i want some quick ram for my gigy 990ud3h + 1055t, the gigy website says it can only take 1866 and 200mhz (OC) ram. if i install 2133 or 2400mhz ram what will happen? will it just run at slower speeds?
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but as 1866+ DDR3 is essentially just made of cherry-picked 1600MHz chips that can safely be overclocked to (much) higher speeds, you will be fine as you will just be overclocking them less. On the plus side, the timings should be tighter at a lower clock speed. On the plus side, if your setup can handle it you might well be able to run the chips at closer to their advertised speed. However, unless you're an avid overclocker then paying a premium for very high frequency DDR3 turns into a false economy fast.
I have an AsRock 890GM Pro 3 + Phenom II x4 955 with 2400MHz CL10 RAM. CPU / Motherboard only supports up to 1600MHz, so the RAM just runs at 1600MHz with tighter timings (CL8).
the only reason i'm asking this is that i've found some memory 2400mhz CL11 timings that is the same price as 1600mhz CL9 so wondered if it'll run at 2400mhz for the same price is all..... @xTatic - if i put 2400mhz ram into my 990fx/gx ud3h it will automatically run at lower clocks? shouldn't it run at 1866? did the timings adjust themselves automatically too?
it'll probably run at 1600 until you tell it in BIOS to run faster. If it's the same price I'd get the 2400mhz kit, and overclock it 1866 or 2000 as supported by the mobo. It'll probably let you overclock using a predetermined setting, profile 1 or 2 (that sort of thing), so I doubt you'll have to do it all manually.
I too would go for the 2400 kit then... if you are lucky running it at 2000 or 1866 you might be able to get it on CL8 or if really lucky at CL7. While I had intel so it's an apples to oranges... comparing memory I had both 1600 CL7 and 2133 CL11... the 1600 was faster in most thing in real life, latency is lower is better than high frequency most of the time. But, if you can have both then it's a no brainer.
My CPU (955) only supports up to 1333, so it ran at that initially and I had to OC it to 1600, but it won't go any higher. You CPU says it supports up to 1866, so it will probably run at that and than you might be able to OC it to 2000.
If the memory and motherboard have/support XMP you really only have to press a few buttons in your BIOS and you will be away.
