XMP profile not working?

[adycopilu]

Hi everybody,

I've recently built a new rig for home use and I have this dilemma: XMP profile of memory seems to work in BIOS, but in Windows it shows me to run at lower frequency.

More specifically, I have 2xCorsair Vengeance Blue LP 1600Mhz CL9 running on a Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H motherboard with Intel Core i5 3470 CPU. From BIOS, I have loaded the only XMP profile available and it shows the RAM working at 1600MHz. But in Windows, both CPUz and Gigabyte Easy Tune shows the RAM working at 1333MHz.

I know the memory frequency will not make much of a difference, but I paid some money for a feature which seems to not work as it should. So any opinion/suggestion is much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[adycopilu]

Screenshots:
CPUz
ET6
BIOS

 

[ur6beersaway]

Are you running 32 bit windows os?

 

[JJ1217]

If a board gets overloaded with RAM, the board may have to downclock the ram in order to maintain stability. How many gigs of ram did you get?

This is extremely prevalent in cases in which you have 4 DIMS populated by 4 high speed sticks. The controller might not like it and downclock itself if it can't support it.

 

[adycopilu]

@ur6beersaway:
I'm running Windows 8 Pro 64-bit. Anyway, 32bit or 64bit OS should not influence the frequency of running RAM.

@JJ1217:
Sorry I missed to mention, it's two sticks of 4GB (total 8GB). Since they're rated at 1600Mhz with 1.5V, I don't see why controller should not like it. RAM is Corsair Vengeance, mobo is Gigabyte, latest Intel chipset etc. My ultimate purpose when I built this rig was to get a stable system, based on good quality components and no overclocking.

 

[inzone]

If your bios says it's set to 1600mhz then that's what it is. I have my CPU overclocked to 4.7ghz and Windows says it's 3.2ghz. Windows just reads what the part is not what is running at.

 

[adycopilu]

If your bios says it's set to 1600mhz then that's what it is. I have my CPU overclocked to 4.7ghz and Windows says it's 3.2ghz. Windows just reads what the part is not what is running at.

Thanks for clarifying this, but I was not reading input from Windows itself, but from CPUz and EasyTune6. I would expect that such applications are better suited for the jobs and should read the real frequency, not only the model type.

 

[inzone]

CPU-Z should read the speed that the ram is running at, it does read the CPU speed when overclocked and what the overclock settings are. I do think that the ram speeds are more confusing to read on CPU-Z because they give you the four columns and the last column is the XMP speeds.
CPU-Z shows your ram running at 800mhz which in dual channel equals 1600mhz.

 

[adycopilu]

CPU-Z should read the speed that the ram is running at, it does read the CPU speed when overclocked and what the overclock settings are. I do think that the ram speeds are more confusing to read on CPU-Z because they give you the four columns and the last column is the XMP speeds.
CPU-Z shows your ram running at 800mhz which in dual channel equals 1600mhz.

Sorry, but the screenshot from above shows 4 memory profiles (one of which is indeed XMP profile) and a "max bandwidth" field which shows 667MHz, not 800MHz. To me (I'm no expert in CPUz) it seems that RAM is running at 1333MHz and XMP profile is not loaded. I repeat, the list of 4 profiles seems more like 4 available profile which CAN be loaded (or not), not the actual speed at which the RAM is running at. Otherwise, how can I assume is the XMP profile which is loaded and not the JEDEC #1?

 

[inzone]

If the max bandwidth was indeed 667mhz then the XMP Profile would not be listed. If the bios states that the memory is set at 1600mhz and does not reset when you turn on your computer then that's what it's running at. Your screen shot shows the SPD tab and that's just the description of the ram and what it runs at for the different frequencies. I have opened my CPU-Z and it basicly shows the same except I have 1866mhz ram so the specs are different but the Max bandwidth shows the same as yours does. Under the memory tab it will show you what the memory is currently running at. Can you post a screen shot of the CPU-Z with the memory tab open?

 

[adycopilu]

I've read more about CPUz and it seems indeed that the SPD tab only shows some specs (possible configurations), not actually measured values (that applies to max bandwidth as well).
Unfortunately, the memory tab of CPUz doesn't show any information about frequency (is grayed out), but I tried the Speccy tool and it showed 798MHz, which is what I was actually looking for. It seems that the RAM is running correctly. Thank you very much inzone for your help!

 

[inzone]

Your Welcome. In CPU-Z that memory tab should be working and not greyed out, possibly you can look into that when you get a chance.

 

[adycopilu]

Your Welcome. In CPU-Z that memory tab should be working and not greyed out, possibly you can look into that when you get a chance.

I also found it strange that the content in this tab is greyed out and no useful information is displayed there. I will look more into it. As a related note, I noticed that CPUz shows me the memory sticks in slot #2 and slot #4, although EasyTune and BIOS show them correctly in slot #1 and #3. I also double-checked physically, the slots i'm using on the mobo are labeled slot 1 and slot 3. But since the closest slot to the CPU is #4 and the farthest away is slot #1, I simply thought that CPUz "numbers" the slots the other way around. I will try later to put the memory sticks in the other slots and see if is there any difference.