RAM, and as you can see, I'm using 1600 RAM as I type.

It's just as simple as selecting the X.M.P. profile in the BIOS or setting the speed and timings manually. No adjustment to the BCLK (or FSB, as you call it) necessary.

Really though, there's not much reason to go beyond 1600 because the performance gains from anything faster with a Sandy or Ivy Bridge CPU are microscopic.

 

[InvalidError]

My first guess would be OC on FSB but anyway.

There is no FSB on LGA1366/1156/1155/etc. CPUs since most North Bridge functions (memory controller, DMI, GPU interface, etc.) are integrated in the CPU.

The only clock the CPU uses is BCLK and because it is used to generate the clocks for nearly everything else including USB, SATA and PCIe, it has very tight tolerances.

The high memory clocks on K-series CPUs are possible due to unlocked memory multipliers. However, as DJ mentioned, there is almost no gain from increasing memory frequency in most cases. In most benchmarks, we're talking 2-3% improvement going from 1066 to 2133 so the steep price for going beyond 1600 makes very little sense.

 

[zcoot]

Best answer selected by zcoot.nnThanks for the answer.nnAlso i didn't know FSB doesn't exist anymore. I still use C2D

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr