XMP and do I need it?

snadge

snadge

snadge

Associate
Joined
11 Oct 2010
Posts
551
I wish too use the Gigabyte GA-H77M-D3H motherboard with 1600Mhz 2x4Gb sticks - the description says it supports 1600Mhz and XMP... can I use any 1600Mhz sticks in this board to get 1600Mhz speeds? what is XMP and do I need to use it? I will not be gaming on this PC.. I know on older Sandy-bridge boards like P67 you had to enable XMP to get 1600Mhz - but you needed XMP sticks if I recall correctly

can anyone help clarify this for me? I want too use Corsair 1600mhz sticks and get 1600Mhz speeds - rather than Kingston 1600Mhz XMP sticks to get 1600Mhz... confused.com


thanks
 
xmp is an auto overclocking feature (i think) for ram.

basically you set xmp in the bios if the ram and motherboard support it (most modern boards and ram will) and it will set the ram up for its rated speed,timings and voltages for you.

so if your ram is xmp ready and is rated at 1600mhz then xmp will set it to 1600mhz for you


basically, enable xmp
 
thanks

but what about sticks that are rated 1600Mhz anyway and not XMP? and boards/CPU that dont say they have XMP but support 1600Mhz speeds (such as 22nm CPU) -will they work? or does saying they support 1600Mhz mean they support XMP?

I ask because most the mobo's im looking at say *1600Mhz = *a 22nm CPU must be installed..

to me it looks like Sandy-bridge CPU's only support upto 1333Mhz and use XMP or OC for 1600Mhz+ but Ivy-Bridge (the 22nm CPU) supports 1600Mhz anyway and thus XMP is not needed - perhaps the advertising of XMP is for Sandy-Bridge chips?
 
all x.m.p is is a stored memory speed/timing/voltage profile saved on the memory and it sets it all up for you,for non x.m.p memory you have to enter the speed/timings/dram voltage into the bios yourself

just buy whatever ram you want and if you need help setting it up post back,its simple to do
 
Doesnt work for me, (corsair vengeance lp). The memory is xmp certified, but when clocking my 3570k it will not do the rated 1600mh, 9-9-9-24 at 1.5v. Needs 1.57500, but it's within safe limits.
 
hmm - im thinking of going 1333Mhz save me the bother - I mean why advertise that 1600Mhz is supported on Ivy-Bridge IF you have to overclock to get it? whether via XMP or OC..?

my dad has sandybridge 2500K and he uses XMP to get 1600Mhz - but I was under the impression thats because Sandy-Bridge only supports upto 1333Mhz without overclocking/XMP

Anyway my list of components is changing and im thinking of taking a cheaper H61 board with SATA3 but 1333Mhz RAM and using the £25 saved to put towards a 128Gb SATA3 SSD - -ive been told theres no noticable difference between 1333Mhz and 1600Mhz except for frame-rates in games if you use the onboard iGPU (which I will be, but wont be gaming)

I will only be browsing and using music production software - will 1333Mhz bottleneck my core-i5 3470 @ stock speed upto 3.6Ghz?
thanks
 
Last edited:
snadge said:
hmm - im thinking of going 1333Mhz save me the bother - I mean why advertise that 1600Mhz is supported on Ivy-Bridge IF you have to overclock to get it? whether via XMP or OC..?

my dad has sandybridge 2500K and he uses XMP to get 1600Mhz - but I was under the impression thats because Sandy-Bridge only supports upto 1333Mhz without overclocking/XMP

Anyway my list of components is changing and im thinking of taking a cheaper H61 board with SATA3 but 1333Mhz RAM and using the £25 saved to put towards a 128Gb SATA3 SSD - -ive been told theres no noticable difference between 1333Mhz and 1600Mhz except for frame-rates in games if you use the onboard iGPU (which I will be, but wont be gaming)

I will only be browsing and using music production software - will 1333Mhz bottleneck my core-i5 3470 @ stock speed upto 3.6Ghz?
thanks
Click to expand...

In your case, no, I doubt you'd notice any difference at all.
 
snadge said:
hmm - im thinking of going 1333Mhz save me the bother - I mean why advertise that 1600Mhz is supported on Ivy-Bridge IF you have to overclock to get it? whether via XMP or OC..?

my dad has sandybridge 2500K and he uses XMP to get 1600Mhz - but I was under the impression thats because Sandy-Bridge only supports upto 1333Mhz without overclocking/XMP

Anyway my list of components is changing and im thinking of taking a cheaper H61 board with SATA3 but 1333Mhz RAM and using the £25 saved to put towards a 128Gb SATA3 SSD - -ive been told theres no noticable difference between 1333Mhz and 1600Mhz except for frame-rates in games if you use the onboard iGPU (which I will be, but wont be gaming)

I will only be browsing and using music production software - will 1333Mhz bottleneck my core-i5 3470 @ stock speed upto 3.6Ghz?
thanks
Click to expand...

you don't have to overclock to get 1600mhz speed on sb/ib

its fixed memory speeds and you select the correct speed from the list,regardless of what your overclocked too

on older cpu's you clocked with the bclk which affected memory speed
 
@ wazza - ok, so it must just be on boards that dont support 1600 (without OC) that you have to use XMP or OC.. my dads sb P67 was one such board - if I get 1600Mhz RAM and a board that has 1600Mhz support with no mention of OC then thats what I will get ?
 
h77 might be different idk

but usually it supports above 1600mhz,those are just the default supported speeds

I cant 100% be sure on h77,i know z77 supports 2400+ mhz
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom