quik i7 and memory question.

[MaxBurn]

On a i7 965 EE intel says it supports memory DDR3-800/1066.

Would I be wasting my money getting 1333 or 1600 memory?

Not really familiar with the i7 platform, my first time building one. I plan to overclock a little but this is an unlocked processor so I plan to do it that way and leave the memory alone.

 

[ddrueding]

With an unlocked CPU, you can clock the memory separately from everything else. As fast or as slow as you like. I ran into stability issues with 12GB of RAM, so I got the fast stuff and kept it clocked lower.

 

[MaxBurn]

Feel like a dope, I realized there is almost no price difference between 1066-1600. Well like $30 or less looking at 3x2gb. Gets pricey over 1600 though.

 

[ddrueding]

Yeah, 1600 is the fastest "normal" speed. Anything above that is OC'er only territory.

 

[Chewy509]

Yeah, 1600 is the fastest "normal" speed. Anything above that is OC'er only territory.

Yep, and something else to watch for RAM spec'd over 1600 is the voltage it needs to run at. IIRC the i7 only officially supports very specific voltages in relation to RAM, and you could (according to Intel) kill the memory controller in the i7 if you exceed the max rated voltage.

IIRC, anandtech and a few others had details on this when the i7 was initially released to market.

 

[ddrueding]

Not to mention that, even at stock voltages, the RAM gets pretty warm...

 

[MaxBurn]

What do you think about this stuff? I have no experience on this manufacturer but I am mentally binning them with OCZ? Right or wrong? Anyway there are a couple comments out there that the GA-X58A-UD5 likes this memory just fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231335

Model
Brand G.SKILL
Series PI Series
Model F3-12800CL7T-6GBPI
Type 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
Tech Spec
Capacity 6GB (3 x 2GB)
Speed DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Cas Latency 7
Timing 7-8-7-24-2N
Voltage 1.5V
ECC No
Buffered/Registered Unbuffered
Multi-channel Kit Triple Channel Kit
Heat Spreader Yes
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts Lifetime limited
Labor Lifetime limited

 

[Stereodude]

I'm not an OCZ fan. They will try to screw you on the rebates every time.

I've used a lot of G.Skill memory without any issue. I think I had to RMA one set of sticks that failed after a year or two of use and that was pretty painless and quick.

 

[time]

What do you think about this stuff?

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Not because of the manufacturer, but because with those ludicrous 'heatsinks' on top, they're twice the height of standard modules - potentially a major PITA.

Instead of 7-8-7-24 DDR3-1600 for $170, how about

Corsair 7-8-7-20 DDR3-1600 for $180?

or G.Skill 9-9-9-24 DDR3-1600 for $145?

Dear customer

we apologize for this inconvenience. however, the Intel I7 memory controller is not good to run with 6 modules installed. they need to have stronger single. if you use rated DDR3 1600 memory 6 modules, the best you can get is DDR3 1333. if you want to run DDR3 1600, you need to purchase DDR3 1800 or 1866 memory. there is nothing wrong with each memory modules, it just I7 doesn't support over DDR3 1066 if you check out the Intel I7 website. they only support up to DDR3 1066...........

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei7/specifications.htm

(Newegg feedback, my emphasis)

 

[sechs]

I'm not an OCZ fan. They will try to screw you on the rebates every time.

Never had a problem; in fact, they seem to come back quite quick. Maybe they've caught on to your politics?

I'm not really a fan, but I generally like OCZ products and support. Unfortunately, their memory offering has swung back from "tech geek" to "I heart RAID 0 boot drives."

 

[MaxBurn]

Time: Agree the heatsinks might get in the way of something, those would have been perfect if not for that.

I don't get the quote you did for the speed support and their comment doesn't make sense either. Why would you need memory specked at a higher speed to be able to run at a lower speed. Sounds to me like they don't realize it should run within speck? Being able to run at that speed is sort of the reason for the intel XMP support in the SPD table.

The other thing is I rather wanted to keep the memory at stock 1.5v, I'm reading lots of places that 1.65v is about all the memory controller will take and generates a lot of heat there.

 

[ddrueding]

If it is rated at a higher speed it will likely be more stable at lower speeds with lower voltages.

 

[Santilli]

Thanks. That explains my memory speed;-)

 

[Gilbo]

With an unlocked CPU, you can clock the memory separately from everything else. As fast or as slow as you like. I ran into stability issues with 12GB of RAM, so I got the fast stuff and kept it clocked lower.

Ya, with the Intel chips with integrated memory controllers, it's usually a good bet to buy one speed class above if you're going to populate all slots.

 

[CityK]

I'm not an OCZ fan. They will try to screw you on the rebates every time..

OCZ is evil... always has been.

I've used a lot of G.Skill memory without any issue

Yep, I like them too. I believe Tony likes them a lot too IIRC.

 

[MaxBurn]

Maybe I should have listened to time. I went with the stuff I listed primarily because of the SPD XMP support and the low voltage, the tall heatsinks aren't a problem at all.

Worked fine when I had it on the test bench running memtest but now that I built the machine most of the time I have one module that isn't identified as working in the bios with no spd entries for that module. Every once in a while it will start with all 6gb available.

If I swap the modules around I can see the module with no spd entries move around in the bios.

The fault tolerance is really something on the i7. Basically what happens is it is shown in the bios but without any spd settings for that module and the total system memory is down from what it should be. Windows 7 even recognizes that there is 6gb installed but only 4gb available and if you dig around you find that windows is calling that hardware reserved.

I did a little more playing around and at the modules default spd of "xmp profile1" 1600 the results are about always the same as above, also if I select spd "normal" which results in 1333 they behave much the same way. If I override SPD and set the speed manually down to 1066 it detects all three modules fine for a couple hours but now it won't even use that third module at that speed.

This is with all other bios defaults and memory is using spd timings, I actually loaded defaults once or twice just to be sure. Most importantly the voltage is rated 1600 at 1.5v and I saw that in the bios/easy tune. I found other comments on the net about this memory and this board selecting 1.9v when using the xmp profile1 but I didn't see that. As I understand it that much voltage could damage the cpu.