P55-USB3 with 1600 Kingston XMP

[denny]

hey

im curious about this 1333mhz and 1600

is it overclocking if i use xmp and it sets the memory to 1600?

ive read it sets the CLK to 166 which is overclock??

mem is 1600 kingston

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

The thing is you have to understand where it is all coming from. The speeds are all decided  on by a body called JEDEC that oversees the standards. DDR memory is Double Data Rate and that means that the real speed of the memory is in fact doubled eg from 533 to 1066, or from 667 to 1333 etc. Therefore all DDR memory is overclocked before you even begin so to speak. Anything above 133 JEDEC standard is considered an overclock and therefore not officially supported. Most companies do allow the use of higher speed memory modules even though they don't officially support overclocking.

XMP or eXtreme Memory Profiles are just settings that are used by the SPD of the modules to set their speeds etc without having to enter them all into the BIOS manually.

[denny]

oki im still confused hehe so bare with me :p

so when i change to xmp to 1600 it will raise the cpu clock, but will the multiply remain the same? in that case i would imagine the cpu would run at 3652mhz? ( if i ONLY activate XMP ). in case the cpu will get highter i would need to manual change the multiply down? i dont like to manual stuff in bios since i dont concider my self an poweruser especielly with bios. i dont mind if the cpu runs at 166x22 cuz i got excellent zalman cooling, but i would like the system to be stable as well.

thx in advance

[Dark Mantis]

Even though the memory controller is now on the CPU die the speed of the processor and the speed of the memory are not linked in the way you are thinking. The memory speed can be changed seperately in the BIOS either manually or by using the XMP settings if the memory comes with any. I have copied these from the website for your board and maybe they will help explain. The supported speeds are ones that the manufacturer has tested and made sure that the memory will run with stably. You will notice 1600 Mhz isn't included. This doesn't mean that it wont work but they are covering their backs because there have been problems.You will also notice that it states that XMP profiles will work with this board.

Support for DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules
 
Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules

I don't think that I have explained this well but it isn't the easiest thing to get across.

[denny]

ok so by activating XMP it will change ONLY the memory settings to 1600mhz(plus voltage)? but that is not supported fully by gigabyte?

so its best just to keep my memory at default i recon?

last thing, but is there any speed diff with 1333 vs 1600 if u dont game at all? ( if decide to change it )

/denny

thx in advance

[Dark Mantis]

To be honest in a real world scenario you wouldn't notice the difference but I can understand where you are coming from and if I paid for 1600Mhz RAM I would at least want to try and run it at that speed. Just set the XMP setting in the BIOS as profile 1 and see how you get on. If you have problems you can always fall back to 1333 instead.

[oggmonster]

From my (probably limited!)  expierience XMP hasnt been great at making ram stable - with mine I had to enter in the timings etc. manually

[Dark Mantis]

As oggmonster has said sometimes the automatic XMP setttings don't work as hoped and it can be better to enter them manually but to be fair he knows an awful lot more about memory settings than you.

[oggmonster]

an awful lot more about memory settings than you.

Haha?? I Do?? 

[Dark Mantis]

an awful lot more about memory settings than you.

Haha?? I Do?? 

False modesty doesn't become you I know your overclocking talents!

[oggmonster]

lol hardly, my RAM generally runs at stock speed. As far as ram timings go - I know the XMP didn't work great for me, so I put in the timings + voltage manually (listed on the side of a sick of RAM) and thats it Not really an expert i'm afraid Though ty for the compliment!

[denny]

hehe

oki now ive changed to xmp

following change it did were

1333 to 1600

1.5v to 1.65v
some other volt with ( was just underneath ) from 1.1 to 1.3v

changed timings from 9 9 9 24 to 9 9 9 27

and 133x21 to 160x18 and it popped into win7 just fine..

guess my next question is. ive read this icore5 760 is good to oc. so now that it already runs at 160mhz i should be able to pop to 160x21 without any problems since its only the multiply im changing?

[Dark Mantis]

Glad to see that you managed to get it running properly in the end. As for the overclocking never take anything for granted. What seems straightforward isn't necessarily the case, it is always a case of trial and error (usually more error)

[denny]

i did change now to 21 and it runs at 3.36ghz and WEI got my cpu rating from 7.3 to 7.4 and mem speed from 7.5 to 7.7 ( even thou u wrote u couldnt count on that bs ) but changed down to x19 and gonna try that for couple weeks and see how it goes

so about the stable thing with 1600, if there were problems i would had seem them already right?

[Dark Mantis]

so about the stable thing with 1600, if there were problems i would had seem them already right?

Probably. Stability is hard to define and jsut when you think it's ok it will crash. Geberally I always define stability as being able to use  your system for your usual day to day activities/games and having no problems. Some people like to stress test their systems until they break but I really can't see the benefit and it must have a bearing on the lfe expectancy of the system.