Clarkdale: No dual channel RAM available beyond DDR3-1600
Clarkdale: No dual channel RAM available beyond DDR3-1600
Mainboard: AsRock P55 Pro/USB3 (latest BIOS 1.50) CPU: i3-550 RAM: 2x4 Kingston KVR1333 or 2x4 Corsair Vengeance 1600 or 2x4 Corsair Vengeance 1866 or 2x8 Kingston HyperX Savage 2400 Used the half-height KVR1333 for 10 years now in dual channel and wanted to upgrade to something faster and more powerful. The AsRock states: "Supports DDR3 2600+(OC)/2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory - Max system memory capacity: 16GB." Proceed accordingly. Purchased a set of 2x8 Kingston HyperX Savage 2400. Has XMP support for 2133 as well. However, it won't boot in DIMM slots A1/B1 or A2/B2. BIOS post code is "003A". When installed in A1/A2 or B1/B2, it boots fine but only single channel. Borrowed a set of 2x4 Corsair Vengeance 1866. Same issue. The 8GB model boots in non-DC combinations, but only single channel. Borrowed a set of 2x4 Corsair Vengeance 1600. It functions perfectly. Dual channel works as expected. Curious—why does XMP 1600 require overclocking BCLK160 Multi 20? What’s the issue with dual channel RAM above 1600?
The processor isn't the main concern. It only works with 1066 (533MHz) and 1333 (667MHz). Take advantage of what you can get from it. At 800MHz it performs better.
Understanding the requirement for OC even with the XMP 1600 is important. The dual channel feature isn't directly related to the OC speed of the 1600 or 1866/2133 models. You can configure the DIMM slots, set your storage, and adjust profiles as you've done. However, in single-channel mode, the BCLK frequency will be higher, and you'll need to manage the multiplier settings accordingly.
The memory controller refuses to accept the frequency you're applying in dual-channel mode, forcing it to revert to single-channel operation as expected by the user. It's well understood that attempting overclocking in single-channel mode can yield a higher frequency than dual-channel, so this behavior makes sense.
Understood. More OC in single channel. That’s not my concern. Even without dual channels, I have no dual channel setup with 1866+ DIMMs. They appear as 1333 in Auto settings or manual 1333 configurations. This suggests a JEDEC 1333 profile is required. Whether it's 1333, 1600, 1866 or 2400, all versions show up as 1333 in the wrong DIMM slots for dual channel. However, only 1333 and 1600 work correctly in dual channel 1333. RAM kits above 1866 don’t boot at all. What should I tell the BIOS to enable them? I’m done with the extra options and just want my 2x8 to function in dual channel 1333.
The CPU really can't handle more than 1333MHz (667MHz). Going beyond that means overclocking the IMC, and your performance will change. If you plan to memory overclock with DDR3, this setup isn't suitable. As I tell @Somerandomtechyboi ALL THE FREAKIN TIME — you probably won’t notice, but you should read this. The top DDR3 platforms for overclocking are Z97 and 4690/4770/90K models. Be glad you can reach 1600MHz from there. That’s 133MHz more than the CPU is designed to handle at its base speed. If this makes sense?
Some 8GB memory modules aren't compatible with the earliest Core i series CPUs, which is why dual-channel performance isn't affected—this is expected.
You're really getting into the details here. It looks like the off-die IMC is likely built from a P45 northbridge, and the graphics card uses GMA. That's surprising. My 2x4 1866 is single rank 1R 512x8, which is quite dense, so it won't work with full support. Got it. I understand now—I can swap in my 2x8 kit for a 2x4 1600 dual-rank model to hit the 16 gigabit target. And I see the next challenge: getting an XMP 1600 with four sticks is tough right now. Thanks for the guidance and tips for digging deeper.
It is the best but im not exactly looking for the best cause considering the pricing of 1150 here in indo i doubt many ppl run any enthusiast level setups on haswell other than ppl still sticking to their ageing 4770/4790(k) or ppl with oem systems turned into budget systems, i just need 2800 at most, ill prob only be sticking to meager 2400-2666 speeds I think ill settle for a 60 or 70 series board with my ivy pentium (tec cooled if needed to reach 2800+) since im not aiming for the stars at 3000+ ram speeds, my p5q and extreem dark are just unintentionally good at clocking rams so 1520mhz is possible and that is what i consider aiming for the stars kind of speeds (~400mhz away from ddr2 wr and this is with 1x3 odd rank config, just close to wr speed) which is why i consider 2200 to be slow, cause it is slow xD Cap Pretty stupid choice when you can just buy some generic bare pcb sticks with 4gbit mfr/bfr and still do 3000+, i mean i have 1333 bin samsung rev f (rando garbage ic) + psc x (very good 1gbit ic) and they both do 2200 easy (though having trouble setting up the pscs), ive hit the cpu limit so meager 2200 it is till i get a non garbage bin xeon thay may do higher speeds and eliminate needing to sell my basically worthless p6t deluxe v2 (dont care about turning it into a daily when i can get a 5600g for 86$ off aliexpress and a x470 fatality for 20$) Most you can expect is ~2000 i think, and thats setting the qpi/vtt volt properly and not skimping out on it because of some garbage misinformation from 12 years ago (max 1.5v daily, degradation claims >1.35v are garbage, same for >0.5v ∆ between qpi/vtt and dram degradation claim) I suggest reselling that kit and buying bare pcbs both to save money and actually know what ic you are buying as higher speed kits tend to be ics more focused on 1155/1150 cpus rather than garbage imc 1156/1366 and older that can only do tight timings rather than high freq. You can have a look at xtremesystems ddr3 ic thread for ics more suited towards your system, also 2x8 is dual rank and im pretty sure that does not help with the already trash imc, you wanna pay attention to volt scaling and timings since thats the only things you can optimize, basically every ic that times tight can do 2000 so dont worry about that, max dram volt id deem safe would be ~2.1v for the imc but actual max safe will vary between ics since some dont scale or work at higher volts and some are more volt tolerant than others, theres also temp to worry about cause too hot = errors. Id suggest 1.8-1.9v as a guideline to start at so you dont go getting extremely frustrated shoving 2.1v through your rams dont work (ex me with my pscs, samsung rev f scales to 2.46v so had no trouble with that ic volts wise, and do not daily 2.46v for the imcs sake, i was just messing around with that volt as i knew that wouldnt instakill my x5660)