I would have been better off just getting a second stick of the factory ram off ebay. I may end up doing that. I feel like that's the easier option
Bad idea.
Why?
Further reading (especially the "mixed memory" chapter):
https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...y-ram-and-xmp-profile-configurations.3398926/
I believe ram like this should be advertised as 1333, but 1600 available with XMP. It shouldnt be sold as 1600mhz ram, as in order to get that, you have to use a profile that not every motherboard supports. Kind of false advertising if you ask me.
The thing with PC hardware, especially compatibility is, that you have to do your due diligence.
In this case, the RAM isn't at fault, but instead the MoBo. Because MoBo lacks the proper options within BIOS, in order to utilize the RAM fully. E.g if i were to take your new Corsair RAM and put it into my Haswell build, you can be certain that it will run at 1600 Mhz.
Or on another example; e.g lets say you buy i7-4770K CPU, where the K-suffix means that you can OC your CPU (and that is your intent). But the MoBo you have is H97 chipset. So, you buy the chip, install it, and then learn from MoBo BIOS, that you can't OC your CPU. Since H97 chipset doesn't support CPU OC, only Z-series does.
Here, which is at fault? K-series CPU that can be OCd, if installed into Z-series MoBo? Or H97 chipset MoBo, which doesn't support CPU OC?
In that sense, if you would've held back your RAM purchase, made this topic beforehand, read what i said about manual XMP enable within BIOS, and learning that your MoBo BIOS doesn't support any RAM profiles (aka doing your due diligence) - would you have bought your Corsair RAM?
If an oem standard JEDEC stick is capable of running at 1600mhz, what's the point of an XMP profile?
OEM and consumer hardware have different "application" to say so.
OEM hardware is custom made for specific build. E.g HP has tested the RAM within the factory and made sure that the RAM will run at 1600 Mhz,
in that specific MoBo. Due to that, there is no need to include XMP.
Consumer RAM, in the other hand, has to have JEDEC profiles and also work at JEDEC speeds, while the XMP is secondary and often manually enabled by user. Since MoBo where that RAM is inserted,
can be any that supports DDR3. Due to that, consumer RAM can not be tailored to work with only one specific MoBo, as OEM RAM is.
And in the event the XMP profile isn't stable, consumer has the option to manually insert RAM frequency and timings, or even tighten/loosen the timings, to get the advertised frequency running. Aka manual RAM OC, rather than using preset XMP profile.
For example, the DDR4 RAM (Kingston Savage) in my Skylake build (full specs with pics in my sig), is rated for 3000 Mhz. <- This is the max it can do. Due to JEDEC standard, it has to work at 2133 Mhz, and it also was at those speeds, when i 1st installed it and booted up the PC. I had to go to BIOS, and select proper XMP profile, for my RAM to run at 3000 Mhz, which it now does. My RAM also has XMP for 2666 Mhz, in an event the 3000 Mhz XMP isn't stable and/or i don't want to manually OC my RAM to 3000 Mhz (by tinkering with timings).
Now, i have Z170 chipset MoBo, which supports RAM OC. But if i were to have H110, B150 or H170 chipset MoBo, which doesn't support RAM OC, my Kingston RAM would've still worked, albeit only at 2133 Mhz speeds. Whereby me buying 3000 Mhz RAM would've been waste of money.