1.8v or 2.1v...HELP

[cookie_leicester]

hiya...

what are the effects of installing 8gb of pc2-6400 800mhz using 2.1v instead of memory running at 1.8v (which is the recommended voltage by the manufacturer) on a gigabyte GA-M720-US3 motherboard? the board it self can hold upto 16gb of ram....

many thanks....

a VERY confused cookie

 

[masterjaw]

Increasing ram voltage is sometimes done to cure stability issues when overclocking. Otherwise, it is recommended that you leave it at the recommended settings. Doing that is risky as your ram might not be designed to work at that voltage. It would also induce more heat as well. If you don't know what you were doing, do yourself a favor and leave it at the recommended settings or else you're gonna fry it.

 

[MaDMagik]

I guess he meant whether installing ram that requires 2.1v(instead of one that requires 1.8v) would have any negative effect.

In theory you should be ok, but some motherboards struggle with providing enough voltage for the ram with multiple modules inserted, so using multiple voltage-hungry modules kinda increases the risk of potential problems. But then again you cant tell for sure :/

If(im guessing of course) you are choosing between CL4 @ 2.1v and CL5 @ 1.8v than go with CL5.

 

[cookie_leicester]

im not looking at overclocking etv etv...just need some thing fast to handle video editing....

ive stumped for http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/10150793/Corsair-TWIN2X4096-6400C5C-PC6400-4GB-800MHz-DDR2-240pin-DIMM-Dual-Channel-Memory-Kit/Product.html ..... that'll be ok wont it?

ignore the price..ive managed to get it much cheaper than that......8gb n all lol

Cookie

 

[cookie_leicester]

meant to add...8 gb of this mem....

 

[prelude2250]

at work we have a gigabyte ep45-ud3 paired with 2 sets of 2x1gb dual channel OCZ platinum ram. its rated @ 2.1v. The board did not pick this up on its own so I had to manually set the timings and ram voltage to 2.1v with no issues at all. It wont hurt the motherboard at all as long as you set it to 2.1v.

 

[MaDMagik]

im not looking at overclocking etv etv...just need some thing fast to handle video editing....

ive stumped for http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/10150793/Corsair-TWIN2X4096-6400C5C-PC6400-4GB-800MHz-DDR2-240pin-DIMM-Dual-Channel-Memory-Kit/Product.html ..... that'll be ok wont it?

ignore the price..ive managed to get it much cheaper than that......8gb n all lol

Cookie

Heh, Ive got the same memory in two of my PCs: one is 2x1gb kit the other is exactly what you linked. Had them for 8 and 6 months respectively and not a single problem with either. Ive been using corsair for years and they will continue to get my money, so definately recommended.

 

[lauxenburg]

RAM with more voltage will pretty much work in any 1.8V slot, just it is a little tricky with stability and life of your system. It is not exactly OCing the RAM but it is asking it to perform at more than it wants to. You can usually get higher performing RAM this way, but the performance difference is usually very small. Also runs a bit hotter.