Question Windows reported RAM speed for DDR3 vs DDR4

[ElClassico]

I have one windows machine running two sticks of dual channel DDR3 that is supposed to be 1600 MT/s
I have another machine running two sticks of dual channel DDR4 that is supposed to be 3200 MT/s

The DDR4 machine reports 3200 Mhz in Windows
The DDR3 machine reports 800 Mhz in Windows (not 1600 Mhz as expected)

I have seen on forums that Windows reports half speed, as it is actually 2x800 Mhz due to dual channel. However the fact that my DDR4 machine reports the full speed seems to disprove this.

I was thinking because modules don't match perfectly, maybe its not really running dual channel. To confirm my hypothesis and that windows will report slower speed for single channel, I removed one stick of RAM from the DDR4 machine. It still reports full speed.

Can somebody explain why my DDR3 machine reports half the supported speed whereas the DDR4 machine does not?

Also since full speed is reported even with a single stick, is there any way to confirm my memory is successfully running dual channel?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

When posting a thread of troubleshooting nature, it's customary to include your full system's specs. Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Since you're referring to two machines, please state the specs to both. Are they both on the same OS and OS version?

 

[thx1138v2]

DDR stands for double data rate, meaning that data is transferred on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal.

Dual channel is different in that it doesn't mean anything about the clock rate but instead makes the BUS appear twice as wide. The BUS is 64 bits wide (single channel) but can be made to appear double, triple, or quadruple wide. This is how much data is transferred in a single transfer. So a dual channel system transfers 128 bits at a time, a triple channel system transfers 192 bits at a time, and a quad channel system transfers 256 bits at a time regardless of the clock rate.

You're mixing apples and oranges.