Can't get 1600MHz on new memory

[kaitheus]

I just bought my self an ASRock 990FX Extreme 4 mobo and 4GBz of G.Skill ECO Cas 7 1600MHz DDR3, this is my 1st Ever DDR3 board so it's a bit new to me settings wise but nothing I can't figure out once told .

My issue is that my ram won't run at its rated speed of 1600MHz even if I have the timings and voltage set to the correct specs.

CAS = 7
RAS to CAS 8
RAS to Pre = 7
TRAS =24
TRC = 40
CR = 2T
Voltage = v1.350
MHz = (defaults to 1333MHz)

With this is should be running at 1600MHz ( I think ? I'm no uber expert here lols) how ever if I set it to run at 1600 and not auto it wont post.

Current System:

Phenom II X4 955BE @ 3.2GHz (Temp)
ASRock 990FX Extreme 4
4GB G.Skill Eco Cas 7 1600MHz (F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO)
GigaByte HD4890OC 1GB
Seagate 750GB SATA HDD
Antec 750Watt PSU

I know my CPU is limited to 1333 by default but that doesn't mean I can't force 1600 through the bios necessarily does it ?

Other then this little issue the system seems to be stable, temps are Really low etc etc (below 86F on the CPU and below 95F on the GPU) I hope some one has experience with the new UEIF Bios cause this is my 1st time with it and a few things that I liked are missing like FSB to DRAM ratio that may have helped me here unless its different for DDR3 boards ? lol

 

[beenthere]

Yes it is possible that your RAM/CPU/mobo will not work together to run the RAM at 1600 MHz. Your RAM voltage looks incorrect however if it really is set to 1.35v instead of the normal 1.5v DDR3 default. You should manually set the voltage to 1.5v and use slower RAM timings like 8-8-8-27 2N and see if your RAM will run at 1600 MHz.

It's worth noting that you will not see any tangible system performance gain by going to 1600 MHz. from 1333 MHz. so you may want to just leave it at 1333 MHz. I'd run Memtest86+ from a floppy, CD or flash drive to check for RAM stability since this RAM is not listed as approved for AMD Phenom II CPUs, AFAIK.

Unfortunately the RAM you have seems designed specifically for Intel CPUs so you may not get far with OC'ing it?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321

 

[kaitheus]

I specifically picked this ram (from newegg btw) because it is on my mobo's list of compatible ram that works with it. I'm ganna try upping the voltage a bit an see if that helps, even if I got this to run at 1600 at v1.5 that's better then not at all, but I wish there was a FSB/DRAM ratio option in the UEFI bios . I may also play around with FSB and the CPU multiplier to adjust the ram, and I'll test out those timmings you posted aswell never know till you try .

 

[kaitheus]

Well after some time messing around with timings/clocks etc etc I managed to get my ram to run at 1600 , now my timings are 8-8-8-24-2T @ v1.350 @ 1600MHz, NB @ 2600MHz @ v1.2 and my 955BE @ 4GHz even @ 1.4125 @ 200x20 so far its passed Prime95 several times so its pretty safe to say its stable, my temps also almost never exceed 100F unless I'm in Prime95 *52c max* or em encoding video which I haven't seen 40c with yet lol.

 

[kaitheus]

Best answer selected by Kaitheus.