Question New RAM runs at lower speed ?

[minunimi]

Hi!

I have HP Pavilion Gaming TG01-1433 (Intel H470 chipset, i5-10400 CPU, RTX 3060Ti GPU). I upgraded my RAM from 2x8GB to 2x16GB but didn't notice any improvement in performance. It seems that my new RAM runs on lower speeds: with "wmic memorychip get speed" command old ram gets 3200 while new gets only 2400. In BIOS there is no XMP option.

My old RAM: PC4-3200AA-UA2-11
My new RAM: Kingston Fury Renegade DDR4 3200

I'd be happy to give more information on my specs if needed. Does anyone have ideas why my new RAM runs on default speed?

 

[Misgar]

If you haven't noticed any improvement when switching from 16GB to 32GB RAM, perhaps your applications don't need the extra capacity. Before upgrading to 32GB, did you open the Memory tab in Resource Manager and check the amount of Standby and Free memory? If there was still several GB of Standby and Free memory available when running your most RAM intensive apps, perhaps the upgrade wasn't strictly necessary.

I'd be inclined to run CPU-Z to confirm your new RAM is running at 2400MT/s (JEDEC default) and not XMP 3200MT/s.
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

It's been my experience that HP and Dell computers fit a more restrictive BIOS, especially in their office PCs. If there's no obvious XMP setting, I can only conclude that HP automatically overclock RAM that's in their Qualified Vendor List and ignore any RAM not in the list, to prevent non-booting situations due to excessively fast XMP speeds, e.g. 4000MT/s.

Did you buy the new RAM from HP, or at the very least, check with HP to make sure your choice of RAM would work at XMP speeds? I have to be very careful when upgrading my HP servers to fit "certified" components sanctioned by HP. If the server BIOS detects non-HP parts, the cooling fans scream at full bore all the time, to cope with any "unforseen" cooling situations.

 

[minunimi]

Out of curiosity I ran a benchmark test that showed no improvement after RAM upgrade. Also benchmark test alerted that my RAM is running lower speed than it should.

I checked with CPU-Z and it showed DRAM frequency to be about 1200MHz.

According to the new RAM package these modules are Intel XMP certified.

Any other ideas?

 

[Bob.B]

Hi!

I have HP Pavilion Gaming TG01-1433 (Intel H470 chipset, i5-10400 CPU, RTX 3060Ti GPU). I upgraded my RAM from 2x8GB to 2x16GB but didn't notice any improvement in performance. It seems that my new RAM runs on lower speeds: with "wmic memorychip get speed" command old ram gets 3200 while new gets only 2400. In BIOS there is no XMP option.

My old RAM: PC4-3200AA-UA2-11
My new RAM: Kingston Fury Renegade DDR4 3200

I'd be happy to give more information on my specs if needed. Does anyone have ideas why my new RAM runs on default speed?

If you use cpu-z and look at the spd tab it might show that 3200 speed is for xmp.
If you don't have a xmp bios option then you will limited to the jedec speed.

 

[minunimi]

On the SPD tab there is Max Bandwidth DDR4-3200 (1600MHz).
On the timing table there is:
JEDEC #8 JEDEC #9 XMP-3200 XMP-3002
1200MHz 1200MHz 1600MHz 15001MHz

I'm not sure what to make of this. Does this still mean it runs 3200?

 

[Misgar]

Your RAM is capable of running at 3200MT/s, but only if your BIOS is able to use the DDR4-3200 setting with this particular memory kit. If the HP BIOS does not allow XMP with this kit, you'll be stuck at 2400 MT/s.

A "standard" motherboard from the likes of Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, etc., often has a section in the BIOS which allows enthusiasts to manually overclock their RAM. With a DDR4-3200 kit, some people might be able to achieve 3400 or 3600 MT/s if they are both capable and lucky.

Pre-built systems from HP using their own proprietary design of motherboard may have a far more restrictive BIOS, with many "enthusiast" overclocking features deliberately left out.

