Corsair XMS3 running at 1066 only

[hongman]

Hi

Just bought a new system and it’s been about 6 years since I built my last rig, looking for tweaking advice.

Here are the basic specs. Have 2 of these systems, both doing the same.

Gigabyte GA-990FX-UD3 Motherboard (updated to BIOS rev Fc)
AMD FX-8120 8 Core FX Series (Bulldozer)
2 x 4GB Corsair XMS3 (CMX8GX3M2A2000C9) PC3-16000 2000 Dual Channel 9-10-9-27

Main issue is the RAM is being defaulted to 1066Mhz with everything on Auto. I understand now from a bit of research that I may need to manually overclock it to run at the advertised speed…???

I’m not interested in OC’ing the CPU or RAM to get over and extra speed at this point, I just want it to run at its advertised speed!

If I set the rate from Auto to “Profile1” it automatically sets everything for 1866Mhz, however when I reboot I get a POST message saying it reverted back due to a system crash.

Before I go messing about with voltages, timings, multipliers and other bits I wanted to get some advice in case I inadvertently blow something up.

Suggested starting points of manual configuration on this BIOS appreciated.

 

[alvine]

in ram options load the xml profile. that will load factory's settings with the advertised speed

 

[hongman]

I dont see anything for xml profile - if you meant XMP, I think that is Intel Only.

I have DRAM E.O.C.P (Easy OverClock Profile) which contains 1 preconfigured one "Profile1" as mentioned above, which doesnt work.

 

[alvine]

then look at the package or the sticker of your ram and copy the settings into your ram profile

 

[hongman]

I tried that also - BIOS reports it as 1866Mhz but if I run EasyTune 6 I get the following results:

Slot 1
Module Size 4096
Max Bandwidth PC3-8500F (533Mhz)
Manufacturer Corsair

Timings Table
Freq CL tRCD tRP tRAS tRC Voltage
457 | 6.0 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 1.5v
533 | 7.0 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 1.5v
609 | 8.0 | 8 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 1.5v
685 | 9.0 | 9 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 1.5v
1000 | 9.0 | 10 | 9 | 27 | 51 | 1.650v

 

[alvine]

well 533Mhz x3 is 1600 so you should be running the sticks on 609Mhz to achieve the 1866 advertised speed

 

[geekapproved]

You would have been better off with faster cas, lower voltage ddr3-1600.

You need to manually set your timings, speed and voltage to this:

1000mhz/1.65v/9-10-9-27 or the last one on the table you listed.

Likely your mobo clocked down the ram because the voltage defaulted to 1.5v and you bought 1.65v ram.

 

[hongman]

alvine: This board is dual channel.
geekapproved: I didnt buy the components

Am I right in saying the Max Bandwidth reported is what the RAM is currently running as, and the timing below show what the RAM is capable of running at?

There seems to be a lot more options in the manual BIOS configuration than just those settings.

Let me have a play and see what happens.

 

[alvine]

i know its dual channel im saying what mhz you should be running to get the effective ddr 3 speeds

 

[hongman]

Sorry when you said 533 x3 I assumed you was referring to triple channel.

 

[geekapproved]

well 533Mhz x3 is 1600 so you should be running the sticks on 609Mhz to achieve the 1866 advertised speed

Alvine, you have no clue what your talking about. This is DDR (double data rate) not TDR (triple data rate) LOL

DDR stands for DOUBLE data rate, so it should be 1000 x 2 (ddr) = 2000mhz or 933 x 2 (ddr) = 1866

You don't multiply anything by 3. LOL

 

[hongman]

Can someone confirm the Max Badnwidth should show as 933 or 1000 on CPU-Z when I have this configured correctly?

 

[geekapproved]

If your memory is to run at 2000mhz, it would be 1000mhz x 2 (DDR) = 2000

If your memory is to run at 1866mhz, it would be 933mhz x 2 (DDR) = 1866

If your memory is to run at 533mhz, it would be 533mhz x 2 (DDR) = 1066

 

[hongman]

Thanks.

Sorted now!

Had to also manually do the voltage to 1.65v

 

[geekapproved]

On the last one I meant "if your memory is to run at 1066".

 

[yanis31]

Hey!
So Everything works now?
i am interested in these modules (8gb kit 4x2) i have a Ga-970a-UD3P board and am currently running 4gb kingston Hyperx 1600 cl9 1.65v xmp kit...
which i want to trade in and switch to 8 gigs consisting of 2 modules only...
i currently can't find a good low profile 1866mhz cl9 kit in my area but i see these for sale...
(i have zalman cnps12x cooler so i have max 40mm ram clearance underneath it)
x.m.p works on this one by the way even tho i have amd cpu...
so if all i would have to do is set the voltage and timings manually it's not a deal breaker for me....