Question Memory not showing the correct speed?

Jan 3, 2020
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I have 4x8 3200mhz sticks that are showing 1500mhz in task manager. The ram was purchased in 2 different kits (I purchased 1 kit of 2x8 a year after I purchased the first kit of 2x8). All four ram sticks are the exact same with the same timings and voltages, except the speed seems incorrect. Shouldn't it be showing up as 3200mhz in task manager if I set it up that way in the BIOS? I have an AMD processor and no XMP mode. Also, in CPUZ it shows up as me having a dual-channel, but I'm using all 4 slots. Shouldn't it show up as quad-channel or multi?
 

Starcruiser

Honorable
Task manager is not a reliable source of information on speeds. It works ok for usage.
See what HWinfo has to say about the speed, keeping in mind it will read half speed because of how DDR (double data rate) is designed.

All XMP is doing is reading a profile off the ram. Yes, AMD does support it, but it may be called something different like A-XMP or AMP. it's all the same.

In order for multiple channels to be accessible, all of the parts have to be compatible with that many channels. Most desktop processors and motherboards only support dual channel. You'll see triple and quad channel getting into servers and workstations like threadrippers, but if you only put dual channel ram in it will only access 2 channels.
 
Be aware that because you're using 2 different kit and 4 sticks is putting more strain on the memory controller. You might not be able to OC the RAM to 3200.

It's always recommended to use only 1 kit and not mixing RAM. Even if you buy the same speed, brand and model it's not a 100% sure thing they will work ok together. 1 kit of 2x16GB is better than 4x8GB from two kits.
 
Jan 3, 2020
4
0
10
Be aware that because you're using 2 different kit and 4 sticks is putting more strain on the memory controller. You might not be able to OC the RAM to 3200.

It's always recommended to use only 1 kit and not mixing RAM. Even if you buy the same speed, brand and model it's not a 100% sure thing they will work ok together. 1 kit of 2x16GB is better than 4x8GB from two kits.

I can only set the DRAM frequency up to 3000 MHz, anything higher and it won't POST, which goes along with what you said. My question is why is it saying 1500 MHz if 4 slots are taken up? I understand that DDR stands for double data rate which means the speed is halved for each stick, but I have 4 sticks instead of 2.
 
I can only set the DRAM frequency up to 3000 MHz, anything higher and it won't POST, which goes along with what you said. My question is why is it saying 1500 MHz if 4 slots are taken up? I understand that DDR stands for double data rate which means the speed is halved for each stick, but I have 4 sticks instead of 2.
Running 3200Mhz with 4 modules is possible, but it usually takes a lot tweaking to get it working stably. Unless the difference between 3000 and 3200 is 10+fps in games, it's not worth worrying about. I actually didn't even notice an fps drop running 4 modules at 3000Mhz when I had been using 2 before at 3200Mhz. Some games run a little faster with 4 modules instead of 2 so that could be a factor. I'd say that getting 2 different kits working together with an overclock (3000Mhz) is pretty good already.