How do I make sure my Hyper X memory runs at 1600 in my ASUS P5Q3

[cubs249]

This is my first post and hopefully I do it right cause I'm a noob...

Recently made a few purchases to upgrade my computer. I purchased a OCZ-Vertex 3 120GB SSD and installed Windows 7 on it for faster performance of the OS. At the same time I purchased 8GB of Kingston Hyper X memory (KHX1600C9D3K2/8x) to see if I could get more performance from my PC. How do I check / fix this?

Please forgive my Noobiness!

 

[Maguscreed]

Well that's a p45 motherboard, assuming the cpu is in the same age bracket as the motherboard. The max that system was ever meant to have is 1333mhz, meaning 1600 would be well into overclocking on that system. ...I don't even recall if the p45 supports intel turbo boost. ..If it does you'll get automatic use of the additional ram speed when the system is under load without you needing to do anything.

...Does the motherboard support XMP ram?

 

[cubs249]

Checked the BIOS and it is set to Auto but there is also Manual and XMP options. Is there a way to capture the BIOS screen for a post?

 

[Maguscreed]

Pretty sure that board is from before they started using the UEFI bios. So a picture from a camera is the only way to show it here. you can't capture.
Honestly the easiest way to see if your ram supports xmp is to try enabling it.
I would only do this if you know how to reset your bios though, because if it doesn't support it you'll probably have trouble even booting without a reset.


edit: just checked and the bios is a standard AMI type so a camera would be the only way to share a screen from your bios.

 

[FliGi7]

You can run that memory fine in your system but you need to know how to overlock in order to use it effectively. Do you know how to properly OC your system? It's not just one change in the BIOS and forget about it. Regardless, if you do OC effectively, you're going to have a much more noticeable difference in adding the amount of RAM as compared to running it at a slightly higher frequency.

 

[cubs249]

Pretty sure that board is from before they started using the UEFI bios. So a picture from a camera is the only way to show it here. you can't capture.
Honestly the easiest way to see if your ram supports xmp is to try enabling it.
I would only do this if you know how to reset your bios though, because if it doesn't support it you'll probably have trouble even booting without a reset.


edit: just checked and the bios is a standard AMI type so a camera would be the only way to share a screen from your bios.

Here is a picture I took of my BIOS screen. I selected XMP, saved changes and my computer restarted but never came back on. Only thing was the fan was running at an increasing rate. Waited about 30 seconds but nothing happened so I powered off my machine and reset my BIOS to the AUTO setting.

 

[Maguscreed]

Only two thoughts left at this point.
1 - it is possible you need to update your bios. I would only do so if there is a fix in there related to memory issues.
2 - the ram doesn't support xmp, (which is kind of odd for ram @1600+)

 

[cubs249]

You can run that memory fine in your system but you need to know how to overlock in order to use it effectively. Do you know how to properly OC your system? It's not just one change in the BIOS and forget about it. Regardless, if you do OC effectively, you're going to have a much more noticeable difference in adding the amount of RAM as compared to running it at a slightly higher frequency.

Unfortunately I have no clue what to do when it comes to overclocking and that is why I joined this forum. I have read many threads but know that each computer is different and I don't want to make a serious error. Where could I go to learn basic OC 101 if you will? What do you recommend?

 

[cubs249]

Only two thoughts left at this point.
1 - it is possible you need to update your bios. I would only do so if there is a fix in there related to memory issues.
2 - the ram doesn't support xmp, (which is kind of odd for ram @1600+)

I updated the BIOS yesterday I now have the newest one (BIOS 2105) directly from the ASUS site. Also I checked Kingston's website and found this PDF regarding my memory. It doesn't specifically mention XMP but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for...

View attachment KHX1600C9D3K2_8G.pdf

 

[stormy13]

From the manual/specs,

4 x DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 1800(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture
*DDR3 1600MHz or above DIMMs work only on the Orange slots for one DIMM per channel.

Based on that if you have the two sticks in the orange slots, it should just be a matter of setting the DRAM frequency to DDR3-800 if the XMP setting won't work. You should also make sure that it is set to 1.65V, as that is what it needs to run at 1600.

 

[Maguscreed]

Sorry this is where I get off, I don't do overclocking support. I actually generally recommend against it.

Best of luck to you, there are plenty of people here who can help. I just am not one of them I consider the possibility of hardware damage too high.

If you are going to do it, please work in small steps and find a good application to monitor your temperatures with.

 

[FliGi7]

Maybe rather than trying to OC the RAM we should just consider leaving it at its base settings because OC'ing just RAM will be rather useless for the vast majority of users. You buy OC RAM so you have more headroom in overclocking your CPU, not just because you want faster memory to improve performance on your machine. The only way you're going to be able to measure the difference between base settings and OC'ed to 1600 is with bench testing applications. It's really not worth your while, IMO.

Now, if you want to OC your CPU, that is a separate issue, and yes I would recommend you doing a ton of reading on the matter in a more appropriate forum. Overclockers.com is one of them. Don't even think about changing settings on your system until you can comprehend and understand everything that's being talked about in threads like these:

Best BIOS settings for Asus P5Q3 Deluxe & DDR3

What RAM works better for my P5Q3 Deluxe? - Overclockers Forums

 

[cubs249]

Ok great advice from everyone. I will read up on some of these threads before I decide to do anything further. Thanks.