XMP or non XMP

[eevee047]

Memory is the component I know the least about, so I'm a tad confused right now. I noticed that on newegg, some of the kingston HyperX Beast modules are labelled XMP, and some arent. Is there a difference? my motherboard only supports 1600mhz but lets you go higher with xmp, Just wondering because I'm using newegg global and I'd rather not get it then end up having to send it back halfway across the world. (for some reason the black pcb version on hyperX beast isn't available from my favourite etailer). Also, will quad channel work in a dual channel system? (ie: system is dual channel, but filling all 4 slots still).

[Theblasphemouscoffee]

I'm pretty sure that they should support XMP, and all XMP does is make sure that your memory is running at the correct speeds and timings without you having to enter all of the values in manually. As for quad channel, its only availible, as far as i know, on  LGA2011 at the moment so if you buy 4 sticks for a 1150/5 or an AMD system then you will just get 4 dimms running in dual channel, i.e. you will be able to use all 4 but you won't get the benefits of quad channel. 

[eevee047]

Ah thankyou Cleared things up for me.

[VintageCake]

XMP is preset values for what your ram should run at. It stands for 'Extreme Memory Profiles'.

 

Because of how memory works, if you buy a pair of 1866MHz sticks, it will run at 1333MHz when you stick it in your rig.

If the ram has XMP, you can turn on a setting in the bios which will read the settings off the ram and put all the correct values without you having to do it manually.

 

So timings, voltage and clockspeed will be done for you automatically if you have XMP enabled.

[eevee047]

Ah I see, thanks for explaining it.