RAM Speed question?

unexpectedjoe

New Member
Hello,
I installed the following ram on my PC
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

I have also installed the NVIDIA system monitor.

My question:
Why does my computer recognize the RAM at 800mhz (this shows on boot up and in the Nvidia monotor) when my motherboard supports 1066 and the ram is also 1066.
Any help would be appreciated.
I have a p7n diamond 780i motherboard from MSI.
Thanks
 

My Computer

Hello,
I installed the following ram on my PC
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

I have also installed the NVIDIA system monitor.

My question:
Why does my computer recognize the RAM at 800mhz (this shows on boot up and in the Nvidia monotor) when my motherboard supports 1066 and the ram is also 1066.
Any help would be appreciated.
I have a p7n diamond 780i motherboard from MSI.
Thanks

the ram divider is probably set to a ratio of 1-1 in the BIOS which will lower your ram speed to match your systems FSB

download this app & check the memory tab ..this should give you your current ratio...
CPUZ

if it is in fact 1-1 its an easy fix ...
enter the BIOS not sure about your boards actual layout but in advanced options there should be an option to alter ''ram frequency'' or ''divider'' set this to either 1066mhz or the nearest ratio to that value & reboot
;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    ME.....
    CPU
    Q9450 @ 3.6ghz
    Motherboard
    P5K PREMIUM
    Memory
    8GB 1066mhz buffalo firestix
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD 5970
    Monitor(s) Displays
    20'' syncmaster
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA IDE
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA 2
    PSU
    XCILIO 850w
    Case
    unknown ATX
    Cooling
    Arctic cooler pro 775
    Keyboard
    logitech EX110
    Mouse
    logitech cordless optical
    Internet Speed
    2mb
Thanks for the info. I downloaded that program and I attached a screenshot of the memory tab that you said to look at.
I'm not sure what the timing is... Does it look like I need to change a setting in my BIOS?

I also verified that my motherboad supports dr2 1066.
 

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My Computer

post me your cpu tab also ...so i can check it against the bus speed....
:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    ME.....
    CPU
    Q9450 @ 3.6ghz
    Motherboard
    P5K PREMIUM
    Memory
    8GB 1066mhz buffalo firestix
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD 5970
    Monitor(s) Displays
    20'' syncmaster
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA IDE
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA 2
    PSU
    XCILIO 850w
    Case
    unknown ATX
    Cooling
    Arctic cooler pro 775
    Keyboard
    logitech EX110
    Mouse
    logitech cordless optical
    Internet Speed
    2mb
ok ....go into the BIOS & change to a higher ratio or frequency whatever the case may be on your board....you should not need to up the VDIMM as the ram sticks are currently under clocked
but i would aim for 1000mhz 900mhz OCZ ram is renowned for not reaching rated speeds


or OC that little gem of a chip to 500FSB & that will give you 1000mhz @ a 1-1 ratio

if you cannot get them past 1000mhz (which is a probability) keep them @ 800mhz & tighten the timings to 4-4-4-12 or whatever those ICs will sit stable at
this will give you very close to or the same perfomance you would get from the higher frequencies & looser timings

jump into the BIOS & let me know what you see...:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    ME.....
    CPU
    Q9450 @ 3.6ghz
    Motherboard
    P5K PREMIUM
    Memory
    8GB 1066mhz buffalo firestix
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD 5970
    Monitor(s) Displays
    20'' syncmaster
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA IDE
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA 2
    PSU
    XCILIO 850w
    Case
    unknown ATX
    Cooling
    Arctic cooler pro 775
    Keyboard
    logitech EX110
    Mouse
    logitech cordless optical
    Internet Speed
    2mb
I spoke with OCZ about this same issue (I have the 2 x 2 GB HPC ReaperX PC8500 RAM) and they said the reason is because there is not a JEDEC standard for PC8500 so the motherboard will recognize only the JEDEC settings prescribed onto the RAM - which is PC6400.

You'll need to manually adjust your BIOS settings to match the settings stated by OCZ.
 

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System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
Unless you plan on overclocking, anything over DDR2-800 is a waste. The reason to get DDR2-1000 or 1066 is to give you more overclocking headroom, that's it. If you were to set your RAM to 1066, unless you also overclocked your cpu, you would not see any performance gains. In fact, since you'd have to relax your timings, you'd most likely see a small dip in performance... not much granted, but still a small dip.

Don't just OC willy-nilly. Read this: http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=71656
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary
    1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
OK,
So I went into bios, then "cell Menu" then I changed "system clock mode" to "manual". There, I was able to change the "dram clock to 1066" I saved the settings and exited.

