wrong RAM? what's the optimum for my system?

UkayJ · 26 Feb 2018 at 21:45

Hi, I think I bought the wrong RAM for my motherboard/cpu, or it's because I just transferred it over from a bigger badder mobo.

mobo is : Asrock 970m pro 3 (Asrock site says : "Supports DDR3 2100(OC)/1866(OC)*/1800(OC)*/1600(OC)*/1333/1066/800")

cpu is : AMD Phenom ii X4 955 BE (AMD site says it only supports up to 1333MHz)

I've done a search and someone had recommended G.SKILL 1.5-1.6v DDR3 1600, any good? The voltage seems a bit high to me....

UkayJ · 26 Feb 2018 at 21:58

current RAM from old Asus Crosshair iv formula

djbully · 27 Feb 2018 at 09:33

Hi, 1.5V is fine.

Both sticks seem to be DDR3 1600 so they should work. You may need to go into MB bios and try setting it 1600Mz, I expect it defaults to 1333 or something.

The 2x4GB sticks are slightly slower CAS rated that the others, but the difference will not be noticeable I would have thought.

You could always look for some 2133 stuff, but it's probably not worth it. I went from 1600 > 2133 when I had my i7 2600k and I noticed no difference. Not sure if the same for older AMD chips.

Cheers,

UkayJ · 27 Feb 2018 at 17:46

Ok thank you.

As I stated above the Asrock website says the mobo will support up to 2100(OC) RAM, what does the OC mean? And if the cpu only supports up to 1333Mhz what does that mean?

HeX · 1 Mar 2018 at 00:13

OC means over clocked. So while the cpu doesn't officially support it, the mobo is capable of running that memory speed if the CPU is up to it.

UkayJ · 1 Mar 2018 at 08:04

Ah so I'm limited by my CPU, it is 9 years old!

I'm considering getting a second hand FX series cpu, they're capable of up to 1866MHz

I might start a new thread in the cpu section to discuss that

Kurgen · 1 Mar 2018 at 10:17

i wouldnt waste your money, i would be looking to upgrade completely. i doubt you will gain much if anything from a few increase in Mhz on ram