Ram frequencies with Intel i5/i7 ("K" and "No K")

[Kira900]

Hi. I have just a doubt about ram frequencies with Intel i5 and i7 processors.
For what I know i5 and i7 NO K support only ram till 1600MHz, while K processors support over 1600MHz, such as 1866, 2133 and so on.
Is this correct? Please explain me how this works because I'm a bit confused.
Thank you in advance!

 

[techgeek]

As I understand it Haswell's IMC is certified to support 1333 and 1600 memory speeds regardless of K / non K designations. Anything above 1600 is considered memory overclocking and pushes the IMC past what Intel certifies it to work at. That said, most Haswell's will run 2400 easily without touching anything in the BIOS.

Haswell is tied pretty closely to it's IMC though. Higher memory overclocks result in lower core clocks and vica versa. So if you push the memory speed to as fast as it will go, you may limit how far you can push your core clock speed.

 

[Tradesman1]

From what I've seen the 3570 (both K and non-K) 1600 is fine and some run 1866 with no real problem, others require a slight OC (either the CPU multiplier - K, or the BCLK - non-K), 2133 is more strictly the K model and some run 2400 and even higher in small amounts, 8-16GB - very few can run 32GB at 2400. ANd yes higher freqs can affect CPU OC but that generally comes with the AMOUNT of DRAM - my 3570K runs 32GB of 24400 (Have Trident X) and runs at 4.7 24/7, but if I drop to 16GB at 2400, can run 4.8 with same settings

 

[Kira900]

Got it. Thank you for your explainations.

 

[Tradesman1]

No worries, am hoping to do an article or something in the next few weeks on this subject using a variety of DRAM and amounts on a Z97.