Why does my 2666mhz rams drop to 2133mhz ?

[IDKwhattodo]

I bought an OptiPlex 7060 tower a year or two ago and it came with 2x4gb ddr4 2666mhz ram and it worked just fine until i needed more , i bought 2x8gb ram set of the same size and speed , took out the 2 old ones and inserted the new ones but they were running at 2133mhz . I have been stressing over it for a day now and some professional help would be nice . Thank you

[redxps630 · Accepted solution]

Re: i bought 2x8gb ram set of the same size and speed

the spec speed is the same as Dell ram, but memory settings (latency etc.) is likely different from original Dell ram.  Thus Dell bios does not like the new ram, is not able to adjust itself to accommodate new ram settings in order to achieve spec speed, therefore Dell bios down clocks new ram to make it easier to work with.  happens all the time when user upgrades with non Dell ram.

[IDKwhattodo]

thanks for the explanation , how could i fix this and do i have to buy a new motherboard ?

[IDKwhattodo]

cant believe im only asking this now but does this mean that if i have a ram of the same cas latency , it will run at the intended 2666mhz ?

[bertro514]

Your issue might be voltage. Dell motherboards (except Alienware AFAIK) run RAM at the standard DDR4 voltage of 1.2V. If you buy RAM advertised as 1.2V 2666MHz, it should run at 2666MHz.

However, if you bought RAM advertised as 1.35V 2666MHz (which is most RAM nowadays), that's basically "factory overclocked" RAM. When you install that into the lower voltage Dell motherboard, it will run a bit slower.

TBH, if you use your computer for everyday tasks or gaming, you might not notice much difference in practice. Same with CL. You can find gaming benchmarks on Youtube showing a difference of  ~5-7 FPS between CL 14 and CL22. 

[IDKwhattodo]

yeah i guess i should stop worrying and as for the voltage its not mismatched , my motherboard is 1.2v and ram is the same thanks for the help anyways i just forgot to accept the solution 

[redxps630]

Re: how could i fix this and do i have to buy a new motherboard ?

does this mean that if i have a ram of the same cas latency , it will run at the intended 2666mhz ?

No you do not have to get a new board.  Just buy the Dell ram with 2666 spec (and pay premium price for that) or buy crucial 2666 ram guaranteed to work for this model Optiplex 7060.

it is not guaranteed that any ram with apparent same latency will run at 2666 in this model.

[RoHe]

@IDKwhattodo  - Did you try clearing BIOS to make sure it's seeing the new RAM correctly?

1. Reboot and start tapping F2 when you see the Dell splash screen to open BIOS setup
2. Copy down all current BIOS settings, to be safe
3. Power off, unplug
4. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
5. Open case and remove motherboard battery (check Service Manual for details)
6. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
7. Reinstall the battery (Time for a fresh CR2032 3-volt coin cell battery? ~$2)
8. Close up and connect mouse, monitor and keyboard
9. Reboot

Does that help?

[IDKwhattodo]

this is new ill try 🙂

[IDKwhattodo]

i cant get the battery out