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Intel i5 760 Question

Scotty-D

Scotty-D

Scotty-D

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31 Oct 2010
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Location
Birmingham, England
I am getting this processor but I have a quick question regarding compatibility.

I have just been on the Intel site looking at the specification of this processor and I have found in the supported memory section it states 1066Mhz and 1333Mhz. My question is do I have to stick to this memory specification even though the motherboard states it can support higher MHz RAM?

Thanks in advance,

Scott
 
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The intel spec is generally considered rather conservative, and is meant to apply when using all four DIMM slots on a LGA1156 motherboard. If you are only using two DIMMs then you can achieve memory speeds much higher than this. For example, the "standard" RAM people will recomend for a i5 system is DDR3 4GB (2x2GB) 1600MHz 1.65V, generally any RAM with this spec will run fine on any s1156 board and provide all the memory bandwidth that is required.
 
cmndr_andi said:
The intel spec is generally considered rather conservative, and is meant to apply when using all four DIMM slots on a LGA1156 motherboard. If you are only using two DIMMs then you can achieve memory speeds much higher than this. For example, the "standard" RAM people will recomend for a i5 system is DDR3 4GB (2x2GB) 1600MHz 1.65V, generally any RAM with this spec will run fine on any s1156 board and provide all the memory bandwidth that is required.
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Ok just to summaries, if I fill all four slots on my motherboard I will have to use 1333Mhz RAM. Would this be corret?
 
Not necessarily, Intel's spec does recommend 1333MHz, but this will work fine if you have 1600MHz (or even 2000MHz) RAM running at 1333MHz, so long as the RAM also supports this lower speed.

Also, you can overclock :) People have used four sticks of RAM running at 1600MHz+ in these systems, but you will have to get your hands a bit dirty in the BIOS to get a nice stable setting while using 4 sticks and a high memory clock.
 
Get 1600MHz RAM regardless, even if you eventually find you have to clock it down, but you shouldn't.

Some basic info for you, that you may know already...

CPU speed is set by BCLK x CPU multiplier
RAM speed is set by BCLK x RAM multiplier

Stock BCLK is 133MHz for i5/i7 and most mobos have a highest RAM multiplier of x10 giving 1333MHz stock RAM speed. The mobos will also typically offer lower RAM multipliers of x6 and x6 also. On such a mobo, with a highest RAM multiplier of x10, 1600MHz RAM can only be achieved by overclocking the BCLK to 160 (160x10=1600), therefore technically overclocking the CPU too (though you could bring it down to stock by reducing the CPU multiplier). That's why these boards often show 1600MHz RAM support (and higher) but note that it is an overclocked setting, and why Intel CPU stock spec only goes up to 1333MHz. Some mobos have a x12 RAM multiplier which means they can support 1600MHz RAM at stock BCLK (133x12=1600).

Since you'll totally definately be overclocking your CPU with a BCLK way beyond 160, you'll definately be able to run RAM at 1600MHz, e.g. my i5 settings are 4GHz with 200BCLK x20, and my RAM is using the x8 multiplier, so runs at 200x8 = 1600MHz. I've never heard of an i5 CPU/mobo that can't handle 1600MHz RAM - it's only if you're playing around with trying to get 2000+MHz RAM running at those speeds, that a lot of people get problems. 1600MHz is pretty much a sweetspot for i5/i7 RAM speed, and the performance gains going any higher are very small anyway. So dont worry.
 
Liampope said:
Get 1600MHz RAM regardless, even if you eventually find you have to clock it down, but you shouldn't.

Some basic info for you, that you may know already...

CPU speed is set by BCLK x CPU multiplier
RAM speed is set by BCLK x RAM multiplier

Stock BCLK is 133MHz for i5/i7 and most mobos have a highest RAM multiplier of x10 giving 1333MHz stock RAM speed. The mobos will also typically offer lower RAM multipliers of x6 and x6 also. On such a mobo, with a highest RAM multiplier of x10, 1600MHz RAM can only be achieved by overclocking the BCLK to 160 (160x10=1600), therefore technically overclocking the CPU too (though you could bring it down to stock by reducing the CPU multiplier). That's why these boards often show 1600MHz RAM support (and higher) but note that it is an overclocked setting, and why Intel CPU stock spec only goes up to 1333MHz. Some mobos have a x12 RAM multiplier which means they can support 1600MHz RAM at stock BCLK (133x12=1600).

Since you'll totally definately be overclocking your CPU with a BCLK way beyond 160, you'll definately be able to run RAM at 1600MHz, e.g. my i5 settings are 4GHz with 200BCLK x20, and my RAM is using the x8 multiplier, so runs at 200x8 = 1600MHz. I've never heard of an i5 CPU/mobo that can't handle 1600MHz RAM - it's only if you're playing around with trying to get 2000+MHz RAM running at those speeds, that a lot of people get problems. 1600MHz is pretty much a sweetspot for i5/i7 RAM speed, and the performance gains going any higher are very small anyway. So dont worry.
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Thanks for the information.

You are right I do intend to overclock the CPU to 4Ghz+ depending how good my H70 cools with 2 Sharkoon. I was thinking about getting the Corsair Dominator GT 4Gb 1600Mhz package from overclockers then expend to 8Gb when I have more funds.

My final question is:
Would my i5 overclocked to 4Ghz+ on an Intel DP55KG motherboard run 8Gb of Dominator GT RAM running at 1600Mhz?
 
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Change of plan I went for the Gigabyte P55A-UD6 as the Intel motherboard does not support USB-3.

My same question still applies to the RAM compatibility.
 
No one can really say. Depends on what chip you get and also on the mobo and RAM. With a decent board like the UD6, decent RAM, and an i5 760, you have a very good chance of being able to achieve 4GHz with 1600MHz RAM. More so if your 8GB is 2x4GB sticks.
 
As long as you can raise the BLCK or memory multiplier you can overclock the memory even if its not support. e.g I don't think my Asus P7P55D-E supports 2000MHZ ram (eg doesn't run natively) but it works when overclocking it so all should be fine.
 
reilly said:
As long as you can raise the BLCK or memory multiplier you can overclock the memory even if its not support. e.g I don't think my Asus P7P55D-E supports 2000MHZ ram (eg doesn't run natively) but it works when overclocking it so all should be fine.
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On my mobo specification it states 2600Mhz plus. If I was to buy four sticks of Corsair Dominator GT 2Gb each 1600Mhz would it work with a i5 760 overclocked.
 
As above, it's suck it and see. You can only give yourself the best possible chance by buying quality parts, which you're doing. Should be fine.
 
Yes it would work.

That motherboard is a beast of a board. And Gigabyte over-clock memory really easy. The major brands of ram all work no problem on Giga boards. So relax and get tweaking. :)
 
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