why does bios show ram frequency at 1600 when i have 1866 installed

[jbl_xd]

after a year of having this unit i just noticed this prob right now. When i checked my bios , my ram speed is diff from the way it should be. It is running on 1600 rather than 1866mhz

So i found an option in my bios "Ram frequency" . entered it and found the diff ram freq , i changed mine from "AUTO (w/c shows 1600) to the right freq that i should have (1866).

Question
#1 Why did it showed as 1600 when the option was on AUTO , why not on its labeled ram frequency w/c is 1866mhz?

#2 Did I do the right thing?

Btw i am using MSI FM2-a85xma p33 mobo

 

[Bigwood daddy]

maybe your cpu supports 1600mhz only

 

[reedo_43]

Sometimes they just don't see it correctly. Some bios do not have xmp profiles. Yes you did the right thing.

 

[Dunlop0078]

That label on your ram states what the ram can do, not what it will do. Your motherboard automatically set the ram to 1600mhz which is lucky usually it will automatically set it to 1333mhz. Without XMP like on intel boards the settings for your ram need to be manually set to what the label on your ram says, the motherboard will not do this automatically. So yes you did the right thing. But the timing could be off too, the timing settings should be near where you changed the frequency, it should stay on the stick what your timing should be e.g 9-9-9-24.

 

[ahnilated]

Probably the default memory profile on the memory chip is 1600MHz. You have to then either select the XMP profile in bios or manually set the frequency. Anything over 1600Mhz is actually overclocked memory according to the DDR3 specifications.

 

[jsmithepa]

To me all these extra speed stuff are kinda shaky. Yeah hey buy me, extra frequency for another $15 bux, but whether your Mobo runs it that's your problem. <rant off>

 

[jbl_xd]

i left XMP on disabled mode since im using AMD. Planning on making it back to default setts again (the AUTO then goes to 1600mhz) . Does it have a big difference changing it back to 1600mhz from 1866mhz - game wise and surf wise? I feel like i should just left it at AUTO mode (1600mhz)

 

[Dunlop0078]

i left XMP on disabled mode since im using AMD. Planning on making it back to default setts again (the AUTO then goes to 1600mhz) . Does it have a big difference changing it back to 1600mhz from 1866mhz - game wise and surf wise? I feel like i should just left it at AUTO mode (1600mhz)

I doubt there would be any noticeable difference between 1600mhz and 1866mhz in most games. But if your pc runs fine at 1866mhz there's no reason to change it back to 1600mhz.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Actually i noticed you have an fm2 board, are you running an APU? If so they benefit a lot from higher memory frequencies.

 

[jbl_xd]

Actually i noticed you have an fm2 board, are you running an APU? If so they benefit a lot from higher memory frequencies.

yes sir! i got a8 5600k proc. So leaving it at 1866mhz would be fine tho?

 

[Dunlop0078]

Actually i noticed you have an fm2 board, are you running an APU? If so they benefit a lot from higher memory frequencies.

yes sir! i got a8 5600k proc. So leaving it at 1866mhz would be fine tho?

Yah as long as your not crashing or blue screening that should be just fine. The memory is rated for those speeds.