Need help with memory frequency and timings with a 1600MHz CL9 kit

I recently bought the following RAM

Corsair 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz Red Vengeance Memory.. | Ebuyer.com

The advertised max tested frequency and timings are 9-9-9-24 at 1600MHz at 1.5v

When in my rig (see my system specs), they default at 9-9-9-24 at 1333MHz at what seems to be 1.6v (when I try to look at the voltage, I have to change it to see what it is so when I [+0.050], I get 1.65v).

These are the timings at 1333MHz
x6.66 Memory clock
9-9-9-24
tWTr Command Delay = 5T
Trfc = 160ns
Write Recovery Times = 10T
Precharge time = 5T
Row Cycle time - 34T
RAS to CAS (or CAS to RAS - I wrote it down as RAS to RAS) = 5T

When I up the memory to 8.00x to 1600MHz I get
11-11-11-29
tWTr Command Delay = 6T
Trfc = 160ns
Write Recovery Times = 12T
Precharge time = 6T
Row cycle time 41T
RAS to CAS (or CAS to RAS - I wrote it down as RAS to RAS) = 6T

If I change the timings and all to what they are at 1333MHz at 1600MHz i.e. 9-9-9-24
tWTr Command Delay = 5T
Trfc = 160ns
Write Recovery Times = 10T
Precharge time = 5T
Row Cycle time - 34T
RAS to CAS (or CAS to RAS - I wrote it down as RAS to RAS) = 5T

...without touching voltage (which seems not to go below 1.6v afaik) then I can't get Windows to boot properly.

Is there anything I can do to get the advertised speeds or should I just stick to 1333MHz?

Systems specs under that arrow thing

When manually setting the timings only change 9-9-9-24, leave the rest alone. That is likely why Windows is having problems. For the voltage I wouldn't worry about it as from a quick look around at that memory it appears to run just fine at up to 1.65V.

stormy13 said:

When manually setting the timings only change 9-9-9-24, leave the rest alone. That is likely why Windows is having problems. For the voltage I wouldn't worry about it as from a quick look around at that memory it appears to run just fine at up to 1.65V.

I'll give it a go - cheers

Booted up fine but BSOD'd during a stability test :P - sticking with 1333MHz for a while

Have you enabled 'XMP' in the bios? That will get it running at the correct speed.

Looked for XMP but can't find it. I have an AMD board so would I find it anyway?

Not sure but the board does support the speeds you want. There must be a setting somewhere. Just have to figure out what it is.

There is no XMP setting on AMD motherboards, that is an Intel setting. As far as it running at 1600 MHz (or not in your case), might want to give this a read,

DDR3 Memory Scaling On AMD's Phenom II X4 : Which RAM Speed Is Best?

You're not really losing much if anything performance wise, and with the right timings it is actually better to run at 1333 MHz.

Also one more thing to remember, the IMC (integrated memory controller) only really supports running the memory up to 1333 MHz,

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING AMD AM3 CPU's and RAM SPEEDS

stormy13 said:

There is no XMP setting on AMD motherboards, that is an Intel setting. As far as it running at 1600 MHz (or not in your case), might want to give this a read,

DDR3 Memory Scaling On AMD's Phenom II X4 : Which RAM Speed Is Best?

You're not really losing much if anything performance wise, and with the right timings it is actually better to run at 1333 MHz.

Also one more thing to remember, the IMC (integrated memory controller) only really supports running the memory up to 1333 MHz,

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING AMD AM3 CPU's and RAM SPEEDS

That's useful info - I'll just stay at 1333MHz 9-9-9-24 after reading the second article