DDR3 1600 shows as 1333 in BIOS - New Build Ever

[orestesdd]

I just built a new PC. Then, I updated the BIOS to F12 on my gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Ver. 1.3) mobo and took a look at the BIOS screen to get familiar with it. One thing I found odd right a way was to see my RAM set at 1333 where as the specs for my RAM says 1600. So what do I need to do to recognize the correct RAM speed? Do you need pictures of my BIOS screen? Let me know to provide some pictures if they are needed. By the way, this is my PC specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K
HEAT-SINK: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 LGA 1155
RAM: Corsair 16 GB Vengeance Blue
Low Profile 1600mhz PC3-12800 240-pin
DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner
GPU: XFX Double D HD-687A-ZDFC Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
CASE: Corsair Obsidian 650D
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s (Model ST1000DM003)
SSD: Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch SSD SATA 6Gb/s CT128M4SSD2
MONITOR: ViewSonic VX2250WM-LED 22-Inch
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit [system build]

Note that this is my first PC build ever. Thanks.

 

[fudoka711]

There should be an option to manually set your ram speed to 1600 somewhere in the BIOS. You can do that or load XMP Profile 1.2 (or 1.3?) which should automatically set the ram speed to 1600 once you've saved the changed settings.

 

[dudemcduderson]

I have run across a situation where the RAM was in a lower power mode that made it run slower. Check the BIOS to see if that is accidentally set, also you can check the mobo website or manual for more help. If none of that works check out the manufactures website for either newer BIOS or if you already have newer BIOS try older version.



~Cheers

 

[nekulturny]

Its normal for Sandy Bridges to run RAM by default at 1333mhz. Keep in mind the speed rating on the RAM is the speed the maker guarentees the module to be able to run at, not what it WILL run at. It may run higher or lower depending on how its clocked, as Fuoka pointed out, with the XMP profile.

 

[orestesdd]

I have run across a situation where the RAM was in a lower power mode that made it run slower. Check the BIOS to see if that is accidentally set, also you can check the mobo website or manual for more help. If none of that works check out the manufactures website for either newer BIOS or if you already have newer BIOS try older version.



~Cheers

Thanks, but I did state that my BIOS was set to its latest version F12. Sorry if it was not clearly state.

 

[orestesdd]

Its normal for Sandy Bridges to run RAM by default at 1333mhz. Keep in mind the speed rating on the RAM is the speed the maker guarentees the module to be able to run at, not what it WILL run at. It may run higher or lower depending on how its clocked, as Fuoka pointed out, with the XMP profile.

Someone suggest to to use the XMP profile, but just to set the speed to 1600. What should I do then? Anyhow, thanks.

 

[Pinhedd]

Someone suggest to to use the XMP profile, but just to set the speed to 1600. What should I do then? Anyhow, thanks.

Hi there

There are two factors which must be considered when the system selects which memory profile to initialize by default

First, the system must consider what memory settings the memory controller supports natively. In this case, the Sandybridge 2000 desktop CPUs only support up to 1333 by default.

Second, the system must consider what standard memory speeds the modules support and what overclocked speeds the modules support.

The system will select the greatest profile which is common to both the memory controller's capabilities and the memory module's capabilities. This means that in the case of Sandybridge 2000 series desktop processors it will only select a 1333 speed at most.

If the memory is capable of operating at speeds above the standard profiles it stores these settings in "Extended Memory Profiles" or XMP for short. XMP will never be enabled automatically and must be enabled by changing a setting in the system's firmware. On most systems this can usually be found in the "overclocking" section of the system's setup (consult your motherboard's manual to find out how) and is as simple as enabling XMP and selecting which XMP profile you wish to use. Some memory modules may contain multiple XMP profiles, sometimes up to 4. The last XMP profile is usually the marketed speed; for example, a memory module marketed at DDR3-2133 may contain XMP profiles for 1600, 1866, 2000, and 2133.

While doing this please keep in mind that while speeds above those officially supported by Intel will work 95% of the time, there are always a few lemons which require additional tweaking, and a few which just won't work at higher speeds at all.

Best of luck

 

[orestesdd]

Hi there

There are two factors which must be considered when the system selects which memory profile to initialize by default

First, the system must consider what memory settings the memory controller supports natively. In this case, the Sandybridge 2000 desktop CPUs only support up to 1333 by default.

Second, the system must consider what standard memory speeds the modules support and what overclocked speeds the modules support.

The system will select the greatest profile which is common to both the memory controller's capabilities and the memory module's capabilities. This means that in the case of Sandybridge 2000 series desktop processors it will only select a 1333 speed at most.

