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Effects of 1.65 V RAM on Ivy bridge

idata
Employee
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I have an i7-3770k, dz77sl-50k motherboard and KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX which is 1600 MHz RAM running at 1.65 V, will this volatage affect the computer's ability to last 5 years?

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idata
Employee
1,551 Views

Yes is could affect your system, since this new technology of processors has the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) inside of them, so now the processor is the component that controls the memory. Specifically for your processor i7-3770K the MCH on it, was designed to support DDR3-1333/1600MHz memory at 1.5V. This information is on the following link; please check the paragraph that says memory specifications: http://ark.intel.com/products/65523/Intel-Core-i7-3770K-Processor-%288M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz%29 http://ark.intel.com/products/65523/Intel-Core-i7-3770K-Processor-%288M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz%29

When we use memory out of specifications we can have two possible scenarios:

  1. The memory is downclocked by the processor in order to be able to work with it; this means that the memory is working using a not correct voltage for it or simply it started to fail for the same reason.
  2. The memory force the processor to reach the voltage of it, on this scenario the processor is overclocked by the memory, and this is the most dangerous scenario because eventually your processor could be damage.

Our recommendation is that you please try to change your memory, since based on the voltage that it uses to work, it is not compatible with the processor, and based on the previous scenarios I described this could be dangerous for your processor.

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idata
Employee
1,552 Views

Yes is could affect your system, since this new technology of processors has the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) inside of them, so now the processor is the component that controls the memory. Specifically for your processor i7-3770K the MCH on it, was designed to support DDR3-1333/1600MHz memory at 1.5V. This information is on the following link; please check the paragraph that says memory specifications: http://ark.intel.com/products/65523/Intel-Core-i7-3770K-Processor-%288M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz%29 http://ark.intel.com/products/65523/Intel-Core-i7-3770K-Processor-%288M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz%29

When we use memory out of specifications we can have two possible scenarios:

  1. The memory is downclocked by the processor in order to be able to work with it; this means that the memory is working using a not correct voltage for it or simply it started to fail for the same reason.
  2. The memory force the processor to reach the voltage of it, on this scenario the processor is overclocked by the memory, and this is the most dangerous scenario because eventually your processor could be damage.

Our recommendation is that you please try to change your memory, since based on the voltage that it uses to work, it is not compatible with the processor, and based on the previous scenarios I described this could be dangerous for your processor.

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idata
Employee
1,551 Views

Thanks, If you don't mind me asking, which intel processor can support 1.65 V?

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idata
Employee
1,551 Views

Regarding your first question there is not any Intel processor that supports more than 1.5V memory.

About the list you sent, it only shows tested hardware with the system configuration described for third party motherboards manufacturers (checking only the i7-3770K processor). Based on the fact that the processor is a "K" unit (unlocked) those manufacturers tested memory over specifications with that specific processor to show customers that the processor supports it in combination with the specific motherboard, everything if the processor is overclocked, however that doesn't means that we validate that memory to be used with the processor. From our side we don't validate memory beyond 1.5V because the Memory Controller Hub (MCH) was not designed to support more than that.

The policy says that the customers can overclock their systems by their own risk, this because it is not supported by Intel and besides in case the processor fails due overclocking the warranty will not cover it.

idata
Employee
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UOkta
Beginner
1,551 Views

I think intel should remove 1.65V memories from their lists or people can think its safe and use them.

here is a list for i5 Processors

https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/www/us/en/gaming/gaming-computers/core-i5-processor-memory-datasheet.html Compatible Memory for Intel® Core™ i5 Processors

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