1600 Mhz RAM is showing up on BIOS/CPU-Z as 1333MHZ

[saas1980]

Hi, purchased and installed 16GB 1600MHz RAM in my Dell XPS 17 Laptop. The RAM capacity is compatible with my machine which recognizes 16 gig.

The Problem: BIOS is only picking up 1333MHz. CPU-Z confirms the same when it should be reading 1600MHz

Newly installed RAM:
Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM (2x8GB) PC3-12800 '1600Mhz'
Model: CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10

For my laptop:
Dell XPS 17 (L702x)
Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT)
2nd generation Intel Core i7-2860QM 2.50 GHz, Turbo Boost > 3.60 GHz
(Original RAM when purchased machine) 8192MB (2x4096) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel

After reading other threads with same/similar problems, remedies were given which solved the issue for some people who were able to fix the problem by going into BIOS and clocking the RAM speed/timing to hit 1600MHz. I made attempt to do the same in full flight and hit a wall. BIOS on my machine gives no option to make such changes

I checked Dell's Product Support pages for drivers/updates. My current BIOS version is A14 (2011). For some reason, this version is not listed on Dell's Product Support. Alternatively, 2 other versions are offered for download:

1. BIOS Version A11 (last updated on 05 Dec 2013)
2. BIOS Version A19 (last updated on 12 Dec 2013)

I don't know whether updating to a newer version will help or create more problems.

Can anyone help with this issue? Can the system be clocked without using BIOS to increase the timings to 1600MHz?

I should also mention after reading several threads, I discovered the Corsair and Kingston RAM checker support online. I checked both sites for RAM compatibility with my machine, and both make no mention of 1600MHz. But after checking Crucial Ram checker, 1600Mhz is listed as compatible. So a little confused!

(I don't know if this will help, but I added a pic showing system specs via CPU-Z)

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[Tradesman1]

System specs list 1333 for the DRAM, as most laptops have a locked BIOS you can't make adjustments to go go higher

http://www.cnet.com/products/dell-xps-17-l702x-17-3-core-i5-2430m-windows-7-home-premium-64-bit-6-gb-ram-750-gb-hdd/specs/

 

[Shaun o]

The highest rated speed of any memory means in order to achieve it you must enable Intel XMP mode in your bios.
But the real con is with the rating is with laptops as said, some just simply do not have a feature to set or enable XMP mode for the memory.
That is a bit annoying as anyone buying a said laptop is given to think the memory runs at the quoted maximum speed on the label of each memory stick fitted.

All the same have a look for the Xmp option in the bios of the laptop. If there is one simply enable it to get the Xmp memory mode. Bios should see the Xmp profile stored on the memory modules and auto set all of the correct settings for the memory to run at 1600 Mhz after that.
Or you can manually set it to 1600 Mhz by putting the values in the bios memory timings settings. That would be the values that you can see in cpu z of Jdec profile 3

 

[saas1980]

No options found in BIOS to enable XMP nor manual settings to change values 🙁 Tbh, I've always purchased dell products, never had problems until I started wrapping my head around 'not-so-demanding upgrades'.

I'm assuming their is no alternative way to enable the memory settings? Maybe a third party (safe) software?

Currently the BIOS version on my system is 1.4 (year 2011). If I did download v1.9, I was hoping there may be an addition per upgrade which allows XMP/memory value settings. Is it possible?

 

[Tradesman1]

It's possible (though I wouldn't bet on it), most laptop makers seldom do much to make the laptops 'better' as they are constantly rolling out new models

 

[saas1980]

I guess I'm gonna have to give it a shot

Assuming all fails, if I kept the RAM (1600mhz) installed for the sheer benefit of 16 gig capacity (but recognized as 1333mhz), would that be safe? Or should I replace the sticks?

 

[Tradesman1]

Yes, would simply run at the lower data rate

 

[saas1980]

I finally got around to updating the BIOS to A19. It didn't work. No XMP or manual advanced settings in the update other than the basic, time, date, boot sequence, etc.

I've been reading about BIOS mods where advanced settings are possible and proven. Is this safe or is it recommended to keep away from such set ups?

BIOS MOD example (this user has the same machine as mine): http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/l702x-modded-gpu-bios.641688/page-18