If the memory is capable of operating at speeds above the standard profiles it stores these settings in "Extended Memory Profiles" or XMP for short. XMP will never be enabled automatically and must be enabled by changing a setting in the system's firmware. On most systems this can usually be found in the "overclocking" section of the system's setup (consult your motherboard's manual to find out how) and is as simple as enabling XMP and selecting which XMP profile you wish to use. Some memory modules may contain multiple XMP profiles, sometimes up to 4. The last XMP profile is usually the marketed speed; for example, a memory module marketed at DDR3-2133 may contain XMP profiles for 1600, 1866, 2000, and 2133.

While doing this please keep in mind that while speeds above those officially supported by Intel will work 95% of the time, there are always a few lemons which require additional tweaking, and a few which just won't work at higher speeds at all.

Best of luck

So to be safe, I should leave it "as is" since you mentioned that there is a chance to risk system stability as I understand your advice. I am still undecided what to do then since this is a new to me. I believe to have a wonderful motherboard but this is just my gut opinion. I believe that your answer seems to be the best so far, but I will reserve my opinion to see other comments. I don't want to mark this thread as "solved" yet. Anyhow, thanks for your support.

 

[iendigma]

I have an ivy bridge i5-3570k, an ASRock Extreme 4 LGA 1155, & 16GB (4x4) of Mushkin Blackline 8-8-8-24 RAM.

My RAM was also set at 1333 on it's very first start up, I'm not sure how different a sandy bridge is from an ivy bridge just to throw that in there.

Just go into your EFI/BIOS & find your RAM integers there-in, alter them to 1600 & save and exit. You can also verify that your timings/voltage are correct

If you notice system stability issues thereafter set them back but don't wait long to do so.

 

[orestesdd]

I have an ivy bridge i5-3570k, an ASRock Extreme 4 LGA 1155, & 16GB (4x4) of Mushkin Blackline 8-8-8-24 RAM.

My RAM was also set at 1333 on it's very first start up, I'm not sure how different a sandy bridge is from an ivy bridge just to throw that in there.

Just go into your EFI/BIOS & find your RAM integers there-in, alter them to 1600 & save and exit. You can also verify that your timings/voltage are correct

If you notice system stability issues thereafter set them back but don't wait long to do so.

Thank you, and I will take what you said into account. However, if I changed the speed to 1600, how would I know what's the correct timing/voltage which goes with 1600? Do I look into the motherboard manual? Or do I look at the Corsair DDR3-1600 specs? I just want to be sure what to do since this is my first build ever, and so far everything is working fine. I just want to get my money worth since I was recommended to buy the 1600 DDR3 RAM set whereas I could have saved some dough by buying a 1333 DDR3 RAM set. Again thanks for your input.

 

[shell shocke]

I Would just leave it how it is, 1333 and 1600 from what I heard you can't see the difference. Unless you can changed it without any problems I'd say go for it, but obviously that's not the case. Best of luck, happy gaming~

 

[orestesdd]

I Would just leave it how it is, 1333 and 1600 from what I heard you can't see the difference. Unless you can changed it without any problems I'd say go for it, but obviously that's not the case. Best of luck, happy gaming~

One thing is that if I paid for DDR3-1600 which was recommended before I every bougth a part of my build, I could not understand why I wasn't told to buy DDR3-1333. I could have saved about $20 which is much but I could have cut some cost here and there. I still not understand all this business about the speed and cpu requirements and the motherboard supporting such DDR3-1600. I was told to disregard cpu requirement and go for what the motherboard specs stated. Anyhow, I am still think about what to do. Thanks.

 

[Pinhedd]

So to be safe, I should leave it "as is" since you mentioned that there is a chance to risk system stability as I understand your advice. I am still undecided what to do then since this is a new to me. I believe to have a wonderful motherboard but this is just my gut opinion. I believe that your answer seems to be the best so far, but I will reserve my opinion to see other comments. I don't want to mark this thread as "solved" yet. Anyhow, thanks for your support.

You should try it out and see if it works. While there's a small risk of instability, there's almost no risk of it causing any sort of damage. The system can easily be reverted to 1333 to restore stability. The Corsair Vengeance DDR3 lineup is one of the best for a reason, it's really good. The same can be said about Sandybridge. Enable the XMP profile and if it works, great. If you experience any BSODs or hard freezes in the next couple of months, run memtest86.

 

[orestesdd]

You should try it out and see if it works. While there's a small risk of instability, there's almost no risk of it causing any sort of damage. The system can easily be reverted to 1333 to restore stability. The Corsair Vengeance DDR3 lineup is one of the best for a reason, it's really good. The same can be said about Sandybridge. Enable the XMP profile and if it works, great. If you experience any BSODs or hard freezes in the next couple of months, run memtest86.

