Do AM3 Processors need low voltage memory or is it marketing hype??????

[velozzity]

after having some horrible experience with a am2+ board not liking any memory I used in it, I decided to purchase a different MB for my phenom II, this time I was going the AM3 and DDR3 route. At the store where I purchased the memory the only thing with tight timings and reasonable speed was a Set of Patriot Viper 1600mhz (7-7-7-20) 1.9v. I played around for the last 2 days trying to find top overclock on cpu and memory and could only get memory to do specified timings and speed with 1.97v. Unsure of what tolerance the IC in this memory had to higher voltage, I promptly joined patriots forums and posted The question "What is highest Volts that this kit can do safely for long term" and after given the usual loosen timings crap I asked again. the answer shocked me, I was told 1.92, and the reason was more or less that I would fry the IMC if I used higher.

Knowing that I did'nt want to cook my phenom II, I decided just to return the memory to the retail store. A brief pass by the tech department somewhat (as in the tech said Patriot had good reasoning but he in fact had no proof only that I7 dont work well with higher voltage ddr3) confirmed that the higher voltage is probably unsafe. So please answer me something anyone who really knows about phenom II's and memory, WTF is Patriot doing telling me that basically 1.92+ will cook IMC (and I know some boards overvolt) and marketing a kit http://www.patriotmemory.com/products/detailp.jsp?prodline=5&catid=52&prodgroupid=120&id=858&type=1 for am3 processors (I know it has to be am3 because no other AMD Black edition will work with ddr3) that needs 1.9v to do specified timings if slightly higher voltage will cook the IMC.

Also I know OCZ sells a 1600mhz kit with 7-7-7-24 timings and 1.65v but it is out of stock at the egg and the other places that carry it dont exactly have the best reputation per customer complaints I read.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

QuietIce will vouch for the low voltage ocz, but I personally have no trouble with running higher voltage ( I run my ram now at 2.150 volts ). So actually when I get my ud5p in socket Am3, I am going to pick up a set of 2x2gb mushkin enhanced 1600mhz @ 7-7-7-20 @ 1.85-1.9v.

 

[velozzity]

thanks chance I just did'nt know If the IMC is one part that handles both ddr2 or ddr3 or if It is actually 2 seperate components on same processor, each with it's own tolerances to voltages. Also If you have'nt considered the MSI 790fx-gd70 it is a awesome board, and dont let the 4+1 power regulation fool you its very stable.

Back to the memory....I could see how maybe a lower voltage set of memory would in itself overclock better as in higher tolerance to overclock because it produces less heat = more stability, but the whole Patriot Rep saying no more than .02 over stock volts or it would cook IMC sounds really odd if Patriot is marketing a set that is specifically for am3 processors and mb and has same timings and voltages as set I returned. What to do....What to do......I have a great motherboard, and no ram...Think Im gonna call AMD tomorrow to get the lowdown from the source.

What really sucks is the Low volt ddr3 with good timings is hard to find or out of stock at the time in many places, I found a place called antonline.com thats physically located in my state but have never dealt with them and dont know anyone who has.

 

[trents]

I can't speak about AM3 setups from personal experience but it is common in general, I think, for memory rated DDR2 1066 speed to not run stable when used at advertised speeds and voltages. You will note how most people with DDR2 1066 memory on AM2+ systems are running it at 800 speeds and then overclocking and it seems from my observation that many of the AM3 system owners are buying 1600mhz DDR3 and actually overclocking it from 1066.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

thanks chance I just did'nt know If the IMC is one part that handles both ddr2 or ddr3 or if It is actually 2 seperate components on same processor, each with it's own tolerances to voltages. Also If you have'nt considered the MSI 790fx-gd70 it is a awesome board, and dont let the 4+1 power regulation fool you its very stable.

Back to the memory....I could see how maybe a lower voltage set of memory would in itself overclock better as in higher tolerance to overclock because it produces less heat = more stability, but the whole Patriot Rep saying no more than .02 over stock volts or it would cook IMC sounds really odd if Patriot is marketing a set that is specifically for am3 processors and mb and has same timings and voltages as set I returned. What to do....What to do......I have a great motherboard, and no ram...Think Im gonna call AMD tomorrow to get the lowdown from the source.

What really sucks is the Low volt ddr3 with good timings is hard to find or out of stock at the time in many places, I found a place called antonline.com thats physically located in my state but have never dealt with them and dont know anyone who has.

I have actually considered that board. it is a very good looking board and the power has nothing to do with it (although 8+2 looks oh so sexy) because I have 4 phase power on this board now with no vdroop at load so I wasn't really looking for that. But the features of the ud5p are just so awesome. 10 SataII, dual ethernet. 8 back side usb ports. 790fx chipset, 750 south bridge. Something alogn the lines of 5 or 6 fan plugs. Great PWM and phase cooling. Giga has the whole 2 oz. of copper too so that is just another plus. And plus I might be getting into x-fire in the future. Those 4870's are real cheap if you buy used in the classies. If they give me pretty good numbers I might just be able to deal with catalyst drivers. .