RAM Voltage + Speed

[jaguarrr]

So I finished building my new system yesterday. At first I had the RAM voltage at 1.65V like is specified on my RAM, then it seems like it had trouble recognizing both RAM sticks(not sure if this is because I upped the voltage to 1.65V). After doing the MEM ok thing and stuff it recognized both of my RAM sticks, but I haven't touched the RAM Voltage since. I've left it stay on auto or w/e you call it, it's on 1.50V on now.

Will this cause some problems if I keep it like this? I ran Prime95 yesterday for about 45 minutes, no problems and haven't notice any unstability since yesterday evening. The RAM speed is also @ 1066 instead of 1333 MHZ as suggested on the RAM.

I'm just worried if I go change the RAM voltage and speed that it isn't going to recognize my RAM sticks, is there a problem if I keep it like this.

System Specs:

i5 750 @stock
OCZ LV 2x2GB @1333 mhz 7-7-7-20
Hyper 212 Plus
Corsair 550vx
Asus P7P55D
Radeon HD 5850
Antec 300
Samsung HD 502HJ

Also my CPU temps seem to stay under 40C even under load and about 18-25C idle, is it normal to have them this low? I assume it's because I haven't touched the CPU speed.

 

[o1die]

Leave your ram settings alone, and be happy it passes prime95. I never use prime95; many ram sticks won't pass it, but if they have only a few errors, then I use them anyway. You can try overclocking to run at 1333; I prefer stability, so I don't overclock anymore.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I have never had a RAM stick fail Prime95.

1.65 is a maximum. Leave at Auto until you reach your target overclock, then lower CPU voltage to lowest stable setting and then lower RAM voltage same way.

Right now your RAM is using a 8 multiplier so 8 x your BCLK of 133.33 = 1066

The reason you buy higher rated RAM is to Overclock. Upping your BCLKJ to 166.67 will result in a CPU speed of 3.32 GHz and a memory speed of 1333.

Make sure to set your RAM timings (7-7-7-20) in BIOS as I rarely see the BIOS do it correctly.

 

[jitpublisher]

This seems to be the newest favorite question on the forums these days.
Why is my memory that I bought not running at the speed it is supposed too?
Well, the main problem is, IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO RUN AT THAT SPEED.

In other words, what the RAM is rated to run at, and what your computer will configure it to run at by default are 2 different things. If you run it faster than your default settings, then you are technically "overclocking" it.
Which by the way, makes not an iota of notable difference. Everyone is suddenly on this craze to run 1333 and 1600mhz memory. This is the old "if it has bigger numbers it must be better" marketing strategy. But if you pay attention, you will notice as the ram speed goes up, so do the latencies, so you really don't gain much of anything at all with higher clock speeds. The big numbers are simply there to catch your eye and get you to open your wallet, for most people anyway.

 

[badge]

This seems to be the newest favorite question on the forums these days.
Why is my memory that I bought not running at the speed it is supposed too?
Well, the main problem is, IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO RUN AT THAT SPEED.

In other words, what the RAM is rated to run at, and what your computer will configure it to run at by default are 2 different things. If you run it faster than your default settings, then you are technically "overclocking" it.
Which by the way, makes not an iota of notable difference. Everyone is suddenly on this craze to run 1333 and 1600mhz memory. This is the old "if it has bigger numbers it must be better" marketing strategy. But if you pay attention, you will notice as the ram speed goes up, so do the latencies, so you really don't gain much of anything at all with higher clock speeds. The big numbers are simply there to catch your eye and get you to open your wallet, for most people anyway.

+1 see this question or related question asked continuosly. Affirmative on the copy and paste potential of this notice.

 

[outlw6669]

+1 jitpublisher

To add a little data to support him, see this useful chart.

From Here

The faster RAM is only necessary with high FSB/BCLK overclocking.
When running your CPU at stock or lower FSB/BCLK speeds, 'slower' RAM with lower timings performs exactly the same as 'faster' RAM with higher timings.
If you are saving some power running your RAM at 1.5v and still getting the same performance, I would say leave it until you decide to overclock.

 

[jaguarrr]

Alright thanks everyone, I will keep it like this for now, until I decide to overclock

The timings in the BIOS are right I believe, it's showing 7-7-7-20-x-x-x-x, the x's are some random numbers I don't know where they got them from, should I just change it to like 7-7-7-20 or is it normal some random numbers appear after the 20?