will running my ram at 1600mhz damage my cpu's memory controller

ganjiry · 01 Mar 2012

hi all
ive just been reading online and came across a warning that running 1600mhz ram with an amd cpu that has a memory controller set for 1333mhz will damage the controller. eventhough everythin seems stable.

im runnin this ram XMS3 at its manufactures settings.(although my mobo defaulted it to 1066mhz) and i have a phenom 965 be c3 running @3.8 on stock voltage using the multiplier.
everythin has been stable n never given me reson to think anythin is wrong.
i did'nt realise the 965 be mem controller was only 1333mhz. id never even thought about it

is there any truth in the statement i read n is my cpu's me controller likely to get damaged?
would i be better off dropping to 1333 and tighter timmings?

thanks in advance folks. any help is always much apreciated

the warning i read VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING AMD AM3 CPU's and RAM SPEEDS

GeneO · 01 Mar 2012

This sentence is probably the major reason behind this claim:

"Excessively increasing voltages to the RAM and/or CPU in an effort to improve system stability could cause the Memory Controller to fail."

I expect these motherboards auto voltage the memory higher @ 1600 MHz in auto mode and this causes the problem, but that is just my speculation based on my experience (and not with AMD) on how motherboards tend to overvolt on auto settings.

Since reduced RAM speed isn't very noticeable in the real world, if you meet the criteria in that article, I would just run it at 1333 MHz (though I still wouldn't be too happy!).

Britton30 · 01 Mar 2012

I have a 965BE on a Gigabyte board with some GSkill Ripjaws 2x4GB running well at 1600MHz. What needs to be done to prevent the over volting is to set your RAM volts and timings manually to what ever your RAM specs are. I also use the unganged mode as suggested in the article.
I did manage to get this RAM to 1640MHz stable, anymore would not be stable for me. Even going to the 1333 will not slow your system so much that you'd see a difference except in a benchmark test.

ganjiry · 02 Mar 2012

ello
cheers 4 the reply. sorted! i did set all timmings n voltage manually to the manufacturers specs as my gigabyte board set my memory to 1066mhz when i installed it. at the time i had never really been in the bios so i gave someone on seven forums a right headache teachin me about memory

in cpu-z it shows that its running at 1600mhz but pc3-8500f (533). i know this is normal for cpu-z.
if i decide to drop it to 1333mhz should i use the cpu-z suggested timmings of 9,9,9,26,35 @1.50v or should i try tighter timmings?

thanks!

also could someone tell me what the difference is between tested speed and spd speed , tested voltage n spd voltage plz
http://www.corsair.com/cmx8gx3m2a1600c9.html

Britton30 · 02 Mar 2012

Good job, glad to hear you have it set. CPUz shows you at 1607MHz.
The tested voltage and speed is what the RAM has been configured to run at and be stable. If you want to try it at 1333, you can see if 8-9-9-24T would work. With timing adjustments it sometimes takes some experimentation to find a good setting.

Here's a Wiki on SPD Serial presence detect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ganjiry · 02 Mar 2012

ello n thanks for the info .i shall have a read shortly

ganjiry · 02 Mar 2012

dropped to 1333 @ cpu-z's timmings. when i had it at 1600 the fsb;dram was 1.4 but now its at 3.10. should it change this much??

Britton30 · 02 Mar 2012

ganjiry said:

dropped to 1333 @ cpu-z's timmings. when i had it at 1600 the fsb;dram was 1.4 but now its at 3.10. should it change this much??

Yup, it's normal. The FSB:RAM freq changes like that when you drop it, nuttin' to worry about. :)

ganjiry · 03 Mar 2012

cheers! il try some tighter settings a bit later.
when i did change it to 1333 everythin seemed to run like shit but seems ok this mornin. i forgot to add the screenie to last msg..
everythin look ok? it does my head in why everythin sees my ram as 1066 eventhough it 1600. when i first installed it my mobo defaulted it to 1066.

Tomha · 03 Mar 2012

Its normal for motherboards to automatically lower RAM timing according to the sorts of CPUs that go in the motherboards socket. My motherboard for example down clocks my Corsair Vengeance to 1333mhz by default, although I have overclocked it, I am on Intel so unfortunately I can not offer advice there. I can however comment that that is the ram I had previous to my vengeance and it is very nice ram :) good choice.