DDR3 memory question

[Schmarvin]

So, looking at newer motherboards is a bit difficult. I'm seeing a lot of motherboards that say they accept memory at like 1866MHz and 1600MHz, but then it'll say 2200MHz (O.C.)

Does that mean I can just buy the 2200MHz memory and it'll work?

[Emil]

AFAIK it means that the motherboard will recognise up to 1866mhz by itself, and that you will have to manually go into the bios and change the ram to 2200mhz via X.M.P. etc. for it to operate at 2200mhz. Short answer yes but you need to change it to 2200mhz in bios.

[dchen12]

AFAIK it means that the motherboard will recognise up to 1866mhz by itself' date=' and that you will have to manually go into the bios and change the ram to 2200mhz via X.M.P. etc. for it to operate at 2200mhz. Short answer yes but you need to change it to 2200mhz in bios.[/quote']

To add to that, most of the time you'll even need to change it manually in bios for 1600mhz as it'll default it to 1333mhz.

[Schmarvin]

Okay, so if I put in a 2200MHz stick, it'll only be recognized as 1866MHz until I change it in the bios?

[MG2R]

Basically, yes. I don't understand why you'd buy such memory modules though. The performance benefit is marginal, if there is any at all... Just go with 1600MHz RAM, that's pretty common and relatively cheap these days. Unless you're using an AMD APU for example, graphics processors WILL benefit from faster RAM.

[NannerBeans]

It should be noted that you won't probably even notice the difference between 1600MHz RAM and 2200MHz RAM.

[bradscoolio]

when installing a kit that's spec is to run above the automatic detection frequency the memory will default at 1600mhz with a cas latency of 9-9-9-24, you will have to go into the bios an enable the memory X.M.P profile to get it running at the speed advertised on the box.

keep in mind that fast spec memory will not always be stable at its X.M.P profile and may need some tweaking to get it stable... it really just depends on quality of the silicon itself as to whether the cpu takes to it

[Fate]

Like NannerBeans said, there won't really be any difference in speed. If anything, it will cause problems because if you have an overclocked processor and memory it usually doesn't work unless you go through a (excuse my french) shit ton of trial and error.

[Electronics Wizardy]

It just means that you can OC a 1866 stick to 2200. It won't accept a 2200 stick. Don't worry about ram speeds very much it makes almost no difference for gaming and almost any use

[STiTRON]

meh...if you want to build a baller rig get 2133 cas 9 ram. The dominator platinum is filthy, and it looks epic.

[Schmarvin]

It just means that you can OC a 1866 stick to 2200. It won't accept a 2200 stick. Don't worry about ram speeds very much it makes almost no difference for gaming and almost any use

What about for multi-tasking? I multi-task programs, as well as compile and edit videos? Its not just going to be used for gaming.

[TechFan@ic]

Higher memory speed is very beneficial to AMD FM2 and AM3+ rigs.

With FM2 (APUs) It vastly improves the iGPU performance , & with the AM3+ chips it vastly improves overclockability .

With intel, it's pointless .

[Dragon_Cannon]

For games anything above 1600MHz is pointless.

Multitasking is gonna go after the CPU more than the RAM. If you are doing lots of applications that leverage lots of threads on the CPU you will see an increase more from a CPU upgrade rather than a RAM one.

Depending on the video editing software that you are using it may benefit from faster RAM though it will be negligible as the software takes advantage of the technology that is on your graphics card.

For rendering and 3D work there you would see a sizable improvement with faster RAM as long as the CAS isn't too high, as those kinds of programs like low latency RAM

[Huntsman]

you're not gonna see any real benefit except the smile one the vendor's face if you buy that high clocked RAM.... the point is not to increase the frequency, but to lower the latency...

[DePhoegon]

It should be noted that you won't probably even notice the difference between 1600MHz RAM and 2200MHz RAM.

You do in Triple or quad channel ram :P X} Though it's only more noticeable because the increase is greater then just 800 MHz

X} It's also far more drastic to notice if you have heavier programs, and copy larger amounts of sizable files.

[DePhoegon]

It just means that you can OC a 1866 stick to 2200. It won't accept a 2200 stick. Don't worry about ram speeds very much it makes almost no difference for gaming and almost any use

What about for multi-tasking? I multi-task programs, as well as compile and edit videos? Its not just going to be used for gaming.

Useful, and if you have enough ram to create a RAMDISK for the scratch drive, it's almost crazy fun *for me that is*, though it can have really insane speeds.

Imagine a scratch drive with 13000MB/s write & 18000MB/S read/copy X} those are just my speed, with triple channel ram setup. X}

[virusal19]

The only reasons i would buy any RAM higher then 1600MHz are for bragging rights or if you are doing any video editing, rendering and/or 3D work, apart from that, if you do everyday normal task like gaming, web surfing ect. It is going to be pointless.

- virusal19