This is all a learning process, and I do want to learn. Where can I get that menttest86? How much does it cost? Is there any other software to help me understand my build and how it is running? Thanks.

 

[iendigma]

I agree with Pinhedd, give it a shot, you can always dial it back down to 1333 if you need to but I don't foresee you having to do that.

By the way, go with Mushkin RAM next time you do a newbuild or upgrade, made in the good ol' US of A, excellent price to performance ratio and they're heat spreaders are sexy.

 

[orestesdd]

I agree with Pinhedd, give it a shot, you can always dial it back down to 1333 if you need to but I don't foresee you having to do that.

By the way, go with Mushkin RAM next time you do a newbuild or upgrade, made in the good ol' US of A, excellent price to performance ratio and they're heat spreaders are sexy.

I selected the low profile because of the heat-sink used. The heat spreaders are available in Corsar RAM, but these type of RAM will not fit very well sith the Cooler Mater heat-sink. The RAM selected is protected and looks cool enough with a black color of my mobo. I installed only 8GB and there are 2 more 4GB stiicks waiting to be installed at a later time for a total of 16GB of Corsair DDR3-1600. Thanks for your comments, but I am still in the thinking/learning mode.

 

[Pinhedd]

This is all a learning process, and I do want to learn. Where can I get that menttest86? How much does it cost? Is there any other software to help me understand my build and how it is running? Thanks.

Memtest is a memory testing and diagnostic utility. It is bootable (run outside of Windows). It's licensed under the GPL and is thus available for free. http://www.memtest86.com/

Here are a couple other completely [financially] free tools which are not feature limited and are very useful. They should be part of every builder's toolkit:

Partedmagic: Linux LiveCD with loads of system recovery software and even some system destruction software (for complete formatting of hard disks and SSDs)

Prime95: System stress testing toolkit. Heavily tests your CPUs floating point and integer capabilities. This is the most recommended utility for testing a stable overclock

HWInfo32 / HWInfo64: Robust system information and diagnostic utility. Regularly updated and one of the most accurate software monitoring solutions

MSI Afterburner: Robust GPU monitoring and overclocking tool. Far better than AMD/NVidia's own overclocking tools

CrystalDiskInfo: Hard Disk monitoring tool. Very good at monitoring storage health via SMART. Works with SSDs and HDDs. It is also capable of diagnosing disks that are members of an Intel ICH RAID. This is the first line of defence when checking for disk failure.

Atto Disk Benchmark: Tester favorite for benchmarking platter drives and SSDs. Requires registration on website.

CPU-Z/GPU-Z/CPUID: Diagnostic tools similar to HWInfo. They are sometimes more stable and easy to understand but are by and large less feature rich.

Below are some good and reputable benchmarking tools that offer limited evaluation versions

Unigine Heaven: DX11 gaming benchmark

3D Mark 11: DX11 gaming benchmark

PC Mark 7: General purpose workload benchmark

SiSoft Sandra: Extremely robust application benchmark suite. Tests pretty much everything except gaming. Has built in comparisons to other standard system configurations.

 

[orestesdd]

Pinhedd, I have an unrelated question regarding my buiid and this tread. For instance, I have one SSD where the OS was installed, and a HDD. The problem is that under "Device Manager", both devices are shown as "Disk drives"; however, since during installation I did not request formatting the HDD, I don't see the HDD under "Explorer". What do I need to do to format it and see it listed in a "Explorer" window?

 

[orestesdd]

Memtest is a memory testing and diagnostic utility. It is bootable (run outside of Windows). It's licensed under the GPL and is thus available for free. http://www.memtest86.com/

Here are a couple other completely [financially] free tools which are not feature limited and are very useful. They should be part of every builder's toolkit:

Partedmagic: Linux LiveCD with loads of system recovery software and even some system destruction software (for complete formatting of hard disks and SSDs)

Prime95: System stress testing toolkit. Heavily tests your CPUs floating point and integer capabilities. This is the most recommended utility for testing a stable overclock

HWInfo32 / HWInfo64: Robust system information and diagnostic utility. Regularly updated and one of the most accurate software monitoring solutions

MSI Afterburner: Robust GPU monitoring and overclocking tool. Far better than AMD/NVidia's own overclocking tools

CrystalDiskInfo: Hard Disk monitoring tool. Very good at monitoring storage health via SMART. Works with SSDs and HDDs. It is also capable of diagnosing disks that are members of an Intel ICH RAID. This is the first line of defence when checking for disk failure.