By preventing owners of fully assembled systems from experimenting, HP ensure they remain more stable. This reduces the number of customer returns due to overclocking experiments that end in failure.

I'd be inclined to remove the 2 x 16GB kit and temporarily fit the old 2 x 8GB RAM originally installed by HP to confirm it overclocks at XMP 3200MT/s (use CPU-Z, etc).

Run your most memory intensive apps and check the amount of Reserved and Free RAM. Reserved RAM will be released to any apps that demand more memory.

Microsoft loads supposedly important programs such as Office365 into Reserved RAM at startup, just in case you need them. This makes starting pre-loaded programs fractionally faster.

If you have more than 2 to 3GB of Reserved + Free RAM when running your favourite apps, you don't need a 32GB upgrade.

Run a series of benchmark tests using real applications, e.g. FPS score from a game demo, then note down the readings.

Fit the 2 x16GB kit and run the same game demo and compare the FPS readings with the 2 x 8GB results.

If you haven't run out of RAM with the original 2 x 8GB kit and the game demo runs faster, sell or return the 2 x 16GB kit and chalk it down to experience.

The reason why most enthusiasts build their own systems with standard components is to avoid the limitations of pre-built systems made by big companies such as Dell and HP.

If you want a fully configurable gaming system but can't be fussed with the hassle of building it yourself, there are a number of independent companies who will build a machine for you, with all the bells and whistles you could desire.

Their expertise means you avoid the pitfalls often associated with building it yourself and they will pre-overclock your machine to extreme but perfectly stable speeds if you so desire. If you want memory that runs at DDR4-4000 or DDR5-7000, they'll build you a system.

Best of luck.

 

[Bob.B]

On the SPD tab there is Max Bandwidth DDR4-3200 (1600MHz).
On the timing table there is:
JEDEC #8 JEDEC #9 XMP-3200 XMP-3002
1200MHz 1200MHz 1600MHz 15001MHz

I'm not sure what to make of this. Does this still mean it runs 3200?

Unless you have a xmp bios option the fastest speed of that ram is 2400.

Install the old ram and look at the spd tab of cpu-z.
What do you see?

 

[minunimi]

Unless you have a xmp bios option the fastest speed of that ram is 2400.

Install the old ram and look at the spd tab of cpu-z.
What do you see?

With old RAM I see DRAM Frequency to be 1330MHz and SPD Timing Table:
JEDEC#11 JEDEC#12 JEDEC#13 JEDEC#14
1466MHz 1533MHz 1600MHz 1600MHz


I also did some test with Unreal Engine and with old RAM I get constantly better fps than with new RAM so if there is nothing to be done I must return my new RAM kit.
But why is this? If at some point I still want to upgrade my RAM how do I make sure that my motherboard is compatible?

 

[Bob.B]

With old RAM I see DRAM Frequency to be 1330MHz and SPD Timing Table:
JEDEC#11 JEDEC#12 JEDEC#13 JEDEC#14
1466MHz 1533MHz 1600MHz 1600MHz


I also did some test with Unreal Engine and with old RAM I get constantly better fps than with new RAM so if there is nothing to be done I must return my new RAM kit.
But why is this? If at some point I still want to upgrade my RAM how do I make sure that my motherboard is compatible?

With no xmp option you will need ram that shows 1600 in the jedec table.

That will require some digging into the spec sheet for whatever ram you chose.

 

[geofelt]

One upgrades ram to get more, or faster ram.
Unless you have an app that makes use of ram for workfiles, more than 16gb is not usually helpful.

If you are using integrated graphics, faster ram can help.

If you have a ryzen processor, faster ram can help.
But there may be compatibility issues.

But, for gaming with a discrete graphics card there is no useful benefit from faster ram.
this explains:

Don't waste money chasing RAM speed for gaming on AMD or Intel

Revisiting the question that every gamer considers when building a new gaming system: does RAM speed matter?

www.pcgamer.com