I saw that there was "dram timing mode" that was on "auto" I left it there.
I attached a few screen shots of that CPUZ program.

The last post said that since I sped up the memory clock the timing may automaticaly change as well which will actually slow the memory? So, in some cases slower mhz can be faster with the correct timing?

With the changes I made the Nvidia system monitor shows the memor clock at 1065mhz.
Thanks
 

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My Computer

OK,
So I went into bios, then "cell Menu" then I changed "system clock mode" to "manual". There, I was able to change the "dram clock to 1066" I saved the settings and exited.

I saw that there was "dram timing mode" that was on "auto" I left it there.
I attached a few screen shots of that CPUZ program.

The last post said that since I sped up the memory clock the timing may automaticaly change as well which will actually slow the memory? So, in some cases slower mhz can be faster with the correct timing?

With the changes I made the Nvidia system monitor shows the memor clock at 1065mhz.
Thanks

THERE YA GO.....

533mhz x2 = 1066mhz :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    ME.....
    CPU
    Q9450 @ 3.6ghz
    Motherboard
    P5K PREMIUM
    Memory
    8GB 1066mhz buffalo firestix
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD 5970
    Monitor(s) Displays
    20'' syncmaster
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA IDE
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA 2
    PSU
    XCILIO 850w
    Case
    unknown ATX
    Cooling
    Arctic cooler pro 775
    Keyboard
    logitech EX110
    Mouse
    logitech cordless optical
    Internet Speed
    2mb
... The last post said that since I sped up the memory clock the timing may automaticaly change as well which will actually slow the memory? So, in some cases slower mhz can be faster with the correct timing?
At DDR2-800 your timings were 5-5-5-15-24 2T. At DDR2-1066 your timings are 5-7-7-20-32 2T. Clearly, at DDR2-1066 your timings are looser. I would imagine that with the proper voltage you should be able to run 1066 at 5-5-5-15, but you'd have to test that out?

How does what you just did affect performance? You may noticed slower system performance now that timings are looser. Simply increasing the memory clock doesn't do anything. Also, leaving the memory timings on auto doesn't take advantage of the increased memory speed. Not that there was any great advantage to what you did to begin with since you also didn't OC the cpu, but I digress.

If you want to improve performance, read the OC guide I linked. OC the cpu and run 1066... at 5-5-5-15. Then you'll see things speed up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Fumz' Flux-Capacitor
    CPU
    E8400
    Motherboard
    DFI LP DK P35-T2RS
    Memory
    4GB G.Skill PC-1066
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS
    Sound Card
    X-Fi XtremeGamer
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 226BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    500GB W.D. RE2 Primary
    1TB W.D. Caviar GP WD10EACS
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610
    Case
    Lian Li Lancool K62
    Cooling
    Thermalright Ultima-90/S-Flex 120mm
    Keyboard
    MS Natural Elite 4000 Ergonomic
    Mouse
    Logitech G5
    Internet Speed
    2.5MB/430
    Other Info
    D-Link DGL 4500
... The last post said that since I sped up the memory clock the timing may automaticaly change as well which will actually slow the memory? So, in some cases slower mhz can be faster with the correct timing?
At DDR2-800 your timings were 5-5-5-15-24 2T. At DDR2-1066 your timings are 5-7-7-20-32 2T. Clearly, at DDR2-1066 your timings are looser. I would imagine that with the proper voltage you should be able to run 1066 at 5-5-5-15, but you'd have to test that out?

How does what you just did affect performance? You may noticed slower system performance now that timings are looser. Simply increasing the memory clock doesn't do anything. Also, leaving the memory timings on auto doesn't take advantage of the increased memory speed. Not that there was any great advantage to what you did to begin with since you also didn't OC the cpu, but I digress.

i have to agree with fumz ....

even though im obligated to answer your query's to raise the ram frequency i believe tighter timings give better performance increase

you will see NO increase in performance going from 800 to 1066mhz
but you would see a difference going from 800mhz @ 5-5-5-15
to 800mhz @ 4-4-4-12
:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    ME.....
    CPU
    Q9450 @ 3.6ghz
    Motherboard
    P5K PREMIUM
    Memory
    8GB 1066mhz buffalo firestix
    Graphics Card(s)
    HD 5970
    Monitor(s) Displays
    20'' syncmaster
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA IDE
    160GB 7200RPM SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA 2
    PSU
    XCILIO 850w
    Case
    unknown ATX
    Cooling
    Arctic cooler pro 775
    Keyboard
    logitech EX110
    Mouse
    logitech cordless optical
    Internet Speed
    2mb
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