# Getting 1600 Mhz RAM to work - Phenom 2 810 pc [solved]

## Skyer

Hello,

I am thinking about buying new RAM modules, and so far, I've been considering 1600 Mhz Kingstons. However, there is little problem, that my computer does not support 1600Mhz rams without overclocking. (I assume it's like that because of the 1600 OC symbol in motherboard's manual).

My processor is AMD Phenom II 810, motherboard Asus M4A78T-E.

What is not clear for me is what part of pc should I overclock, and if it's secure enough to get it all working stable.

(By the way, for people who have experienced both 1600 and 1333 Mhz RAM, have you noticed any differences? Where?)

Thanks for answers.Last edited by Skyer on Sun May 15, 2011 8:23 am; edited 1 time in total

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## NeddySeagoon

Skyer,

I have one of those boards.  I've just upgraded from 8G of Corsair XMS3-16 to 16G of Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 DDR3 XMS3.

At the SPD voltage of 1.5v the XMS3-16 set operated at 1066Mhz and were not stable at 1333MHZ at stock voltage. 

The RAM sticks are marked 1600MHz at 1.80v As an electronics engineer, I'm aware that overvolting by that much is likely to damage something. either the RAM, the CPU, which contains the RAM controller or the motherboard voltage regulator.

You get to keep all the pieces when it fails.  Over voltage damage is very easy to spot, so you won't get a warranty repair.

The CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 DDR3 work at 1333MHz out of the box at 1.5v. They are marked 1600MHz at 1.65v which is a more reasonable overvolt.  I've not tried them at 1600MHz. I'm not prepared to go for even a 10% overvolt.

Read the fine print - you may well find that the SPD is not programmed for 1600MHz operation, so you ill need to set it in the BIOS.

Do you feel lucky ?

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## Skyer

Thanks for your post NeddySeagoon.

Wait, are you telling me that if I higher voltage of ram modules in motherboard, it may damage whole motherboard? I am considering 1.65V modules.

By the way, I don't feel much lucky.. I already have once installed rams which "took care" of my motherboard. (maybe that's why I still have 2 gigabytes only).

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## NeddySeagoon

Skyer,

Read the fine print.

Most DDR3 RAM chips are designed to operate as specified at 1.5v 

To overclock RAM, (or other parts) some RAM stick vendors test them at a higher voltage and declare them to be stable at this voltage at the overclocked speed.

This causes them to run hotter - hence these sticks are fitted with large heatsinks. However, they are still overstressed by the increased voltage.

The SPD ROM that stores the RAM operating characteristics will be programmed with the standard rated voltages and timings.

You will have to manually change things in the BIOS if you want to overclock.

Yes - you can damage the RAM, the CPU and the motherboard by overstressing the parts.

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## krinn

 *NeddySeagoon wrote:*   

> 
> 
> Do you feel lucky punk ?

 

fix  :Smile: 

Corsair use to do that with their ram, and they also get their name because of that, so you should feel confident with their spec imo

They should also been lifetime warrant if i remember well (not all their models maybe, but high end ones are)

Skyer: what you should be aware of is that generally overclocking ram speed gave finally not shinny results as most ram have safety spec wrote on them to increase latency...

Don't look at the clocking to increase your ram speed, look at the clocking the ram could reach to support your cpu overclock.

Those kind of ram are great for people that wish push their hardware to some crazy value, but it's not "as-is" a feature to get more speed from the ram itself, more a feature to not block yourself pushing your cpu/bus to some crazy value.

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## wolfieh

I'm using Kingston KHX1600C9AD3K2/4G right now operating at 1600mhz and 1.65v, has been stable for several months. Its programmed at 1333mhz 1.5v by default.

You need to tweak latency parameters in your bios, they're documented on the data sheet of the memory module. Otherwise you might have instability.

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## Skyer

Thanks for your replies.

I am not native English speaker, so I hope I got you clear. So, I should pick modules which use voltage as close as possible to 1.5 - I guess I'll stick with the 1.65V, most of rams available in here run on that voltage. What am I wondering about from beginning is (and that's what I meant with this question), if there is need to overclock some other parts of computer (like system bus) than the ram itself, to use 1600Mhz freq.

krinn: I'm running X4 Phenom II 810 at 2.6Ghz, and am satisfied with it's power. I need new RAMs though (currently, I have 2gb, and, sometimes it happens that I must wait about 5 minutes before watching DVD, because of loading it into buffer), so I was thinking about getting better ones.

