Question about RAM Voltages

[kallekill]

I've decided to buy 4 GB of Patriot Extreme Performance memory running on a Gigabyte P35-DS3 motherboard. I see it is listed as using 2.2V, but when reading comments on this forum it seems as many are running them at as low as 1.8 V. How can this be? Also I read that some motherboards don't support running memory at 2.2V. Does the P35-DS3 support this?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

YMMV when dealing with overclocking RAM. Board will support 2.2Vdimm.

I prefer quality DDR2 800 RAMs with 1.8V rating. These sticks should be able to hit +450MHz with 2.0Vdimm.

 

[cmdrdredd]

People can run them at lower voltages, but if the manufacturer states 2.2v I'd run they at 2.2v

 

[BenchZowner]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
People can run them at lower voltages, but if the manufacturer states 2.2v I'd run they at 2.2v

Manufacturers look for an 'average IC' doable freq/voltage so they can sort the ICs out.
If they set the voltage too low, let's say 1.85V, they'll have more work to do, and less chips to make the grade for the appropriate model.

If you test your kit thoroughly, and they run stable with lower voltage, than good for you and your RAMs lifetime, the lower the voltage you feed them with, the lower ( not linear ) chances of failing in the future.

Sorry for not elaborating, gotta hit the road now.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: BenchZowner

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
People can run them at lower voltages, but if the manufacturer states 2.2v I'd run they at 2.2v

Manufacturers look for an 'average IC' doable freq/voltage so they can sort the ICs out.
If they set the voltage too low, let's say 1.85V, they'll have more work to do, and less chips to make the grade for the appropriate model.

If you test your kit thoroughly, and they run stable with lower voltage, than good for you and your RAMs lifetime, the lower the voltage you feed them with, the lower ( not linear ) chances of failing in the future.

Sorry for not elaborating, gotta hit the road now.

Unfortunately that is incorrect. Memory voltage directly related to stability. There are some reports I've seen over at xtremesystems.org of people undervolting their memory getting a corrupt bios when they attempt to flash it. Also lack of Orthos stability.

Always, Always, Always use the manufacturer recommended voltage as a minimum. There is a reason some memory will not startup in a motherboard at 1.8v and you are required to install a different memory and change the voltage to the manufacturer recommended value.

 

[drakore]

After you have all the settings you want... you can lower the voltage in small increments and keep running stability tests and see where the lowest point is.

 

[BenchZowner]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: BenchZowner

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
People can run them at lower voltages, but if the manufacturer states 2.2v I'd run they at 2.2v

Manufacturers look for an 'average IC' doable freq/voltage so they can sort the ICs out.
If they set the voltage too low, let's say 1.85V, they'll have more work to do, and less chips to make the grade for the appropriate model.

If you test your kit thoroughly, and they run stable with lower voltage, than good for you and your RAMs lifetime, the lower the voltage you feed them with, the lower ( not linear ) chances of failing in the future.

Sorry for not elaborating, gotta hit the road now.

Unfortunately that is incorrect. Memory voltage directly related to stability. There are some reports I've seen over at xtremesystems.org of people undervolting their memory getting a corrupt bios when they attempt to flash it. Also lack of Orthos stability.

Always, Always, Always use the manufacturer recommended voltage as a minimum. There is a reason some memory will not startup in a motherboard at 1.8v and you are required to install a different memory and change the voltage to the manufacturer recommended value.

Sorry to say that, but you're wrong here m8.
If you successfully find the lowest stable voltage for the selected timings/frequency you'll have no problem whatever you do ( be it BIOS update, BOINC, gaming, etc ).

If you want to hear something more official than a single hardware reviewer...just send a PM to Yellowbeard ( Corsair - Tech. S. Employee ) & RyderOCZ ( OCZ Technology - Tech Support Employee ).

Especially when running a DDR-2 kit with relaxed timings ( 5-5-5-x ) you can go way bellow the specs if the ICs on your DIMMs are good ( my Super Talent T1000UX2G5 can run flawlessly at DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 with just 2.0V ) [ that's 0.2V lower than their default rating at DDR2-1000 @ 2.2V ]

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: BenchZowner

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: BenchZowner

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
People can run them at lower voltages, but if the manufacturer states 2.2v I'd run they at 2.2v

Manufacturers look for an 'average IC' doable freq/voltage so they can sort the ICs out.
If they set the voltage too low, let's say 1.85V, they'll have more work to do, and less chips to make the grade for the appropriate model.

If you test your kit thoroughly, and they run stable with lower voltage, than good for you and your RAMs lifetime, the lower the voltage you feed them with, the lower ( not linear ) chances of failing in the future.

Sorry for not elaborating, gotta hit the road now.

Unfortunately that is incorrect. Memory voltage directly related to stability. There are some reports I've seen over at xtremesystems.org of people undervolting their memory getting a corrupt bios when they attempt to flash it. Also lack of Orthos stability.

Always, Always, Always use the manufacturer recommended voltage as a minimum. There is a reason some memory will not startup in a motherboard at 1.8v and you are required to install a different memory and change the voltage to the manufacturer recommended value.

Sorry to say that, but you're wrong here m8.
If you successfully find the lowest stable voltage for the selected timings/frequency you'll have no problem whatever you do ( be it BIOS update, BOINC, gaming, etc ).

If you want to hear something more official than a single hardware reviewer...just send a PM to Yellowbeard ( Corsair - Tech. S. Employee ) & RyderOCZ ( OCZ Technology - Tech Support Employee ).

Especially when running a DDR-2 kit with relaxed timings ( 5-5-5-x ) you can go way bellow the specs if the ICs on your DIMMs are good ( my Super Talent T1000UX2G5 can run flawlessly at DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 with just 2.0V ) [ that's 0.2V lower than their default rating at DDR2-1000 @ 2.2V ]

If you get 1 error it can screw up everything...what is the point? it's made to accept 2.0v then just use 2.0v it's not gonna break something

 

[BenchZowner]

If you know how to test them, and you've tested them thoroughly you won't get any errors at all.
Drop it please.

 

[ryderOCZ]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd Unfortunately that is incorrect. Memory voltage directly related to stability. There are some reports I've seen over at xtremesystems.org of people undervolting their memory getting a corrupt bios when they attempt to flash it. Also lack of Orthos stability.

Always, Always, Always use the manufacturer recommended voltage as a minimum. There is a reason some memory will not startup in a motherboard at 1.8v and you are required to install a different memory and change the voltage to the manufacturer recommended value.

Always Always Always, use the lowest voltage that keeps your system stable. That is all that is necessary.

We have ram rated 1066 MHz at 2.3V, if the ram is stable in your system at 2.1V, there is no reason to run at 2.3V.

There is no harm in running ram under what the manufacturer spec's it at.