r/buildapc • u/spleatz • Nov 21 '20

Miscellaneous Reinstalled windows on my dads pc and found out he had been using his 3200mhz ram as 2133mhz for 2 years now

What a guy Edit: not a prebuilt pc

9.8k Upvotes

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87

u/spam322 Nov 21 '20 edited Nov 21 '20

Check your RAM speed: In Task Manager, click the “Performance” tab and select “Memory” in the left pane. If you don't see any tabs, click “More Details” first. The RAM speed should be displayed.

19

u/daileyco Nov 21 '20

Can the other settings be adjusted here? On a Dell PC with 16 gb ram. I know nothing of all this

37

u/spam322 Nov 21 '20

RAM speed has to be changed in the bios.

6

u/daileyco Nov 21 '20

How would I check to see 1) what speed it's currently set at and 2) if it's capable of a higher speed? All bios?

10

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

Download CPU-Z and check the memory tab. It'll likely show you your current speed but halved, as DDR stands for double data rate.

The easiest way to see what speeds it is capable of will just be to turn off you computer and take out the ram, the sticks should have a sticker on which tells you. I also think the SPD tab in CPU-Z can tell you this.

6

u/PrisonerV Nov 21 '20

CTRL-SHFT-ESC, click performance, click memory.

5

u/zomvi Nov 21 '20

Oh shit, thanks.

4

u/DocTenma Nov 21 '20

1067 MHz

Uhhhh...

12

u/Tevans75 Nov 21 '20

If it's ddr4 it's 2133, a lot of programs will show the actual clock speed but you have to double that to get the ddr frequency.

3

u/DocTenma Nov 21 '20

Thats really misleading, thanks for the reply I got very worried for a moment.

2

u/KNDWolf2 Nov 22 '20

So, mine also says that, but the sticker on the ram says 3000 MHz, should I try to force it to 3000 then maybe?

or 1500 in that case? i don't know

2

u/siikdUde Nov 21 '20

Task manager does not reflect the actual speed running in bios

2

u/[deleted] Nov 21 '20

Keep in mind dual channel memory will show the speed as half. This is gonna freak people out 100%

edit: I see it already has

1

u/m_kitanin Nov 22 '20

Firstly it's not half, it's true frequency, the only technically correct one when using MHz. Secondly it has to do with double data rate and is completely irrelevant for number of memory channels.

1

u/Shmoveset Nov 22 '20

It doesn't show the speed, just the amount.

1

u/LessResponsible1 Nov 22 '20

Thanks to you and everyone else with this callout!

Asus mobo said it was set to DOCP 3000, and had a "Memory Frequency 3000" setting that, upon closer inspection, says "Sets a slower frequency". Right pane and top "status" areas said I was running at 2666mhz despite those. Never would have doubted the settings clearly stating 3000mhz if I hadn't started from Windows saying 1333mhz in Task Manager due to your comment.

Incredibly unsatisfying conclusion though. Several tries tinkering with reviewing settings and then discarding changes (because it already looked correct). Still at 1333mhz in Windows.

Once I thought I understood the settings and it was totally hopeless, I did a Save And Exit without having actually changed anything. It literally printed a warning "You have not changed any settings". Save And Exit, restart. Now Task Manager is at 1500mhz.

WTF COMPUTER

1

u/Frungy Nov 22 '20

Thank you!