GA-EX58-UD3R compatibility with 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM

[wally]

Hi, I'm very much a novice in terms of building my own system and am hoping someone can educate me a bit on compatibility between my GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard and 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM.

Just starting a new system build, I chose the GA-EX58-UD3R to team with a Core i7 processor. As I was trying to rush completion of the build, I decided to just buy RAM locally. That being the case, I knew the GA-EX58-UD3R was compatible with 1333MHz and 2100MHz RAM, but I couldn't find any locally on sale.

However, I did find 6GB of Corsair XMS3 Classic 1600MHz RAM (8-8-8-24, 1.65V, TR3X6G1600C8) on sale, so after googling and seeing that others also chose this RAM for this motherboard, I went ahead with the purchase.

After installing this Corsair 1600MHz RAM, I am getting the same response in my Bios that others have encountered where the RAM reads as 1066. I know that you can adjust the System Memory Multiplier to read the RAM as 1600MHz, but my questions are as follows:

1) What are the implications of adjusting the System Memory Multiplier to read the RAM as 1600MHz? Does that mean I'm overclocking it somehow?

2) This Corsair RAM is 1.65V, but my GA-EX58-UD3R manual states that the motherboard is compatible with 1.5V RAM. Does that mean this RAM is incompatible? Or is this just a matter of adjusting the voltage in the Bios as well?

3) Did I make a mistake by buying this Corsair 1600 RAM? Should I just return it and get 1333MHz, 1.5V RAM, since that is allegedly compatible with the motherboard?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[qwertylesh]

1) What are the implications of adjusting the System Memory Multiplier to read the RAM as 1600MHz? Does that mean I'm overclocking it somehow?

In a way your making the memory controller run out of its rated specification (assuming you have a non-extreme edition i7), more importantly you need to know that just adjusting the dram frequency on its own may cause instability if you have a non XMP kit of DDR3 Ram.

2) This Corsair RAM is 1.65V, but my GA-EX58-UD3R manual states that the motherboard is compatible with 1.5V RAM. Does that mean this RAM is incompatible? Or is this just a matter of adjusting the voltage in the Bios as well?

Yes, its fine (AFAIK) to run the motherboard at 1.65 volts, the concern is the Memory controller, which is on the CPU not the motherboard, these i7 CPU's should not be ran with DRAM voltages over 1.65v because they will in the long term if so die.
If there was a nehalem chip that had a memory controller tolerant for 2 volts, it would be fine, remember the previous motherboard series (lets say the x48 775's) ran on much higher voltages, the general tolerancy for boards is very good. :)

3) Did I make a mistake by buying this Corsair 1600 RAM? Should I just return it and get 1333MHz, 1.5V RAM, since that is allegedly compatible with the motherboard?

You should be fine with the 1600 ram, but more importantly is to mention your processor you have, weather you plan on overclocking it also, as the overall speed of the processor will determine weather you need to oc the uncore to get the ram to run stable (ie, for 1600 you need to run a 920 uncore at 3.2ghz which is oc'd) where as for example if you have a 975, you wouldnt need to oc (because the uncore only needs to run at 3.2ghz which is within the 975's overall rated speed of 3.3ghz)

To save confusion, you need to know that the CPU is important when deciding on what ram kit is suitable for you, weather you want to oc it or not plays a very important role, bacause if you dont want to OC it, and say have a 920, then 1600 isn't really suitable, its IMO that 1333 would be more suitable in that situation.

Let us know what cpu you have got. :)

[wally]

Let us know what cpu you have got. :)

Thanks, qwertyless, for the assistance. The CPU I have is a Core i7 920 (2.66 GHz, 45nm, 8MB L3 Cache).

Initially, I wasn't planning on overclocking it, as first and foremost I just wanted to get it up and running and make sure it was stable as is. I figured maybe a few months down the road I might start toying with OC'ing if I felt comfortable enough with setting it up (I'd have to learn a lot more to know how to properly OC a system w/o putting the components at risk). I did install a Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU Cooler just in case I did decide later on to OC.

Let's say I didn't OC it, for stability's sake, would I just leave the setting for the motherboard as is when it reads the RAM at 1066? Or could that still cause the Corsair 1600 RAM to be unstable?

[qwertylesh]

ah ok, as long as you run the uncore at 3.2ghz to achieve a stable 1600mhz ram it should be ok, or if you have a 1333 XMP Profile with your ram, I dont foresee any problem using it stock like that (ram slightly underclocked, but cpu not overclocked in the slightest) until you want to run the processor faster, utilisiing the full speed of the memory :)

If the rams not XMP capable though, then I imagine its going to be a bit fiddly finding the stable settings for 1333 or 1600mhz.

[kg4icg]

to get the ram up to 1600 all you do is set the xmp setting in bios to profile#1, it will activate the jdec setting in your ram and clock it according to the specs.

[qwertylesh]

yeah, XMP ram is really hassle free.

[wally]

Thanks a million, guys. This Corsair RAM is XMP, so changing that setting to Profile 1 did the trick.

Out of curiosity, were I to overclock down the road, would I leave that Profile 1 setting intact for the RAM? Or would I need to disable that to appropriately overclock?

[qwertylesh]

Honestly, I cant answer this one, as Im not experienced with overclocking, only setting up i7 rigs to run at stock, with or without xmp ram

[wally]

No problem. Thanks for all the help!