RAM clocked @2666Mhz but BIOS sets it @2133Mhz - safe to set manually?

swapjim · Mar 12, 2016

I have an Asus H170-Pro motherboard with Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR4-2666 UDIMM
BLE2C8G4D26AFEA.

I'm really not sure about this (my BIOS seems convoluted to me and I'm still not comfortable finding my way around it) but the BIOS says it currently runs at 2133Mhz and it also mentions target DRAM frequency: 2400Mhz.

I have two questions:

1. Can I confirm the RAM frequency from inside Windows 7? My BIOS is a bit convoluted and I'd like something more clear. Just to be sure.
2. Is it ok to manually set it to 2666Mhz?

Elixer · Mar 12, 2016

If the RAM can handle it sure...
Just check with something like memtest86+ first, to make sure you get 0 errors.

VirtualLarry · Mar 12, 2016

Need a Z170 board to OC the DDR4 memory. Otherwise, it runs at 2133.

swapjim · Mar 12, 2016

VirtualLarry said:
Need a Z170 board to OC the DDR4 memory. Otherwise, it runs at 2133.

You mean that you want to get a Z170 board, or that this memory runs at 2666 only on Z170 boards and on H170 it will run at 2133?

LTC8K6 · Mar 12, 2016

Run CPU-Z and look under the Memory tab to see the actual speed.

nerp · Mar 12, 2016

H170 does not support overclocking officially. I believe VirtualLarry is correct. I bought 2133 memory knowing this though I see that the BIOS does have manual configuration settings. I am curious what happens when attempting to use faster memory.

VirtualLarry · Mar 13, 2016

I think possibly that Kaby Lake CPUs will allow operating DDR4 at 2400 on a non-Z170 / Z270 board.

swapjim · Mar 13, 2016

Oh man, I paid x2 the money to get 2666Mhz RAM because I thought it was going to operate at 2666Mhz as part of its standard operation. I'm gonna be so frustrated if all that money was for nothing :-/

I can see that Intel XMP is an easy way to overclock your memory. If it's within the specs of the memory and will not compromise any component's health and stability, I guess I would try that (after it passes a 24-hour memtest!).

Here is what CPU-Z shows:

Here is the part of the report that refers to memory:

Code:

Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM #                1
    SMBus address        0x51
    Memory type        DDR4
    Module format        UDIMM
    Manufacturer (ID)    Crucial Technology (7F7F7F7F7F9B00000000)
    Size            8192 MBytes
    Max bandwidth        DDR4-2401 (1200 MHz)
    Part number        BLE8G4D26AFEA.16FA
    Serial number        A01E51E2
    Nominal Voltage        1.20 Volts
    EPP            no
    XMP            yes
    XMP revision        2.0
    AMP            no
JEDEC timings table        CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
    JEDEC #1        9.0-9-9-22-31 @ 675 MHz
    JEDEC #2        10.0-10-10-25-35 @ 750 MHz
    JEDEC #3        11.0-11-11-27-38 @ 825 MHz
    JEDEC #4        12.0-12-12-29-41 @ 900 MHz
    JEDEC #5        13.0-13-13-32-45 @ 975 MHz
    JEDEC #6        14.0-14-14-34-48 @ 1050 MHz
    JEDEC #7        15.0-16-16-37-52 @ 1126 MHz
    JEDEC #8        16.0-16-16-39-55 @ 1200 MHz
    JEDEC #9        18.0-16-16-39-55 @ 1200 MHz
    JEDEC #10        20.0-16-16-39-55 @ 1200 MHz
XMP profile            XMP-2666
    Specification        DDR4-2666
    Voltage level        1.200 Volts
    Min Cycle time        0.750 ns (1333 MHz)
    Max CL            16.0
    Min tRP            12.75 ns
    Min tRCD        12.75 ns
    Min tRAS        27.00 ns
    Min tRC            45.38 ns
    Min tRRD        3.67 ns
XMP timings table        CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
    XMP #1            7.0-8-8-16-27-n.a @ 583 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #2            8.0-9-9-18-31-n.a @ 666 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #3            9.0-10-10-21-35-n.a @ 750 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #4            10.0-11-11-23-38-n.a @ 833 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #5            11.0-12-12-25-42-n.a @ 916 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #6            12.0-13-13-27-46-n.a @ 1000 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #7            13.0-14-14-30-50-n.a @ 1083 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #8            14.0-15-15-32-53-n.a @ 1166 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #9            15.0-16-16-34-57-n.a @ 1250 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #10            16.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #11            17.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #12            18.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #13            19.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #14            20.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)

