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i7 2600K Sandybridge with Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9DHX


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Hi all,

The memory I have, Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600C9DHX, is rated 1.8v, however I understand that the memory ideally shouldn't be run at that voltage as the Sandybridge architecture wasn't designed to have the memory controller run at that voltage. Unfortunately the 'auto' clock setting for the memory has chosen 1066 at an 'auto' voltage of 1.575v. I would like to know whether I'm going to need to put together some cash for a new set of 4GB memory which is rated at lower voltage with equivalent clock, or if anyone has some other advise?

I haven't overclocked any components yet.

I have an i7 2600K cooled by a Corsair H70. Top temperatures have reached around 60C under full load using programs such as wPrime on 8 threads, idle temperatures are about 25-30C. Motherboard is an Asrock Z68 Pro3-M. Power supply isn't anything special right now, waiting to get a better one as my previous Enermax Galaxy 1000W has decided to give up after being switched to this new system from my old one (i7 920), simply two beeps every second and a red light which indicates a short circuit or overload, but I have tried cleaning it out, testing different outlets and kettle leads, and using the paper clip method of testing a PSU on its own, sadly nothing makes it come to life for more than a second. Anyway back to the specs, it's 750W with dual 12v rails provided 20A each (I believe it was). No GPU installed right now, using the onboard GPU on the CPU for now.

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I'm not an expert with desktop stuff... but as far as I know it doesn't matter at which voltage you run your RAM modules as long as they're designed to handle the voltage. You're right, the SB CPUs have the RAM controller built into the CPU, but this hasn't anything to do with the supply voltage of the RAM modules.

In the BIOS you should find a setting for the RAM voltage, this is for the memory modules and won't change anything at the CPU.

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I have plenty of voltage and clock, or other oc options in the BIOS, too many to realistically list. The motherboard is an Asrock Z68 Pro3-M. I did read a few forum threads elsewhere about making the voltage to the memory higher than 1.65v is considered dangerous for the CPU and that any such RAM requiring that amount of volt either needs to be changed or possibly have a lower than advertised speed set.

If you can be more specific as to what section you want to know what options there are, e.g. OCing, I'll provide them.

My memory is more or less this, which I've had in my i7 920 system for a long time: Corsair Twin3X 4GB DDR3 (2x2048MB) TW3X4G1600C9DHX 1600MHz [TW3X4G1600C9DHX] from Overclock.co.uk.

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You can switch to manual and then you should be able to adjust the timings, the frequency and the voltage of the RAM to whatever is stable for you. You can set the DRAM voltage at 1.65V and check what are the max stable values you can get. If you can't get the memory to play at 1.65V at a descent frequency then yes, you should consider buying new RAM.

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