Question Before upgrading the RAM, I'm trying to figure out why the RAM I have shows in the BIOS 1,333 MHz but it actually 667 MHz?

Apr 25, 2023
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HI,
My PC:
Processor:
AMD Phenom II x4 Quad-Core 955 AM3 3.2 GHz
CPU Cooler:
NOCTUA NH-U12P SE2
Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ (rev. 3.0)
Memory:
G.SKILL Value F3-10600CL9S-4GBNT DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9 1.50V 4GB (1x4GB)
Kingston
DDR3 1333MT/s Non-ECC Unbuffered DIMM CL9 2RX8 1.5V 240-pin 4Gbit 8GB
Graphics:
AMD Radeon RX 460
I read all this threads:

I understand the difference between Memory clock and Transfer rate and this is the reason why 667 MHz appears in all the software, the thing I don't understand is why 1,333 MHz appears in the BIOS?

Also I overclocked my CPU by updating the bus speed from 200 MHz to 230 MHz and now in the BIOS it shows:
CPU Clock speed as 3,681 MHz and RAM Clock Speed as 1,534 MHz.

After reading the notes in the specification of my motherboard , I know that I can upgrade my RAM to 32 GB by buying 4 sticks of Patriot Memory Signature DDR3 16GB (2 x 8GB CL11 PC3-12800 (1600MHz).

So, what will be the reading in the BIOS after the update?

Thanks.
 
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667 is half the DDR speed. DDR is Double data rate. So 667 is correct AND 1333 is correct. 667 times two is approximately 1333MT/s. The BIOS is showing the full double data rate, because it looks better AND it helps the motherboard manufacturer avoid having to answer questions for all of the people who would undoubtedly contact them thinking they had a problem if only the ACTUAL memory clock speed was shown in the BIOS rather than the advertised double data rate.

Overclocking the system bus is a bad idea in most cases especially on older systems that don't have other components bus speeds divorced from the system bus because when you do that you are overclocking everything including the PCIe bus, the USB bus, etc. It will tend to cause problems for very little gain. Very little gain. Almost certainly not enough gain to be worth the problems it causes on the other sub-systems.

Whatever you do, make sure that any memory you buy is either on the motherboard QVL list or is on the memory manufacturers compatibility list for that specific motherboard. As far as I know, only Corsair, G.Skill and Crucial actually have an extensive compatibilty list. Corsair memory finder, Crucial memory adviser and G.Skill memory configurator, all easily Googled online.

As well, buy ONLY ONE KIT, with ALL of the memory you require in it if you want to avoid problems like multiple kits, even when they are the same kit model, not wanting to "play nice" together. Do not buy two kits of the same model. Do not buy some other kit with similar specs. All those things CAN work, but as often as they do, they also don't in some cases. Or they do, with varying degrees of success and often with a great amount of tweaking required to get them to work correctly together. Better to just avoid that by getting a single kit that contains DIMMs that have all been verified to be compatible with each other at the factory.
 
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motherboard QVL
Yes, I already checked the motherboard QVL, there is no memory module of 8GB that is 1,600 MHz.
I want to upgrade to 32 GB in total because in the specification is listed that:
4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory

So, what do I actually have to do?


About the overclocking, how can I overclock my CPU clock speed without changing the bus speed?
My CPU multiplier is already set on 16 by default and changing that is causing the computer, when it is turned on, to not reach the stage of booting the operating system.

Thanks.
 
On the topic of the RAM upgrade, unless you specifically know you have need of 32GB for some particular workload, I wouldn't bother going with that much. It's probably going to be overkill for that level of hardware, and relatively few workloads today will benefit from having that much. Any RAM installed beyond what the system is actively using at any given moment will not be providing any real benefit.

Also, since it sounds like this may be somewhat older hardware, be aware that if you happen to only have a 32-bit version of Windows installed, it won't be able to utilize more that 4GB, so you will want to make sure that it's running a 64-bit install of the OS.

It's also worth noting that you can likely find DDR3 rather cheap on the used market at this point, so it might be worth comparing second-hand prices if you were considering buying new, in case there's a big price difference between the two.
 
Do not buy two kits of the same model.
I don't understand why.
I want to to buy 2 kits of
16GB (2x8GB) 1600MHz Kit HS
So I will have 32GB.
Now I have 12GB, with 35+ tabs opened in Chrome and some applications opened in background I reach almost to 7GB. Occasionally, I reach to 12GB.
That's why an addition of 4GB will not be enough.
The only possibilities for me are 16GB or 32GB to take advantage of the Dual-Channel Memory.
This is why I want to buy two kits.

I have 64-bit operating system.
 
After reading the notes in the specification of my motherboard , I know that I can upgrade my RAM to 32 GB by buying 4 sticks of Patriot Memory Signature DDR3 16GB (2 x 8GB CL11 PC3-12800 (1600MHz).

So, what will be the reading in the BIOS after the update?
DDR3 was very forgiving adding more memory so the 2 kits should work together but no guarantee. You might need to manually set the voltage and timings and up the voltage to 1.55 or set the speed to 1333. But it could be as easy as just setting XMP in BIOS.

BIOS should read 1600, CPUZ would read 800.

EDIT usually you could mix memory and make it work with DDR3 with some adjustments unless you were trying to run low and high density memory at the same time.
 
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I don't understand why.
Then please read the section titled "Mixed memory (Or the odd man out)" at this link:



And this post, in it's entirety:


And then you WILL understand why, or at least, I hope you will. If you don't understand why after reading it, I don't know how else to help understand it.

As for DDR3 being more "forgiving" when it comes to mixing memory kits, that might be true to SOME degree, but it's absolutely not a given AND I've seen PLENTY of instances where mixing DDR3, again, even when it was the exact same kit or another kit with nearly identical specifications and timings, not work together. And as far as the low and high density problems, I don't mean to throw shade at anybody, at all, but you could never use both high and low density memory on the same board. The architecture was always designed to use either one or the other. You could not run high density memory on a board that was designed to use low density memory, and visa versa, from everything I've ever known and from what both Tradesman and a couple of other memory engineers around here have explained to me in the distant past. So that should never be a consideration in any case.

If you needed low density memory, for an older/early DDR3 platform, then you HAD to find low density memory. If you needed high density memory, then you had to look at newer kits because older low density kits would not work on that platform. And they FOR SURE would never work TOGETHER, at all, ever.

DDR3 is no different than DDR4 or DDR5 when it comes to mixing different kits or models together. Yes, it CAN work, and SOMETIMES will, even more likely IF the kits are identical, but just as often they DO NOT, and if you are going to buy brand new memory anyhow it makes very little sense to take ANY chance of running into problems when you can simply buy a single kit with the speed and capacity you require.

As far as not being on the QVL list, that is exactly why I said, and explained, to use the Corsair memory finder, G.Skill memory configurator or Crucial memory advisor, as they will all list out memory kits that ARE compatible for whatever board you're trying to work with (For the most part. If the board is VERY old or brand new, it may lack any compatibility listings for those reasons.) and the lists provided by the memory manufacturer are always FAR more accurate and much more inclusive of additional kits than the QVL list for any board as those are always limited and are only ever intended to be a small sampling of what the board manufacturer bothered to take the time to test on a given board or configuration. For that reason, with few exceptions, I almost always purchase either G.Skill, Corsair or Crucial memory when buying aftermarket high speed memory regardless of the platform being DDR3, DDR4 or mobile SODIMMs.