DIMM #                2
    SMBus address        0x53
    Memory type        DDR4
    Module format        UDIMM
    Manufacturer (ID)    Crucial Technology (7F7F7F7F7F9B00000000)
    Size            8192 MBytes
    Max bandwidth        DDR4-2401 (1200 MHz)
    Part number        BLE8G4D26AFEA.16FA
    Serial number        A01E51B6
    Nominal Voltage        1.20 Volts
    EPP            no
    XMP            yes
    XMP revision        2.0
    AMP            no
JEDEC timings table        CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
    JEDEC #1        9.0-9-9-22-31 @ 675 MHz
    JEDEC #2        10.0-10-10-25-35 @ 750 MHz
    JEDEC #3        11.0-11-11-27-38 @ 825 MHz
    JEDEC #4        12.0-12-12-29-41 @ 900 MHz
    JEDEC #5        13.0-13-13-32-45 @ 975 MHz
    JEDEC #6        14.0-14-14-34-48 @ 1050 MHz
    JEDEC #7        15.0-16-16-37-52 @ 1126 MHz
    JEDEC #8        16.0-16-16-39-55 @ 1200 MHz
    JEDEC #9        18.0-16-16-39-55 @ 1200 MHz
    JEDEC #10        20.0-16-16-39-55 @ 1200 MHz
XMP profile            XMP-2666
    Specification        DDR4-2666
    Voltage level        1.200 Volts
    Min Cycle time        0.750 ns (1333 MHz)
    Max CL            16.0
    Min tRP            12.75 ns
    Min tRCD        12.75 ns
    Min tRAS        27.00 ns
    Min tRC            45.38 ns
    Min tRRD        3.67 ns
XMP timings table        CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC-CR @ frequency (voltage)
    XMP #1            7.0-8-8-16-27-n.a @ 583 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #2            8.0-9-9-18-31-n.a @ 666 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #3            9.0-10-10-21-35-n.a @ 750 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #4            10.0-11-11-23-38-n.a @ 833 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #5            11.0-12-12-25-42-n.a @ 916 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #6            12.0-13-13-27-46-n.a @ 1000 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #7            13.0-14-14-30-50-n.a @ 1083 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #8            14.0-15-15-32-53-n.a @ 1166 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #9            15.0-16-16-34-57-n.a @ 1250 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #10            16.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #11            17.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #12            18.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #13            19.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)
    XMP #14            20.0-17-17-36-61-n.a @ 1333 MHz (1.200 Volts)

VirtualLarry · Mar 13, 2016

swapjim said:
Oh man, I paid x2 the money to get 2666Mhz RAM because I thought it was going to operate at 2666Mhz as part of its standard operation. I'm gonna be so frustrated if all that money was for nothing :-/

You can try setting it to 2666 or XMP in BIOS, but I think that you're probably out of luck. CPU-Z shows it running at 1066Mhz (2133, double-data-rate, remember, so clock speed is half that).

swapjim · Mar 14, 2016

VirtualLarry said:
You can try setting it to 2666 or XMP in BIOS

Lets say that I do and it works. Does this involve any kind of danger for any component? Should I expect any kind of malfunction from this? Maybe data corruption at some point in the future?

Also: this RAM is meant to be overclocked? So even if I had a Z170 mobo, I would be overclocking it to get it to 2666Mhz

And one final question, although this deserves it's own topic: what kind of boost am I expecting from 2133Mhz to 2666Mhz? In what applications/situations?

coercitiv · Mar 14, 2016

VirtualLarry said:
You can try setting it to 2666 or XMP in BIOS, but I think that you're probably out of luck. CPU-Z shows it running at 1066Mhz (2133, double-data-rate, remember, so clock speed is half that).

Check the manufacturer spec page as well.

* Due to Intel® chipset limitation, DDR4 2133 MHz and higher memory modules on XMP mode will run at the maximum transfer rate of DDR4 2133 Mhz.

This is why it amazes me to see recommendations on this forum of matching budget Skylake CPUs (i3) with fast memory chips, just because somebody saw some benchmarks that favor fast RAM with Skylake CPUs.

swapjim said:
Lets say that I do and it works. Does this involve any kind of danger for any component? Should I expect any kind of malfunction from this? Maybe data corruption at some point in the future?

No malfunction. No data corruption. Even if you have no idea about RAM, as long as you use the settings as stated by your manufacturer, you'll be fine. (motherboard must also have support for memory OC)

swapjim said:
Also: this RAM is meant to be overclocked? So even if I had a Z170 mobo, I would be overclocking it to get it to 2666Mhz

Yes, when you buy a 2666 kit, the manufacturer sells you a product tested to work at that speed. They usually have a safety margin as well, in the sense that a 2400Mhz kit might also work at 2600Mhz with the same latency settings (or very small changes).

swapjim said:
And one final question, although this deserves it's own topic: what kind of boost am I expecting from 2133Mhz to 2666Mhz? In what applications/situations?

Anywhere from 0 to 10%+, depending on application. Some games and archiving programs have been shown to greatly value fast RAM.

LTC8K6 · Mar 14, 2016

XMP will default to 2133, so you will need to set it manually. You can use the numbers from the CPU-Z SPD page to get the settings.

Ketchup · Mar 14, 2016

As coercitiv pointed out, the Asus page says 2133 is the max it will do.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/H170-PRO/

I want to say that integrated graphics get a little boost from higher memory speeds, but that's about it.

LTC8K6 · Mar 14, 2016

I think it just says 2133 is the fastest it will do if you select XMP.

Otherwise, why list all this ram with timings?

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb...y_QVL.pdf?_ga=1.61294895.280286037.1430944980

coercitiv · Mar 14, 2016

LTC8K6 said:
I think it just says 2133 is the fastest it will do if you select XMP.

Otherwise, why list all this ram with timings?

http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb...y_QVL.pdf?_ga=1.61294895.280286037.1430944980

Info from the owner's manual seems to confirm:

This item allows you to set the memory operating frequency. The configurable options varywith the BCLK (base clock) frequency setting. Select the auto mode to apply the optimized setting. Configuration options: [DDR4‑800MHz] [DDR4‑1066MHz] [DDR4‑1333MHz] [DDR4‑1400MHz] ~ [DDR4‑4000MHz] [DDR4‑4266MHz]

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RAM clocked @2666Mhz but BIOS sets it @2133Mhz - safe to set manually?

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