By the way, I see you guys seem to like Corsair, what do you think about other brands? I mean, Kingston is what people prefer here, at least those who I know (not many).

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## krinn

if you need 5 minutes to play a dvd, i'm sorry to tell you, but adding more ram won't help you.

1/ you don't need zillions ram to read a dvd

2/ ram spd difference could only be seen in benchmark (and in fact, not even a benchmark should saw that as the numbers will be so close i don't think it could be really test). If you want see better ram speed, switch to 32bits userland if you're running 64bits, you might see a difference with 2g.

3/ corsair don't build ram module, they use others companies modules (to my knowledge, maybe they are building some now, but i doubt) : this mean a corsair ram could be in fact build with kingston modules in it.

It's generally something users can't see (hidden in the package), but you can get the info from deep hardware query or opening the ram itself (not something good to do)

It's also mean that a corsair memory label X3 might have kingstone module in it, but in no way it mean another X3 have also kingstone module in it: if corsair said the ram can do "that specs", the ram will do "that specs" even the module are build by a different manufacturer.

4/ earlier motherboard need to overclock bus to get your ram to the wanted speed, by this time it was critical to have ram that could then support that (and the reason was in fact the contrary: people were overclocking their bus and so ram was need to follow that)

todays m/b might have options and no more depend on a bus/ram clock ratio, and i think you should have the option to set your ram speed without altering other parts of your hardware specs. It depend on the m/b you have

5/ as neddy said, always a risk to overclock something, if the ram is given for 1.65v it's not an overclock, it's just a high voltage spec.

But really, if you're not sure, let's just your bios decide, it should find and take safe values for it, because even a 800mhz ram running at 1600mhz, you won't notice the difference if not using some ram benchmark

6/ and last: specially for "uncommon" ram, read your manual, because even if the m/b said "can support 20000mhz" ram, this isn't a proof your ram model X3 (a 20000mhz ram) is support. For uncommon ram, you have generally a list of supported model you should better respect.

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## NeddySeagoon

Skyer,

Tell us about your hardware, as Krinn says, you do not need a lot of RAM to play DVDs - even my 1997 k6-2 with 128Mb RAM could play DVDs.  It did have the benefit of a hardware mpeg2 overlay card.

You clearly have other problems, so we should fix those before you overclock your system.

Interesting topics will be your graphics card, graphics driver and the options you have for Xorg.

Oh, if you have mplayer. the output of 

```
mplayer -vo help
```

would be useful.

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## Skyer

Thanks for replies,

I particularly found out that low speed while watching dvds is caused by my old, half-broken dvd-rom. Nevertheless, I still feel kinda cut off RAM while compiling, that is/was the main reason for me to buy it.

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## NeddySeagoon

Skyer,

I suspect you DVD drive has dusty optics.  Try a cleaning disk.  These disks have a brush on the bottom surface.

They are ofter supplied with 'cleaning fluid'. Don't use it as it helps the dust to stick to the lens later.

If you want to avoid the investment in the special CD, you can open the drive and use a paint brush. Do not operate the drive with the cover removed. The lasers are invisible and not eye safe - you won't see again if you burn your retina.

Dust buildup in removable drives is usually cause by poor cooling arrangements.  Your fans should be trying to blow more air in than they suck out. This raises the air pressure in your case very slightly. As a result, clean air leaks out through the drives, which is much better than sucking dirty air in, which is what happens when the fans produce a pressure drop in the case.

There are very few companies in the world making DDR3 silicon chips.  Kingston and Corsair are not two of them. They buy RAM chips, screen them for their products and sell the ones that operate faster than the chip makes spec at a premium as overclockable.

That does not mean that they will work at the higher speed in your motherboard. So ... do you feel lucky ?

It also means that if you buy run of the mill RAM from these vendors, its unlikely to overclock as all the fast chips have been selected out.

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## Skyer

Thanks,

it took some time (school), but I finally have it done. Ram modules haven't arrived yet, but the question I asked is answered, so thread is solved now. Thanks to everyone who participated.

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## Skyer

Alright, it works and is stable on 1600 Mhz, 1.64V. (My BIOS accepts only even values). Thanks everyone who participated.

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