Are my RAMs working to their full potential?

[SilverSeal]

First post here. I tried to look for a specific answer to my problem, but couldn't find any satisfactorily.

Bought a new PC not long ago with the following memory:

Kingston DDR3 HyperX Beast 32GB (4x KHX2400C11D3K4/8GX) 2400MHz CL11 (11-13-13)

connected onto the following motherboard (in case that is relevant):

MSI Z87-G55, Socket-1150 (ATX, Z87, DDR3, 2xPCIe-x16, SLI/CFX, VGA, DVI, HDMI, SB Cinema, Haswell)

Running Windows 8.1 in case that matters.

Needless to say, when buying a rather expensive primary memory, you expect it to be set-up in a way that it can be fully utilized.

This is why the following caused a bit of a concern to me:


When running CPU-Z I get the following stats on my memory:

MEMORY
Channel # Dual
NB Frequency: 800 MHz
DRAM Frequency: 666.6 MHz
FSBRAM 1:5
CL9
tRCD 9
tRP 9
tRAS 24
tRFC 174
CR 2T

SPD (regardless of slot):
Module Size: 8192 MBytes
Max Bandwidth: PC3-10700 (667MHz)
Manufacturer: Kingston
Part Number: KHX2400C11D3/8GX
SPD Ext: XMP 1.3

Timing Tables:

JEDEC #3/JEDEC #4/XMP-2400/XMP-2132 in that order in the underlying stats:

Frequency: 609/685/1200/1066
CAS Latency: 8/9/11/11
Ras to CAS: 8/9/14/13
RAS Precharge: 8/9/14/13
tRAS: 22/25/33/30
tRC: 30/34/54/48
Command Rate none/none/1T/1T
Voltage: 1.50V/1.50V/1.650V/1.600V

Now my question is:

Can someone please elaborate on why the Max Bandwidth says 667MHz and PC3-10700 when the specs for the memory in question, as far as I have understood, is 2400MHz and PC-19300?

I understand that DDR means double data rate and so on, but I cannot understand how the outputs CPU-Z gives me can confirm my memory is indeed set-up to be able to work 2400MHz.

Is it something wrong with the Mainboard not supporting that speed, is that speed something I have to manually adjust it to be able to run at or is the CPU-Z info misleading in this regard and I should not worry?

Thanks in advance for any help and congratulations to anyone that bothered reading the entire post

 

[Tradesman1]

CPU-Z is strange - as far as Max Bandwidth - that's simply the default boot freq for use by the mobo on fresh install - it's the sticks default - see here:

http://www.gskill.us/forum/showthread.php?t=10565

Should be able to go into BIOS, enable XMP and go from there, depending on CPU may need a slight OC on it

 

[SilverSeal]

Thank you for your response. I will look into it.

 

[Tradesman1]

Let us know how it goes, will be here

 

[Supahos]

MEMORY
Channel # Dual
NB Frequency: 800 MHz
DRAM Frequency: 666.6 MHz
FSB RAM 1:5
CL9
tRCD 9
tRP 9
tRAS 24
tRFC 174
CR 2T


This is the only tab you need to look at to see what things are running at. As Tradesman Said look in bios and enable xmp (assuming you have an intel rig capable) it should just set everything for you. Not all CPUs are capable of 2400mzh (need a K model Intel from the ivy/haswell generation) to be pretty sure you can hit 2400. Right now you're at 1333 MHz (double the dram frequency displayed in cpu-z)

 

[SilverSeal]

OK I have tried enable XMP and while it work for normal browsing and such it is not stable when stress tested.

If I want to run HyperX 32GB at 2400MHz stable with an i7-4770k processor, how should I set the memory up?

 

[Tradesman1]

If fine generally, but trouble w/ stress test try raising the DRAM voltage + 0.05

 

[SilverSeal]

OK thank you.

I have now udated the firmware on my mobo and can now run 2400MHz stable, I think that was the issue actually as the update said it would include a "Improved OC memory compatability" .


However is it normal that raising the voltage for the RAM past the specification at 2400MHz (1.65V) in any way affect the heat output in the cpu and will it more rapidly degrade the RAM and/or cpu?

If I do the stress test with everything at normal I get temps peaking at about 60-65C. If I enable XMP it suddenly goes all the way up to above peaks at 80C... Can this be avoided by adjusting the timings manually maybe? By default the XMP-2400 sets them to 11-13-13-32-312-2T and FSBRAM 1:9...

It runs stable now with the following set-up:

4200MHz
CPU Core: 1.19V
VCCIN: Auto (at 1.744V when in BIOS)
CPU Ring: Auto (at 1.056V when in BIOS)
CPU SA: Auto (at 0.808V when in BIOS)
CPU IO Digital: Auto (at 1.016V when in BIOS)
DRAM Voltage: Auto (at 1.680V when in BIOS)* btw isn't this a bit high, thought it should be max 1.65V by default???
XMP Profile 1 enabled (meaning 2400MHz and the earlier mentioned timings)

Anyway with this setup I get peak temperatures at Prime95 almost reaching 90C...

Any suggestion on what might be the most probable cause for these high temperatures, and what I ought to adjust?

And what should I adjust if say I want to try and run it stable and cold enough at 4400MHz core and 2400MHz RAM would you think?

Cooling is btw Cooler Master Seidon 120V CPU

Also if I manually set the DRAM Voltage to 1.65V it just isn't stable at all and typically freezes the computer after some minutes of Prime95 (but no error messages, just freezing).

