CPUZ shows my ram is running at 1333Mhz and not 1600Mhz

[rockonbazza]

Hi. I have DDR3 1600Mhz ram in my PC. CPUZ shows my DRAM Frequency is 669.6Mhz , and I just found out that means my ram is running at 1333Mhz, not 1600Mhz. I have read that I should check my BIOS and enable XMP. However, on checking my BIOS, it states XMP is enabled – Profile 1.

My bios memory settings area showing as follows –

XMP – Profile 1

System memory multiplier = = = 8.00 – Auto

Memory Mhz = = = 1334Mhz – 1600Mhz

The only options available with XMP are Disabled, or Profile 1. I cant remember exactly but on “system memory multiplier” I clicked on “auto” and it gave the options – Auto, Quick, and Expert.

Until recently I had 2 x 4gb sticks of ram, dual channel, and I added another 2 x 4gb sticks recently – 16GB in total. However CPUZ showed the same DRAM Frequency prior to me adding more ram. The line memory Mhz confuses me as it states 1334Mhz and next column along 1600Mhz.

My timings for both channels show 9 9 9 24. Voltage is 1.5. I couldnt see any option to change System Memory Multiplier which is currently listed as 8.00 Auto.

Am I running at 1600Mhz – if not how do i change the bios to get it to 1600Mhz. Or if I am running at 1333Mhz, would I notice any difference changing to 1600Mhz ? My mobo is a Gigabyte GA-970-DS3P. I mainly use my PC for gaming. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Dave Rice]

Don’t worry about it, you won’t notice any difference.

[rockonbazza]

? LOL. Thanks Dave. Quick reply, short and straight to the point – and I am no longer worrying about it. Thanks

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

Dont worry but just in case..

Your memory speed is:

System base clock x memory multiplier x 2 because its Double Data Rate.

If you do the maths then it looks your base clock is 83.7 so if you changed the multiplier to x10 your memory would be running at 1674. Thats higher than your memory’s rated 1600 a could be why AUTO chose an 8x multiplier.

If you want to try x10 then you probably need to change your multiplier setting to EXPERT first and you may need to disable XMP too.

But as Dave said…

[Ed P]

It can also be controlled by ‘Green’ settings.

Tbh as Dave says it is virtually unnoticeable unless you are ploughing through a huge database or doing some cutting edge rendering. The price of leccy has driven me to normally using ‘Green’ settings and only ramping up the CPU on the rare times I need to run three or more vms simultaneously.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

In case you were wondering why it makes so little difference now, then its because modern CPU’s have 3 levels of full speed cache memory. The CPU only has to wait for main memory in the event of the data not being in the chache, and its less than 1% of the time these days.

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