Got DDR3-2133 mhz RAM for Christmas, no luck getting stated speed

Specs:
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R (rev 1.0)
Bios: F2Q (latest)
intel Core i7-920 @ stock 2.66 + 'turbo', thus 2.80
RAM: 16GB (4x4) Patriot Viper, PC3-17000, 2133 mhz (11-11-11-27)


GA-EX58-UD3R page:
GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1366 - GA-EX58-UD3R (rev. 1.0)

my bios screens
ex58-ud3r bios - Imgur

my CPU-Z screens:
Photo Album - Imgur


For Christmas I received a kit of Patriot DDR3 PC3-17000, 2133 mhz. timings @ 2133 rated at 11-11-11-27, and 1.5v

I am able to run the ram at 1600 mhz, with timings of 8-8-8-24, at 1.5v with no problem, and the system reads all of the 16GB. Anything beyond that speed, and I am unable to boot.

using the XMP got me *almost* to the windows desktop, but it bluescreened there. I'm fairly adept in the BIOS, and know my way around pretty well, but this one has me stumped.

Is it possible to run this RAM at 2133 mhz on this motherboard? As yet, I've not been able to get it to even 1866. The motherboard's spec page states: "Supports 3 channel DDR3 2000+ memory" -- my RAM's packaging says "quad channel" on it. Does that matter?

Thanks for any and all help!

You may not agree with me here, but I'm going to say it doesn't matter, as in the effort you are putting into it. Timings and memory speeds have very little actual, noticeable effect on a computer's performance. I couldn't even tell you what speed my memory is running at in my tower. As long as it isn't clocked down low, and it is stable, don't worry about it.

I would look at your mobo's manual for the answer. It looks like that is support up to DDR3 2000+ which I haven't heard of. So that may be a problem right there. If your mobo is like most, there is a controller issue with the RAM slots for using the max speed of RAM, where by you have to use specific slots to achieve those desired speeds and timings.

essenbe said:

DeaconFrost said:

You may not agree with me here, but I'm going to say it doesn't matter, as in the effort you are putting into it. Timings and memory speeds have very little actual, noticeable effect on a computer's performance. I couldn't even tell you what speed my memory is running at in my tower. As long as it isn't clocked down low, and it is stable, don't worry about it.

Deacon, I agree with you 100%. It's just the problem some of us have to push the limits. But, you're right it only matters in benchmarks, not actual usage. I'm running 2400 ram, and this computer would run just as well with 1333 ram.

I think this is where I'll probably end up... just saying screw it and go with 1600mhz, at least until I change mobo/cpu that has better support for this 2133 mhz ram.

My motherboard is closing in on 4 years old, so I was afraid this might be the case. The nice thing is that I'm gaining 10GB of ram (had 6GB/1600mhz before), and not losing any speed, so it's a really nice xmas gift.

Thanks to all for their help/input.

That's the way I'd look at it. The gains you'll see with the extra memory (assuming you were using up your 6 GB) would far outweigh any negligible gains from the speed.

Have you tried manual timing settings for the RAM?

It's possible that you might have to back off a bit to get the rated frequency. Personally, I've never had much luck using XMP.

I wondered with that X58 board would be happy with triple channel mode and 4 DIMMs, but the manual claims that it's OK. As an experiment, you could try the standard triple channel configuration: one DIMM in slots 1, 2, and 4. (Only 12GB, but...)

bobkn said:

Have you tried manual timing settings for the RAM?

It's possible that you might have to back off a bit to get the rated frequency. Personally, I've never had much luck using XMP.

Hi, yes, I did try setting the timings manually. I got different results with different things I'd tried, but none of them were a successful boot.

bobkn said:

I wondered with that X58 board would be happy with triple channel mode and 4 DIMMs, but the manual claims that it's OK. As an experiment, you could try the standard triple channel configuration: one DIMM in slots 1, 2, and 4. (Only 12GB, but...)

I thought about trying just the 3 sticks, but according the CPU-Z readings, it is in triple channel mode even with the 4th stick in. It seems to assign 2 sticks to the 3rd channel, best I can tell.

At this point, I'm going to take prior advice, and just leave it alone for now. The board seems perfectly happy with it at 1600 mhz, and I can always use the higher speed with my next motherboard, which I may get sometime in 2013.

Thanks for your reply.

Im sorry this isnt a very valuable question but... How much did 4x4 2133MHz ram actually cost, i expect over £90+