Wil adjusting the timings for the RAM manually affect the voltage requirement and/or temperatures when stress testing and if so how should I adjust them? (sorry for editing my post afterwards, it's just that I get more info on the fly)

 

[Tradesman1]

Not all MCs (memory controllers are equal - sometimes it takes a little extra voltage, also the mobo and/or PSU may not be delivering the true voltage called for + 0.05 is considered safe

 

[Supahos]

Try lowering the dram voltage. No idea about the chips on these sticks but I know there is a decent chance 1.6v might still work. Those aren't the best sticks on the market so they might require a timing increase to drop voltage, will be a trial and error thing.

 

[SilverSeal]

OK as you can see on my edit (which I probably did after your response) it did not appear to run stable at DRAM of 1.65V but Real Temp appeared to show about 3-4C lower cpu temps vs having the DRAM Voltage set at Auto (which apparently tended it to run at 1.68V?). If changing the timing, what would you suggest to change it to?

BTW really really thankful for all the responses I am getting, thank you so much.

Maybe it's better to go for a 2133MHz memory option to see if cpu temperatures drop, but if so, what should the timings be (but to be honest I sort of prefer having the RAM at 2400MHz regardless of if it's not really that useful in everyday use, just a mental thing not wanting to run anything below specs)

EDIT:

Swapping from 2400MHz (11-13-13-32-312-2T) to 2133MHz (11-13-13-30-278-2T) both with DDR Temp set to Auto, roughly reduced the cpu temp at stresstest at Prime95 with 1-2C

 

[Supahos]

it would likely help to run a 2133 as you could almost certainly lower voltages, if you just want 2400, try dropping to 1.65v and change the CL to 12 (first number in the timing from 11->12) and see if that helps. Usually as you lower the stress on the memory you can lower the voltage and still be stable.

 

[Supahos]

Try 2133 @10-12-12-28-278-2t and see if that is stable (if you're not opposed to 2133 speed)

 

[SilverSeal]

it would likely help to run a 2133 as you could almost certainly lower voltages, if you just want 2400, try dropping to 1.65v and change the CL to 12 (first number in the timing from 11->12) and see if that helps. Usually as you lower the stress on the memory you can lower the voltage and still be stable.

By lowering the voltage, you only mean the DRAM Voltage right, it will not allow being able to lower other voltages?

BTW I could safely lower cpu core voltage from 1.19V to 1.17V at 4200MHz and still run stable, which cooled the cpu down about 3C when stress testing.

Is this a good time to set some of the other voltages manually or should I leave them at Auto? (I am worried the Auto might use an unneccesary high voltage for some maybe?)


I will try out the 2400MHz set-uo with the CL12 and see how that goes.

Update: Adjusting it to CL12 did not allow me to run 2400MHz stable with DRAM at 1.665V, however when I set the DRAM manually to 1.68V it appeared to be stable but that did not really do anything (maybe 1C) with the temperatures as the DRAM at Auto@2400MHz apears to be running in about that neighbourhood anyway.

 

[Supahos]

Yes just test away, lowering voltages can't really hurt anything, it will just cause instability. I would do each voltage one at a time by itself to see which ones caused the instability so you don't spend hours trouble shooting. but yes the Dram voltage, at 2133 with the 2400 timings you should be able to pull it down to 1.55~1.6v, maybe 1.6~1.64v with the looser 2400 timings I mentioned. If you can lower the vcore (and keep it stable) that will make a much bigger difference in cpu temp than anything you do with the memory.

 

[SilverSeal]

Thank you so much for the help! It actually turns out that I could run it stable as low as 1.14V even at 4300MHz instead of 1.17V at 4200MHz. This greatly reduced the temperatures at stress testing with about 4C.

Anyway, when testing away with the other voltages (Ring, SA, IO etc) by setting them manually to try and lower them if possible (or increase them for instance to allow a 4300 or 4400, but how can I see what the Auto is actually going at? I suspect the values they show in BIOS are not really representative of how they are during a stress test? Any program that will easily show the voltages live (I have SpeedFan but I find it impossible to tell which voltage is which as they have weird names there).

 

[Supahos]

HWinfo (free program use google) will show some of the voltages and give max figures seen while program is open, leave it open and run a test, will give you an idea. I'm sure there are better ones more geared at OC but I dont' get too carried away OCing things anymore so it gives me what I need to know.

 

[SilverSeal]

I will look into that.

Btw it somehow seemed like the RAM at 2400MHz and CL12 worked more consistant at 1.665V if I set the tRFC (Row Refresh Cycle Time) down to 300 from 312 (I am not excluding the possibility that this might be a coincidence though). But does this represent an actual reduction of the RAM speed?

I ask this since I noticed that the ratio between MHz/tRFC was the same for 2400MHz(312) and 2133MHz(278), namely about 7.7, if so is the memory now effectibvely running at about 2300MHzish or is this an incorrect assumption? (and yes I do realize that the RAM speed is not that noticable, but again it's also about finding out what my system can and cannot do with the right setup).

 

[Supahos]

the Tras will have little to nothing to do with performance its more important for it to be stable, if 312 is more stable it won't make any major difference. CL 12 should be more stable, and handle lower voltage than cl11, but it is slower. Its up to you to figure out which is quicker on your individual system. Memory benchmarks can be useful but sometimes fail to tell the entire story.