What happens if I put an 1.5V ram stick in a 1.65V rated Motherboardslot?

Question

I'm going to bulid my new gaming rig pretty soon. I allready got my DDR3 Ram sticks(KVR16N11K2/16 by Kingston).

Is it possible to put those in a Motherboard which has 1.65V Rated RAM-Slots(the Motherboard I'd like to buy is the X79 Extreme6 by Asrock)?

I know, that the RAM-Voltage is Adjustable in the BIOS. So, the actual question is: what is the default setting for the RAM-Voltage on this motherboard.

Thanks for your answers. Have a nice day

Solution

From what I've seen over years of using random desktop RAM in random computers, if it's the right type/ (DDR3, DDR, etc) and it fits in the slot, then it should work (at least set to auto in the BIOS). If the motherboard accepts "DDR3" RAM, then it should accept any DDR3 compliant RAM.

Here's a snippet from Wikipedia that mentions DDR3 voltage, hardly a definitive source, relevant nonetheless:

1.5 V or 1.35 V for DDR3. The 1.5 V supply voltage works well with the 90 nanometer fabrication technology used in the original DDR3 chips. Some manufacturers further propose using "dual-gate" transistors to reduce leakage of current.

According to JEDEC, 1.575 volts should be considered the absolute maximum when memory stability is the foremost consideration, such as in servers or other mission-critical devices. In addition, JEDEC states that memory modules must withstand up to 1.975 volts before incurring permanent damage, although they are not required to function correctly at that level.

(I don't know why you'd want to over-volt your ram anyway, would it even get faster? Maybe gain 10% faster ram, while still waiting 100 times longer than even the slowest ram for data to transfer from a HD or network anyway)

And, the newegg product page for the motherboard specifications says it uses "DDR3 2400+(OC)/2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/1333/1066" ram. And the newegg ram page says it's "DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600" which is in the MB list, so it should be fine.

Comments

[Ramhound]

The default is 1.64v

[Frank Thomas]

There are some rules and limits in life you can ignore. Voltage is not one of those.

[barlop]

Ramhound, you just wrote "the default is 1.64v" I have checked wikipedia and there is no mention of 1.64v anywhere. There is a mention of 1.65V in the DDR4 page. I think you got the number wrong when you tried to correct him, or you made a typo and didn't read your own comment.

[Ramhound]

@barlop - Yes; I should have typed 1.65v which I trust is the default on this motherboard if that's what the user claims it to be. Why are you looking at a Wikipedia page instead of the specifications for the motherboard which is what I looked at? What does a DDR4 have to do with a motherboard with only DDR3 DIMMS slots?

[Ramhound]

I looked at the first two listed supported memory modules and they are both 1.65v This means the motherboard WILL likely default to that voltage. So you should place memory that is expecting 1.65v or greater ( its safe to provide less then the require voltage )

[barlop]

@Ramhound Because googling for 1.65v and the number you wrote and wikipedia, brought it up and was quick and more than enough to just tell you why I thought you got the number wrong. (i'd have preferred if wikpedia had thrown up a DDR3 page but it didn't matter). I didn't need to take an interest in a particular motherboard(an interest that wouldn't be of much use to me), to give me good reason to think you had got the number wrong in that first comment of yours.

[Ramhound]

The number really wasn't that important. If you realized it was a typo, the author realized it was a typo, really wasn't worth pointing out.

[DTK]

Withdrawing my answer; clearly PC RAM is a lot more resilient than the older server and workstation RAM I remember from that last time I had to deal with hardware (it's been several years).

[Thalys]

Not just that, but modern sysems are explicitly designed to use low voltage ram, and in many scenarios, its a safe/sane default.

[TheJ]

Thanks for your response. I Dont actually want to run the modules at this voltage. But Ive got to turn the system on so I can enter the BIOS and turn back the voltage to 1.5V...

[Xen2050]

If the BIOS has been cleared (removing the battery for a while should do that) then it should default to the lowest/safest voltage. Motherboards are geting pretty good at NOT overclocking/overvolting and "rolling back" to defaults if something goes wrong (at least it seems)

[Thalys]

Yeah, it'll work. Wikipedia's writeup on the subject is a bit skimpy tho :/