1600 Memory reported as 1333

[LBro]

Hi,
I have a GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-SOC Force mainboard with a i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 CPU. I am using G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL memory.

The problem is the memory is seen in BIOS as 1333. I tried hard setting the memory to 1600 but when I reboot after setting BIOS I get an error saying the configuration is wrong. I then pushed the voltage to 1.65v and the 1600 setting, error repeats.

At this point I am stuck as it is like the memory is locked at 1333 and will not budge. If I can get it to 1600 and have stability, then I would like to overclock it further. Right now I can not even get it to stock speck let alone push it to an overclock condition.

Please advise how to get to 1600 and also what you would tweak to go further into an overclock condition. Please be specific...

Thanks,
LB

[emissary42]

Normally all you would have to do is enable the Intel Extreme Memory Profile in UEFI (XMP, Profile1).

If you don't know how to do it, the user manual should mention that somewhere.

[LBro]

Hi,
I have been into the XMP area in BIOS. However once there I found about 10 profiles for high end, high speed RAM only and nothing for 1600 RAM. I think the XMP profiles started in at about 2400 or so, possibly higher like 2600.

Is the one thing I was missing was inputting the Timing for the RAM? Now that I think about it that might be it. What do you or others think?

LB

[LBro]

Hum,
I think what you are talking about and what I was seeing might be 2 different things. From the manual I get this:

Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.) (Note 2)
Allows the BIOS to read the SPD data on XMP memory module(s) to enhance memory performance when enabled.
Disabled Disables this function. (Default)
Profile1 Uses Profile 1 settings.
Profile2 (Note 2) Uses Profile 2 settings.
(Note 1) This item is present only when you install a CPU that supports this feature. For more information about
Intel® CPUs' unique features, please visit Intel's website.
(Note 2) This item is present only when you install a CPU and a memory module that support this feature.

I am away from the computer for the moment, but when I get back I will hunt for this setting and try profile 1.

Thanks,
LB

[LBro]

Hum,
Well I got back in front of the computer and found that there is no X.M.P. setting as emissary42 pointed to. The manual shows real well where this setting is so I know I was in the right place. But the manual also says this feature is only available when the CPU and memory support it??? So is my new processor and or the RAM not supporting XMP? Looks that way to me.

I also found the timing was already set properly to the stock values of the RAM. So in other words the voltage is 1.5v which is correct for the stock RAM. As is the timing which is 9-9-9-24-2N. The thing that is not correct is the frequency which is 1333.3. When I override that and put it to 1600 then reboot. The bios reports an error upon boot up that the memory configuration is wrong.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks,
LB

[emissary42]

Can you please show me a screenshot of CPU-Z spd tab?

[GSKILL TECH]

Post some pictures of BIOS/EFI and we can take a look at what's going on.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[LBro]

Can you please show me a screenshot of CPU-Z spd tab?

I would but right now I have to reformat C and reload the OS. I was in a bad position building this new system as other obligations keep pulling me away from the build.

However I had success at last on this one. Not sure why, but I decided to change up and do something different. Not sure why it worked but I will take the end result in that I got my RAM running at 1600. Here is what I did:
* DRAM is running at 1.5 volts and that is spec so I left it alone.
* AUTO detected and set the frequency at 1333 and that is short of spec, so I manually set it to 1600.
I did all the above before but it did not work. So here is the change I made that did work:
* TIMING was auto detected correctly at 9-9-9-24. Since nothing was working I manually hard set the timing to 9-9-9-24.
I then saved and rebooted and it booted fine while running the RAM at 1600.
I do not fully understand why it did not work when the timing was automatically detected and set, but hey I will take it.

So then, (feeling a bit brave) I went after 1866.... I found a few brands of RAM including G.Skill ran at the same timing so I put that in via manual settings. Same for 1866. I left the voltage at 1.5v. Saved and rebooted and promptly locked myself out of BIOS with a system halt. It did not like it at all. Thus I am looking for any tips that might allow me to run 1866 with this RAM.

Thanks,
Lbro

[LBro]

Post some pictures of BIOS/EFI and we can take a look at what's going on.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

I will take you up on this one. As you can read in my prior post I got over one hurdle and detailed how I did it there.

Now I would like to try and push the RAM a bit (as in overclock it) and that is where your help would be great. I am out of town right now (away from the computer), but will be back Wednesday and see about getting you some screen shots.

Thanks for you offer and help!

LB

[emissary42]

For a lower end kit its hard to say if and how much oc potential it actually has. I would start by increasing primary timings to

11-11-11-27 then
10-11-11-27 then
10-11-10-27 ..
10-10-10-27 ..
9-10-10-27 ..
9-10-9-27 ..

If the first of those settings doesn't POST, then try again with a little bit of added Vdimm.

[LBro]

Yeah that is what I was thinking as well. To OC and go faster I might have to spend some money.

I was thinking of something like the following, what do you think of them?
G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2666 (PC3 21300) Desktop Memory Model F3-2666C12D-16GTXD

LB

[LBro]

For a lower end kit its hard to say if and how much oc potential it actually has. I would start by increasing primary timings to

11-11-11-27 then
10-11-11-27 then
10-11-10-27 ..
10-10-10-27 ..
9-10-10-27 ..
9-10-9-27 ..

If the first of those settings doesn't POST, then try again with a little bit of added Vdimm.

EM,
Ok I have read the above and it is certainly not what I tried (which resulted in a locked up BIOS). So I can give your suggestion a try. Do I leave the following at the values as indicated or do I bump one or both of them as well?
Up the frequency to 1866?

Thanks,
LB

[emissary42]

I was thinking of something like the following, what do you think of them?
G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2666 (PC3 21300) Desktop Memory Model F3-2666C12D-16GTXD

The sweet spot money and performance wise is at DDR3-2400. While not all of those kits actually have OC potential to go further clockwise, the performance out of the box should be very good and most of the times better than with higher clocked kits (without manually tweaking secondary and/or tertiary timings).

So unless you really just want DDR3-2666 i'd recommend F3-2400C10D-16GTX or something along those lines.

As far as overclocking your 1600s goes, a decent board should be able to find suitable secondary timings for DDR3-1866 by itself. Keep command rate at 2T until you found your stable setting. Then try that with a command rate at 1T afterwards.

[LBro]

Hi,
Thanks for what looks like a great recommendation. They are 189 at the egg for 2 sticks. I see they go on sale every now and then so I will keep em in my cart and see if I can catch a sale. Thing that caught my eye on the F3-2400C10D-16GTX is the CL is low. That would seem to be a good starting point for stock modules.

LB

[emissary42]

I wouldn't consider them a starting point, since they don't necessarily have any oc potential beyond that and you would want to use them at their stock settings anyways (out of the box performance with Ivy Bridge and Haswell is best at DDR3-2400).