Can The ASUS M5A97 R2.0 Support 2400 Ram Sticks?

[inermotion]

This is my motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131873
I want to upgrade my ram as the final piece to my rebuilt system, rite now I have 3x2gb 1333 ram sticks & I want to get 16gb, I know the motherboard will support 2133 but I can get 2400 at the same price so im wondering if its possible if I can run 2400 ram sticks on this mobo? Or would I be better off getting 2133? Thanks for any help

 

[ihog]

You can definitely run the 2400 MHz sticks in that mobo, albeit at a lower speed. It is possible that you might be able to run them at their rated speed, but it's iffy.

If I was you, I would get the 2400 MHz sticks just so that in the future, if I get a motherboard that is rated for that speed of RAM, I can do so.

Can I ask why you want such fast RAM?

 

[inermotion]

Thanks I need a lot of ram for my gaming & server hosting, I was planning on getting 16gb & the 2133 & 2400 isn't much higher in price than the others so I decided to go with something around there since I mite need that someday anyways & wont need to upgrade for awhile.

 

[ihog]

No problem; sounds good. Well, good luck in all your future endeavors!

 

[raja@asus]

There are few things one needs to bear in mind when it comes to DRAM:

1) Running multiple kits (even if the same model) together can cause stability issues and may not reach the rated speeds or run those speeds at the rated voltage. Thats because kits are binned and timings set according to density. Density has an impact on the memory controller - using more modules eats into the available signal margin due to crosstalk, noise and other signal artifacts. It's always wise to use a single kit.

2) DDR3-2400 can be tricky to achieve on AMD platforms - a lot depends on how good the memory controller on the CPU used is. Anything prior to Thuban for example strgulled with speeds over DDR3-2133. Memory vendors usually stipulate which platform the kit was binned on - Intel binned kits may not work at the rated timings on AMD platforms. More so the case if the CPU being used is older, or if the user falls prey to combining multiple kits or modules to make up a higher density...

~Raja