Hi, folks at Tom's Hardware. I have found answers many a time for computer issues here for friends, family as well as a few acquaintances, but this is the first time I have posted. I would like to thank all of you for your help. Now to my issue.
I have seen similar topics involving RAM running slower then normal here and in similar forums, but considering the upgrades I have made, it is a little more unique then some, so I figured I would create a post of my own just to make sure nothing gets overlooked.
To get started, my laptop is a Toshiba Satellite c855-S5306. The motherboard has the Intel HM76 chipset, which, from about a weeks worth of research to be sure it was possible, allowed me to upgrade the CPU from an i3-3110M (35W TDP) to a i7-3612QM (also a 35W TDP so heat from the CPU isn't an issue although it does run a little warmer then the i3), and I bought 2 sticks of 8GB Samsung DDR3-1600MHz (M471B1G73EB0-YK0) memory from Amazon to take it from the 6GB of DDR3-1600 I had in it. It came with 4GB of DDR3-1600 originally. I have upgraded the UEFI to the most up to date version possible from the Toshiba (Dynabook) website (Insyde Corp. Version 6.70). Unfortunately being a standard laptop, it has a locked UEFI, giving me no access to the CPU/RAM settings.
Now to the issue. Since I installed the new RAM, instead of running at 1600 MHz, its running at 1333 MHz. The CPU supports 1600, the motherboard supports 1600 or it wouldn't have come with it, or say so in the specs for the laptop, and the new sticks of RAM (there are only the 2 slots) are a paired set with matching timings and are DDR3-1600. The only thing I can find is that I might need to change settings in the UEFI, specifically XMP, which because the UEFI is locked, I can't do. I haven't seen anything to make me think the memory isn't running fine, other then it runs a little hot. I haven't been sure if the heat is due to the general increase in capacity of the ram or if its because at the current settings the RAM has, its running at timings of 9-9-9-24. I have yet to run Memtest yet, but thinking about running it later tonight in case there are hidden errors. Wanted to send this message out while I had time.
If this is due to the BIOS settings, as I suspect, even if I was to send this back and look for memory that would run at 1600 by default, I wouldn't know what to look for to specifically look for to avoid buying the wrong RAM. I haven't seen any ad that mentions anything about a default frequency and I have assumed that the advertised frequency was the default. I have some experience with repairing computers, but not overclocking, so I had never run into anything about XMP . This is the first time I have ever seen where the RAM wasn't running at speed advertised, however, I am not sure I had ever had a reason to believe it wasn't. I wanted to buy Samsung because I know their RAM is reliable. I wanted to reach out to see if anyone had any advice, before I considered any alternatives, such as seeing about returning it, if that is even possible at this point.
I have seen similar topics involving RAM running slower then normal here and in similar forums, but considering the upgrades I have made, it is a little more unique then some, so I figured I would create a post of my own just to make sure nothing gets overlooked.
To get started, my laptop is a Toshiba Satellite c855-S5306. The motherboard has the Intel HM76 chipset, which, from about a weeks worth of research to be sure it was possible, allowed me to upgrade the CPU from an i3-3110M (35W TDP) to a i7-3612QM (also a 35W TDP so heat from the CPU isn't an issue although it does run a little warmer then the i3), and I bought 2 sticks of 8GB Samsung DDR3-1600MHz (M471B1G73EB0-YK0) memory from Amazon to take it from the 6GB of DDR3-1600 I had in it. It came with 4GB of DDR3-1600 originally. I have upgraded the UEFI to the most up to date version possible from the Toshiba (Dynabook) website (Insyde Corp. Version 6.70). Unfortunately being a standard laptop, it has a locked UEFI, giving me no access to the CPU/RAM settings.
Now to the issue. Since I installed the new RAM, instead of running at 1600 MHz, its running at 1333 MHz. The CPU supports 1600, the motherboard supports 1600 or it wouldn't have come with it, or say so in the specs for the laptop, and the new sticks of RAM (there are only the 2 slots) are a paired set with matching timings and are DDR3-1600. The only thing I can find is that I might need to change settings in the UEFI, specifically XMP, which because the UEFI is locked, I can't do. I haven't seen anything to make me think the memory isn't running fine, other then it runs a little hot. I haven't been sure if the heat is due to the general increase in capacity of the ram or if its because at the current settings the RAM has, its running at timings of 9-9-9-24. I have yet to run Memtest yet, but thinking about running it later tonight in case there are hidden errors. Wanted to send this message out while I had time.
If this is due to the BIOS settings, as I suspect, even if I was to send this back and look for memory that would run at 1600 by default, I wouldn't know what to look for to specifically look for to avoid buying the wrong RAM. I haven't seen any ad that mentions anything about a default frequency and I have assumed that the advertised frequency was the default. I have some experience with repairing computers, but not overclocking, so I had never run into anything about XMP . This is the first time I have ever seen where the RAM wasn't running at speed advertised, however, I am not sure I had ever had a reason to believe it wasn't. I wanted to buy Samsung because I know their RAM is reliable. I wanted to reach out to see if anyone had any advice, before I considered any alternatives, such as seeing about returning it, if that is even possible at this point.
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