Overclocking my Ram

[opio]

I just got done installing my brand new out of box never opened DG45ID motherboard and q9650 cpu. This is the DDR2 Ram I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166

On the motherboard box it says it supports 800/667 ram

When I open cpu-z it says that my ram is only running at 400MHz. I thought that since my ram's native clock is 1066MHz that it would just downclock to 800MHz. Do I need to go to the BIOS to clock the ram to 800MHz? Would it not be advisable to go higher than 800MHz? I don't really care too much about going higher than 800MHz cause hell, it's twice as fast as what it's currently running at. I just want to know what I need to do.

Here is a link to my mobo's specs: http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/intel-desktop-board-dg45id/4507-3049_7-33155989.html

 

[bebop460]

You may be getting confused, as Cpu-z displays the memory speed and settings per dimm (memory stick).

In short you don't have to do anything; it's running correctly at 800 mhz.

To elaborate:
Your mobo is downclocking 1066mhz memory to the maximum supported 800mhz.

400mhz x 2 dimms of DDR2 (dual channel memory) = 800 mhz.

Your ram is running correctly, and there is no benefit in overclocking it, as you are running the motherboards maximum supported frequency, which you cannot functionally exceed, though you could try tightening up the timings. IMO you have little to gain by tightening the timings though.

If you decide to tinker with the timings, I strongly recommend running a full backup beforehand. Macrium Reflect Free works very well, just be sure to burn a BartPe boot disc (the software compiles the cd for you). You should also run memtest after each tweak (at least 5 passes). Once you are satisfied, run Prime 95 blend from a Windows boot disc (for example, UBCD4Win). If there are no worker crashes or errors, you should be good to go. By running from a disc, you don't need to run P95 from the OS and risk data corruption. Don't make the same mistake I did and corrupt your data (I was foolish enough to do it twice, thankfully I had a backup. still it was a massive inconvenience to have to wipe/reimage the hdd twice).

 

[shADy81]

If youre looking under the memory tab in CPuz it is running at 800, DDR stands for Double Data Rate. Your RAM is probably running at 800 mhz: Dram frequency 400 x 2. Check in the BIOS you will confirm this.

Edit: ^ What he said

 

[opio]

If youre looking under the memory tab in CPuz it is running at 800, DDR stands for Double Data Rate. Your RAM is probably running at 800 mhz: Dram frequency 400 x 2. Check in the BIOS you will confirm this.

Edit: ^ What he said

Would it be possible, and/or advisable to go into the bios and make it so cpu-z says it is running at 500MHz?

 

[Quadacon]

If youre looking under the memory tab in CPuz it is running at 800, DDR stands for Double Data Rate. Your RAM is probably running at 800 mhz: Dram frequency 400 x 2. Check in the BIOS you will confirm this.

Edit: ^ What he said

Would it be possible, and/or advisable to go into the bios and make it so cpu-z says it is running at 500MHz?

no

 

[bebop460]

As far as I know, it is not "possible, and/or advisable to go into the bios and make it so cpu-z says it is running at 500MHz." That would mean that you are running 1000mhz (500 per dimm); impossible as your motherboard only supports 800mhz max. If it supported more, your motherboard would automatically run it at a higher frequency. Therefore, the only way to run at a higher frequency is to buy a new mobo.