Amateur RAM questions

[martin.eilertsen.1]

Yesterday I installed another 8GB RAM in my gaming laptop (msi gp62mvr 7rfx - specs below).

The computer recognises both RAMs (checked in Systems and CPU-Z) and is showing 16GB in total.

The original 8GB RAM installed in the laptop looks like custom Kingston RAM produced for MSI as the product code is MSI24D4S7D8MB-8 (DDR4-2400 (1200MHz)).

The new RAM (got it for free from someone who did not need it) seems to match the Kingston RAM in terms of "published" specifications but, from Google searches I now understand that there are also "unpublished" specifications. The new RAM is Samsung M471A1K43CB1-CRC.

When I go to the SPD tab in CPU-Z, the cards seems to run at slightly different timings and the ranks is also different (see below).

Questions:
1. Is this sub-optimal? I did not notice any improvement in FPS in BF1 and BF5 open beta last night (where my CPU is the bottleneck)...
2. Does the ranks and different timings matter?
3. Do I change the timings in BIOS to make them run at the same speed or do I just get a new RAM kit or another 8GB RAM stick from Crucial (comes with a 100% compatibility guarantee) to replace the Samsung RAM?

SPD data

MSI24D4S7D8MB-8
Ranks: Dual
JEDEC # 9: 1200 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 18.0 - RAS# to CAS# 17 - RAS# Precharge 17 - tRAS 39 - tRC 55 - Voltage 1.20 V
JEDEC # 10: 1200 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 19.0 - RAS# to CAS# 17 - RAS# Precharge 17 - tRAS 39 - tRC 55 - Voltage 1.20 V
JEDEC # 11: 1200 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 20.0 - RAS# to CAS# 17 - RAS# Precharge 17 - tRAS 39 - tRC 55 - Voltage 1.20 V
JEDEC # 12: 1200 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 21.0 - RAS# to CAS# 17 - RAS# Precharge 17 - tRAS 39 - tRC 55 - Voltage 1.20 V

Samsung M471A1K43CB1-CRC
Ranks: Single
JEDEC # 6: 1090 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 15.0 - RAS# to CAS# 15 - RAS# Precharge 15 - tRAS 35 - tRC 50 - Voltage 1.20 V
JEDEC # 7: 11163 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 16.0 - RAS# to CAS# 16 - RAS# Precharge 16 - tRAS 38 - tRC 54 - Voltage 1.20 V
JEDEC # 8: 1200 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 17.0 - RAS# to CAS# 17 - RAS# Precharge 17 - tRAS 39 - tRC 55 - Voltage 1.20 V
JEDEC # 9: 1200 MHz (frequency) - CAS# Latency 18.0 - RAS# to CAS# 17 - RAS# Precharge 17 - tRAS 39 - tRC 55 - Voltage 1.20 V

Other specs:
i5 7300HQ 3.5GHz
GTX1060 3GB
Both CPU and GPU running in Sport mode in MSI Dragon Centre for max performance (without any manual OC)

Thank you in advance!

 

[velocityg4]

As long as it works. I don’t see any reason to change anything.

 

[Karadjgne]

Ram will run at the slowest speed of the sticks, so if one is 2400 and the other is 1866, both run at 1866, the Kingston has variable timings at 2400 to better match up with other sticks timings. So both will be using jedec #9 and line up perfectly. And since there seems to be no other issues, the laptop isn't crashing etc, then all good.

As far as certain programs not getting gains in fps, that's because with that game, the laptop is using total less than 8Gb of ram, if running something that took 12Gb, you'd definitely see a difference since the laptop wouldn't be using hdd/ssd as virtual ram and slowing things down.

 

[martin.eilertsen.1]

Thanks both - very helpful.

I have had no issues so far and did some serious BF5 open beta gaming last night! I was expecting a bit of an FPS pick-up due to the increased bandwidth of the dual RAM (given CPU is running at 100% constantly). Given my laptop's specs (see original post) and the fact that all in-game video settings are set to low (v-sync and DX12 disabled), I was hoping to squeeze out 100+ FPS in BF1 at least! The only time I achieve 144 (max monitor refresh rate) is in the menus and when I am playing, I normally get 70-90...

And just to confirm - the different ranks should not matter?

 

[velocityg4]

Thanks both - very helpful.

