Undervolting DDR3 2133?

Centauri

Golden Member
Dec 10, 2002
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So I just ordered up a new Trinity setup, including some 2133MHz DDR3 in anticipation of an overclock, which I may or may not do. My other thought is to just try to undervolt everything for efficiency, which brings me to the RAM;

Trinity wants 1866 DDR by default, so if I do wind up allowing this 2133 to run at 1866, could I then drop its stock voltage from 1.5v to something lower? I've never really played with memory voltage, so I'm not sure if I can go down as well. I also assume I can turn down the latency timings a tad for the lower clock speed?

Thanks.
 

fffblackmage

Platinum Member
Dec 28, 2007
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Underclocking/undervolting is like overclocking/overvolting. You just have to try and test it out for yourself. Make sure to test with something like memtest 86+ for stability.

IME, I've been able to underclock and undervolt a Patriot DDR3-1333 1.5V 4GB stick down to DDR3-1066 @ 1.35V. I also have a set of Corsair 2x4GB DDR3-1600 1.5V that I've underclocked down to DDR3-1333 (also on 1.35V, I think?). I don't remember the CAS latency in either case, but I'm pretty sure I've lowered them.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
16,740
2,092
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So I just ordered up a new Trinity setup, including some 2133MHz DDR3 in anticipation of an overclock, which I may or may not do. My other thought is to just try to undervolt everything for efficiency, which brings me to the RAM;

Trinity wants 1866 DDR by default, so if I do wind up allowing this 2133 to run at 1866, could I then drop its stock voltage from 1.5v to something lower? I've never really played with memory voltage, so I'm not sure if I can go down as well. I also assume I can turn down the latency timings a tad for the lower clock speed?

Thanks.

I think the safest answer is "probably . . . maybe . . " I'd followed two strategies through a few machines: over-clock lower spec RAM to get a higher speed, and underclock high speed RAM at the same voltage to get lower latencies. It used to depend on the RAM or whoever made it.

I've found that G.SKILL has reliable overlaps between different model specs. I've mixed DDR2-900 with DDR2-1000's, and used a common yet reasonably tight set of timings and modest speed (like 850) and the same voltage -- for which they are both spec'd in SPD.

You may need higher voltage for tighter timings, or you can get lower voltage at lower speed with loose or spec timings.