[SOLVED] RAM speed vs CPU supported RAM speeds ?

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Ootsie87

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Jan 12, 2020
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Hi guys,

I have an Intel i5 10600K that has a maximum supported memory speed (at factory settings) of 2666 MHz.

I have 2 x 16GB sticks of Corsair Dominator RAM & 3200 MHz.

This was the one oversight I made when building my rig and in the near future I'll upgrade my CPU to something that can fully utilise my RAM.

The question I have is this - if I set my RAM at full speed, can this be harmful at all to my system? Or is it simply a case that my CPU will throttle the RAM speed accordingly and the system will run perfectly happily?

My motherboard is an Asus ROG Strix z490 e gaming.

Many thanks in advance for help with a basic question!
 
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Thank you. How can I check that I'm in gearmode 2? Would you assume that would have been enabled in the XMP profile?

just enable XMP in bios, leave rest memory settings to auto, and motherboard will take care of rest.
when you boot to windows, run cpu-z https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html and click on the memory tab. It will detail the current operation mode of memory installed.
Don't be alarmed DRAM frequency displaying 1600mhz. It is correct as it's Double data rate memory so effective speed is 3200 (for the sake of simplicity).
Furthermore if you click on SPD tab, supported modes for the memory installed will be listed there, along with current operating mode of memory in each slot...

Bazzy 505

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Jul 17, 2021
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1,940
Thank you. How can I check that I'm in gearmode 2? Would you assume that would have been enabled in the XMP profile?

just enable XMP in bios, leave rest memory settings to auto, and motherboard will take care of rest.
when you boot to windows, run cpu-z https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html and click on the memory tab. It will detail the current operation mode of memory installed.
Don't be alarmed DRAM frequency displaying 1600mhz. It is correct as it's Double data rate memory so effective speed is 3200 (for the sake of simplicity).
Furthermore if you click on SPD tab, supported modes for the memory installed will be listed there, along with current operating mode of memory in each slot.

oZD8115.jpg
 
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Solution

Ootsie87

Reputable
Jan 12, 2020
32
1
4,535
just enable XMP in bios, leave rest memory settings to auto, and motherboard will take care of rest.
when you boot to windows, run cpu-z https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html and click on the memory tab. It will detail the current operation mode of memory installed.
Don't be alarmed DRAM frequency displaying 1600mhz. It is correct as it's Double data rate memory so effective speed is 3200 (for the sake of simplicity).
Furthermore if you click on SPD tab, supported modes for the memory installed will be listed there, along with current operating mode of memory in each slot.

Top man. Thank you very much. That's exactly what I did earlier but will download cpu-z and check it all looks good.

I actually had two XMP options in my BIOS. XMP I and XMP II. No idea what the difference is so just went with the first option.
 

Bazzy 505

Respectable
Jul 17, 2021
344
124
1,940
Top man. Thank you very much. That's exactly what I did earlier but will download cpu-z and check it all looks good.

I actually had two XMP options in my BIOS. XMP I and XMP II. No idea what the difference is so just went with the first option.

XMP I - Board optimised timings
(timings optimized by motherboard manufacturer)
XMP II - Default XMP timings
(adhere to timing specified by ram module manufacturer's XMP profile )
 
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