voltage question

doggystyle

doggystyle

doggystyle

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if sandy bridge runs at 1.5v why are some ram running at 1.65v?

if i can get ram running at 1.35v is that better?

if so why? does it allow more room for overclocking?

thanks.
 
Sometimes you need to add more voltage to get a stable overclock. If your ram runs at 1.35v then you can be happy in noing your are saving the planet.;)
 
The DRAM voltage with Sandy Bridge is a well debated subject.

Intel say that 1.65V is fine, for example see here.

However OcUK, an Intel Platinum Partner, say this:

***OVERCLOCKING GUIDELINES***

- Do not exceed 1.425v core voltage, doing so could limit lifespan of the CPU
- Aim to keep temperatures below 70c underload if at all possible
- Do not overclock with BCLK, again doing so could limit lifespan of the CPU
- Recommended memory voltage is 1.50v, so make sure to run your memory at 1.50v, higher than 1.60v could limit lifespan of the CPU
- These recommendations come from OcUK and Intel, your warranty is un-affected but we highly recommend you adhere to the above to make sure your CPU lifespan is un-affected
- All Sandybridge CPU's worldwide should be run at the above or lower voltages, no higher!
Click to expand...

There is plenty of RAM available which will run at 1.60V or less.

Some specifically designed to do so and a lot of the 1.65V RAM will run with less.

My advice has always been that there's no need to buy RAM which needs more voltage than recommended by OcUK so why do it?

The safest option is to buy RAM that meets the OcUK guidelines.

Whilst on the subject RAM faster than 1600MHz doesn't bring a whole lot of performance increase with Sandy Bridge:

There's some very nice RAM here: Samsung Green

It runs 1600MHz with low voltage and generally overclocks pretty well too if you want to see for yourself what extra performance that gets you.
 
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I just purchsed 8gb's of 1600mhz corsair LP Arctic White and these state they can run a 1.35v. When i installed them they ran at the jedec speed of 1333mhz so i enabled the XMP profile to increase them to there 1600mhz. The voltage was on auto and in the bios it was showing 1.5v so i set it to 1.35v but the bios still kept showing them at 1.5v in the summary of my settings! Is there a way to see what voltage your memory is actually running at? I didint know if i just set my memory to XMP and left it on auto if the XMP profile would force the auto voltage to run at is programmed 1.35 speed?
 
look in easytune/profile1/advanced if i remember correctly,its in there somewhere look for power on and target dram voltages
 
Cheers wazza, i downloaded easytune for my new z77x-d3h board but didint really like the look of it, i thought it was only a cpu overclock tool i'll take another look though for sure.
 
Yea i know what you mean always best to stick with the bios i guess.

Is it ok do you think to run these 1.35v corsair LP modules at 1.5v? I know they are tested at 1.35v for 1600mhz but i am going to be overclocking my i5 to around 4ghz and im sure the memory is going to need a little bit more than 1.35v to be stable
 
should be fine,its recommended to try and stay below 1.575v on sb,it depends on your chips imc though,for me im running at 1.63v dram voltage with ram at 2133mhz(my rams rated at 1.35v)but its been fine
 
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