[SOLVED] Ram is only pushing 800 Mhz please help!

[HarleyDMB]

So i have 2 8GB sticks of ram which supports up to 1600 MHz speed and i have a ASrock 970 pro3 motherboard that can handle up to 2400 mhz of ram but yet my computer is only pushing out 800mhz? can someone please help me! thanks in advance!

 

[Googy]

Where did you see it was pushing 800mhz?

 

[HarleyDMB]

in the memory for my task manager performance its stuck at 800 MHZ when i am able to get up to 3200 MHZ

 

[Googy]

in the memory for my task manager performance its stuck at 800 MHZ when i am able to get up to 3200 MHZ

What is it set to in the bios?

 

[MadsModsat]

The 800 MHz you see reported, are actually the "real clock" also referred to as base frequency.

DDR stands for double data rate, which means DDR RAM process twice the amount of data per instruction / cycle, compared to SDRAM (Single Data Rate).

Because of this, you multiply the base frequency by 2, to calculate the effective clock.

So your RAM are actually running at their advertised frequency of 1600 MHz (effective clock).

Some apps show base frequency (800MHz in your case), others show effective clock (1600MHz in your case)

Even BIOS don't always show the same frequency type - some brands of motherboards report base frequency in BIOS, other motherboards from different manufacturers sometimes report effective clock.

But actually, both the 800MHz frequency you see, and the 1600MHz advertised frequency of the RAM, are the correct numbers in your case, which means your RAM are working 100% as specified by the factory, and there is nothing wrong with the numbers you see.

 

[HarleyDMB]

Oh well thank you then for the information, so if I was to get another 8GB stick with 1600 MHz then my computer would push out more MHz?

 

[MadsModsat]

...so if I was to get another 8GB stick with 1600 MHz then my computer would push out more MHz?

The RAM frequency is not something wich is added on top of eachother when you add RAM modules.

If you have one RAM module which is operating at 1600MHz and you install another module which also operates at 1600MHz, the RAM frequency is not increased to 3200MHz, the RAM frequency is still 1600MHz.

The advertised frequency, is per module. So each module is operating at 1600Mhz by themselves, regardless of the amount of RAM modules.

If you have a 1600MHz module, and you added a 2400MHz module (which is recommended you don't), both RAM modules would be running at the frequency of the slowest module.

This means that if you already had a 1600MHz RAM stick and added a 2400MHz RAM stick, the 2400MHz module would downclock itself so both modules would be running at 1600MHz.

--

I'd personally recommend that you don't add the 8GB RAM stick you are considering to do, for three reasons.

First of all, 16 GB is plenty for most current PC builds, if they are primarely used for gaming and general everyday use.

Second reason, when you have 2 RAM modules like you do now, if the RAM modules are installed in the correct slots on the motherboard, it enables a feature called Dual Channel.

This increases the performance of the RAM quite a bit.

But Dual Channel only works with 2 or 4 RAM modules (except for some motherboards which are capable of Tripple or Quad Channel RAM mode)

So if you have the RAM in Dual Channel mode now, and you add a 3rd module, you will often disable Dual Channel, or sometimes a Hybrid mode is activated insted.

But 16 GB RAM in Dual Channel is with few exceptions the better option than having 24 GB RAM in Single Channel.

So the RAM you are considering to add to your current PC, could result in worse perforamce.

But if you need more RAM, you should buy 2 more modules (but a complete kit is recommended)

The third reason for not adding the 8GB stick to your existing RAM, is that RAM which are not bought as a complete kit, sometimes also referred to as a "matched kit", don't always work together
- so by adding the 3rd stick, you migt begin having stability issues with your PC, or maybe random crashes, and if you are really unlucky, sometims the computer doesn't even boot with mismatched RAM.

It is possible to run mismatched modules together without having any kind of problems, but as a general rule of thumb, it is said that only RAM modules bought as a complete kit are guaranteed to work together.

Using two RAM modules bought seperatly, are not guaranteed to work rogether, even if they are identical (same brand, same model, same specifications).
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - so it not possible to predict what will happen.

So if you want to use 32GB RAM in 4 modules, you should always buy them as a kit, with all modules in the same package

It is the same if you want 32GB in 2 modules, you should always buy them in one packet with both modules together.

I hope it makes sense, I'm sorry for the long post, but I thought I would try to be sure to explain all reasons the best I could.