DDR3-1600 timings and voltage

[kornfan71]

Hello,
I recently purchased the following items for a new build:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (C3 Stepping)
Memory: G.Skill F3-12800CL6D-4GBPI

The memory should be able to run timings of 6-8-6-24 at 1600 MHz @ 1.6V.

My issue is that the closest voltages the motherboard has are 1.59 or 1.61, both of which give me an unbootable machine when used with the specs above. I'm guessing that the voltage is too low for whatever reason, but I don't know if it's safe to run the RAM above 1.6V.

Right now, the motherboard has it automatically set to 9-9-9-24 with a command rate of 1T at 1333 MHz

How can I get this RAM to run at the specs listed?

[GSKILL TECH]

1.61V will be fine. Manually enter the DRAM Frequency and timings.

You may also need to set CPU-NB Voltage +0.1V, NB Frequency 2200MHz and that should help as well.

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[kornfan71]

Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately, that didn't work out. I still ended up with an unbootable system. I did manage to bump the RAM frequency to 1600 MHz without changing anything else, though.
BTW, I was incorrect with the timings I gave last time (9-9-9-24-1T). The motherboard actually set it to 11-11-11-29-1T.

Ideas?

[GSKILL TECH]

Manually set them to 6-8-6-24

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[kornfan71]

Alright. So far I've managed to get them to 7-7-7-24-2T at 1600 MHz, voltage is just on 'auto' (I think it's 1.5V).

I can't imagine why I can't get it down just that little bit more.

[kornfan71]

Well, I managed 7-7-6-24-1T @ 1600 MHz. The motherboard has it at 1.51V. The configuration passes in memtest86+, but I may try to tighten that up a little more down the road.

Does this configuration look OK for it? (i.e. Could this damage it at all, or is it unlikely since the voltage is still below the specifications?)

More importantly, what will this do to my warranty??

[GSKILL TECH]

Should be able to tighten a little more. Changing timings does not damage anything at all. It will just work or not. Therefore, it does not affect warranty, so feel free to try whatever you'd like.

The memory is rated for 6-8-6-24, so your options are open. You can even overclock the memory frequency...

Thank you
GSKILL TECH

[kornfan71]

As far as I can tell, it seems that I won't be able to get a CAS latency of 6, which could be an issue with that AMD memory controller, even though I made it a point to get the C3 stepping...Oh well. I got close to the specifications of the RAM, so I'll just keep tweaking from there.

Thanks for the help!