Do we have DDR3 RAM higher than 1600 without OC?

[RaymondTran]

I was told that DDR3 RAM higher than 1600 are OC (by the manufacturer) from 1600. Is it true? Is there any of those RAMs without OC? What are they?

Thank you.

 

[Karadjgne]

Yes. And no. Intel cpu's run 1333 or 1600MHz. This is set by Intel. If you use ram faster than 1600, you increase the ratio in the memory controller beyond 1:1. Usually this means you'll need some small OC at least to try and compensate or you probably won't get the full performance of the ram. In other words don't try and use 2400 on a locked i5 or you'll end up running 1866 at best, but more likely 1600. AMD isn't as restricted, the fx series cpus are set at 1866MHz, so for those cpus use 1866 with no need for OC. The A-series APU's much prefer 2133MHz.

You could try faster ram on locked cpus, but when the memory controller was moved off the motherboard itself and became integrated in the cpu it negated much of the benefits of faster ram, either faster by timing or faster speeds. Only certain situations like rendering that use huge amounts of ram show any slight advantage from faster ram and this is usually over the entire render being slightly shorter. Some few games might see a benefit too, but it's just a few fps.

If you plan on OC, faster ram won't hurt, but for locked systems 1600 Intel or 1866 amd (2133 apu) is nominal for good performance / temps

 

[RaymondTran]

Thank you for your answer. I'm still confused. Is it technically right to say that "RAM is OCed by its manufacturer" to work with faster clock CPU / motherboard? I heard many people using that phrase. OR the OCing is the motherboard/CPU work, and manufacturer of RAM just make RAMs that are capable of higher speed.
Thank you again.

 

[Tradesman1]

The manufacturers buy memory chips that normally are made for 1333 or 1600, they bin the chips as to their abilitities, then the DRAM (stick) manufacturers buy the chips and bin them even further based on their own testing criteria. They they are made into sticks and tested to whatever freq/data rate they were made for i.e. higher 2400 - 2666 or whatever. So while the original chips may be made to a given spec, where they go from there is up to the stick manufacturers. So in a technical sense the chips are running faster that the spec they were designed for - or OCed