Atto Disk Benchmark: Tester favorite for benchmarking platter drives and SSDs. Requires registration on website.

CPU-Z/GPU-Z/CPUID: Diagnostic tools similar to HWInfo. They are sometimes more stable and easy to understand but are by and large less feature rich.

Below are some good and reputable benchmarking tools that offer limited evaluation versions

Unigine Heaven: DX11 gaming benchmark

3D Mark 11: DX11 gaming benchmark

PC Mark 7: General purpose workload benchmark

SiSoft Sandra: Extremely robust application benchmark suite. Tests pretty much everything except gaming. Has built in comparisons to other standard system configurations.

OK, where do I find all these tools. Could you provide a link to each one? While I await for your response, I will google them to see what I can find. Thanks for all this help.

 

[Pinhedd]

Pinhedd, I have an unrelated question regarding my buiid and this tread. For instance, I have one SSD where the OS was installed, and a HDD. The problem is that under "Device Manager", both devices are shown as "Disk drives"; however, since during installation I did not request formatting the HDD, I don't see the HDD under "Explorer". What do I need to do to format it and see it listed in a "Explorer" window?

My Computer -> Manage -> Disk management -> Find Disk with black bar that says "unallocated" -> Right Click -> Select "New Simple Volume". You may have to "initialize" the disk first, but the process is the same, select "GPT" for the partition table if asked

OK, where do I find all these tools. Could you provide a link to each one? While I await for your response, I will google them to see what I can find. Thanks for all this help.

Memtest86: http://www.memtest86.com/ (under "free download" section)

Prime95: http://mersenne.org/ However that website looks like its straight out of 1994 so here's a direct link to the 64 bit version ftp://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v277.win64.zip

HWInfo64: http://www.hwinfo.com/download64.html

MSI Afterburner: http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

Crystal Disk Info: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Atto Disk Benchmark: http://www.attotech.com/products/product.php?sku=Disk_Benchmark (requires site registration)

Unigine Heaven: http://unigine.com/products/heaven/download/

3D Mark 11 / PC Mark 7: http://www.futuremark.com/

SiSoft Sandra: http://www.sisoftware.net/

 

[orestesdd]

My Computer -> Manage -> Disk management -> Find Disk with black bar that says "unallocated" -> Right Click -> Select "New Simple Volume". You may have to "initialize" the disk first, but the process is the same, select "GPT" for the partition table if asked



Memtest86: http://www.memtest86.com/ (under "free download" section)

Prime95: http://mersenne.org/ However that website looks like its straight out of 1994 so here's a direct link to the 64 bit version ftp://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v277.win64.zip

HWInfo64: http://www.hwinfo.com/download64.html

MSI Afterburner: http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

Crystal Disk Info: http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html

Atto Disk Benchmark: http://www.attotech.com/products/product.php?sku=Disk_Benchmark (requires site registration)

Unigine Heaven: http://unigine.com/products/heaven/download/

3D Mark 11 / PC Mark 7: http://www.futuremark.com/

SiSoft Sandra: http://www.sisoftware.net/

Thank you very much!

 

[orestesdd]

My Computer -> Manage -> Disk management -> Find Disk with black bar that says "unallocated" -> Right Click -> Select "New Simple Volume". You may have to "initialize" the disk first, but the process is the same, select "GPT" for the partition table if asked

Hmm, I am asked to "initiaze", but I have two options:

1- MRB
2-GPT

However, there is the following note regarding GPT:

Note: The GPT partition style is not recognized by all previous versions of Windows. It is recommended for disks larger than 2TB or disks used on Itanium-based computers.

I don't understand if I should select 1 or 2. My other disk is just 1TB disk, and I don't think I will use it for other Windows version [mine is Windows 7 Pro 64-bit]. So shoud I pick GPT as you suggested. I guess MRB shoud be selected if it was a boot disk drive. Let me know and sorry to keep bothering you with questions.

 

[Pinhedd]

You should pick GPT regardless if it asks you. The only reason you would want to pick MBR over GPT is if you had a Windows OS prior to Vista SP1 or some older versions of Linux, If you had a 32 bit Windows OS (you won't be asked if you do) or if you were planning to transport the drive to an older motherboard that didn't have EFI support

 

[orestesdd]

You should pick GPT regardless if it asks you. The only reason you would want to pick MBR over GPT is if you had a Windows OS prior to Vista SP1 or some older versions of Linux, If you had a 32 bit Windows OS (you won't be asked if you do) or if you were planning to transport the drive to an older motherboard that didn't have EFI support

Thanks. I picked GPT after reading a bit about it on the net.

 

[orestesdd]

Best answer selected by orestesdd.