I have had no issues so far and did some serious BF5 open beta gaming last night! I was expecting a bit of an FPS pick-up due to the increased bandwidth of the dual RAM (given CPU is running at 100% constantly). Given my laptop's specs (see original post) and the fact that all in-game video settings are set to low (v-sync and DX12 disabled), I was hoping to squeeze out 100+ FPS in BF1 at least! The only time I achieve 144 (max monitor refresh rate) is in the menus and when I am playing, I normally get 70-90...

And just to confirm - the different ranks should not matter?

No, if it works then it does not matter. It only matters if it doesn't work.

If a CPU is running at 100% in a game. It doesn't matter what you do that is the fastest a game will run. You can drop the detail as low as you want. It won't run at a higher FPS. You may as well start fiddling with settings to increase detail until you get an FPS drop. Many of the settings have very little affect and can be turned up to maximum. Others like AA have a pronounced effect on GPU performance.

Very few if any settings affect the CPU in games. Draw distance (visible distance or whatever a developer uses to name it) is one of the few settings which often has an impact.

 

[Karadjgne]

Grass detail is cpu murder as well, and combined with viewing distance/ draw detail can seriously impact a struggling cpu. Keep as low as playable as possible.

About bandwidth on ram, yes that can help, if the ram is using it to any healthy degree. But if the cpu is already taxed hard, any extra the ram can provide isn't really used, all that data is sitting there, waiting patiently for the cpu to need it. In your case, the cpu itself is the bottleneck, it's going to slow the flow, upto the cpus ability, with everything else working only partially to capacity.

 

[martin.eilertsen.1]

Grass detail is cpu murder as well, and combined with viewing distance/ draw detail can seriously impact a struggling cpu. Keep as low as playable as possible.

About bandwidth on ram, yes that can help, if the ram is using it to any healthy degree. But if the cpu is already taxed hard, any extra the ram can provide isn't really used, all that data is sitting there, waiting patiently for the cpu to need it. In your case, the cpu itself is the bottleneck, it's going to slow the flow, upto the cpus ability, with everything else working only partially to capacity.

Thanks again both.

I still do not understand why the CPU is running so hard given specs is well in excess of minimum system requirements (Windows 10 settings are fully optimised for gaming and I always set BF to "high priority" when i play). Oh well, when I have time, I will play around with settings and do some "proper testing" to get best balance between video quality and FPS stability.

 

[velocityg4]

Thanks again both.

I still do not understand why the CPU is running so hard given specs is well in excess of minimum system requirements (Windows 10 settings are fully optimised for gaming and I always set BF to "high priority" when i play). Oh well, when I have time, I will play around with settings and do some "proper testing" to get best balance between video quality and FPS stability.

The stated minimum CPU requirements for Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 5 is an i5-6600K. An i5-7300HQ is considerably slower.

 

[Karadjgne]

It's a laptop. Most laptops suffer from 1 major flaw, lack of cooling ability. As a consequence, cpu manufacturers have chopped the 100w 4core i5's to a 15w dual core i5 (sometimes with HT) . Huge difference in ability when considering games that run on 4 cores but are optimized for 8 threads. BF1, BF5 and others will basically swamp most laptops other than the gaming i7's.

 

[martin.eilertsen.1]

It's a laptop. Most laptops suffer from 1 major flaw, lack of cooling ability. As a consequence, cpu manufacturers have chopped the 100w 4core i5's to a 15w dual core i5 (sometimes with HT) . Huge difference in ability when considering games that run on 4 cores but are optimized for 8 threads. BF1, BF5 and others will basically swamp most laptops other than the gaming i7's.

Thanks again guys - I am learning a lot today!

Just to confirm, my process does run on all 4 cores (confirmed via CPU-Z) and I believe it runs at the max turbo frequency (3.5GHz from memory) when I activate "sport" mode in MSI Dragon Center (which I do when I am gaming). Maybe I'll try to boost to the CPU just a little given i normally run on quite low tempratures thanks to the "cooler boost" mode in MSI Dragon Center...

 

[velocityg4]

Thanks again guys - I am learning a lot today!

Just to confirm, my process does run on all 4 cores (confirmed via CPU-Z) and I believe it runs at the max turbo frequency (3.5GHz from memory) when I activate "sport" mode in MSI Dragon Center (which I do when I am gaming). Maybe I'll try to boost to the CPU just a little given i normally run on quite low tempratures thanks to the "cooler boost" mode in MSI Dragon Center...

Use MSI Afterburner with on screen overlay. You can see what frequencies your cores are running at and individual usage.
https://www.msi.com/blog/setting-up-osd-with-msi-afterburner