Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

[mikewse]

Motherboard: GA-Q77M-D2H
RAM: 4 x 8GB Corsair XMS3 Vengeance DDR3 PC12800/1600MHz CL9

The motherboard defaults to 1333MHz memory speed and I've done the following to get the correct 1600MHz:

1. Enabled XMP Profile 1 in BIOS Advanced Memory Settings
2. Set Memory Multiplier to Auto so Memory Frequency shows as 1600MHz

Still, the BIOS start page (M.I.T.) is showing Memory Frequency 1330MHz
And when running memtest86+ it shows 665MHz (DDR3-1330MHz)

What speed is my RAM actually running at?
Thanks
Mike

[wazza300]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

according to that its still 1330mhz

have you tried setting the s.p.d system memory multiplier to 8x or 10x to give you 1600mhz? the cpu bclk will also affect the ram speed

look in cpu-z memory tab to see ram speed

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

Yes, I have tried setting Memory Multiplier to explicit values instead of Auto, with the same result.

[wazza300]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

what bios are you using? I would flash to latest bios if you havn't already

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

Yes, I have flashed latest F2 BIOS.

[wazza300]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

can you look in cpu-z memory tab from within windows and post a picture

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

[wazza300]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

strange its not showing the dram frequency,timings are for 1600mhz though

do you have easytune installed? try looking in the memory section to see what speed the ram is running at

32gb is a lot of memory to run at 1600mhz,have you tested with 2x 8gb sticks and see if it runs at 1600mhz in the bios? could be a voltage issue with 32gb

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

I don't really see what memory frequency it's using currently here, do I?
Timings are a little off (no 9-9-9-24)...

[wazza300]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

what does it say in the tuner/voltage tab,it should show a slider with the current ram speed

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

There's no slider for Memory there, "Power On" and "Target" fields are both showing 1333MHz.

[ShahJahan]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

Which CPU are you using? Maybe your CPU runs at 1333 FSB. If so, then you'd have to overclock the FSB. Just by raising the multiplier will NOT work. But there is MORE risk involved in raising the FSB than the multiplier.

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

So wazza300, thanks to your help I'm starting to get somewhere! :-)

I've been testing with only two sticks and I'm getting 1600MHz in both BIOS start screen and in memtest86+ on one of the pairs. When I put back the other stick pair BIOS complains that its settings are no longer compatible with the current hardware and goes back 1330MHz.
I'm continuing to test with different combinations to isolate the faulty stick.

[mikewse]

Re: Is my memory really running at 1600MHz?

I thought I had found the faulty stick - one stick always brings down Memory Frequency to 1330MHz.
But then in the middle of checking the remaining sticks the system rebooted and brought up the BIOS warning dialog about settings no longer compatible with hardware. And frequency down to 1330MHz again. Saving BIOS settings and rebooting brought it back to 1600MHz.

Looking back in the Windows event log shows that the system has unexpectedly rebooted every 1-2 hours.

At this point I am starting to wonder if the problems are due to the motherboard or the RAM. Can GA-Q77M actually handle 1600MHz memory, or memory with 9-9-9-24 timings?
How can I find out which one is faulty? memtest86 overnight didn't show anything...

(Btw, at one point looking at the BIOS start screen I *think* I saw the Memory Frequency briefly dip down to 624MHz and then come back up again, could it be a sign of something?)