That’s why your RAM only reports half speed

This also happens with the popular system tools

CPUZ
either

Species
. These programs are widely used, certainly useful, and a great way to get a lot of information about your computer at once. However, the sheer volume of information can also overwhelm you.

However, you immediately noticed that the RAM speed is only half of what you would expect. An example: there are two RAM sticks in our computer, each with a capacity of 16 gigabytes. The memory modules are G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4-3600 with a total capacity of 32 gigabytes. So of course I would expect any test program to show 3600 megahertz as well.

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Programs like CPU-Z only show half the actual speed of RAM. But don’t worry, the RAM is working fine.

But both Speccy and CPU-Z report a RAM speed of just 1799.6 megahertz. Aside from the decimal inaccuracy of those missing few tenths of a megahertz, that’s about half the speed you’d expect. However, this is neither a bug nor a defect in your RAM.

The solution:

The modern memory we use in PCs today is DDR-SDRAM, the number after the DDR part, like DDR4 or DDR5, refers to the memory generation. DDRSD-RAM stands for “Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory”. Since its introduction in 1998, clever engineers have found a way to tightly control memory timing while doubling bandwidth.

Although some interfaces, such as the storage tool built into Windows Task Manager, show RAM speeds at the expected rate (twice the data rate), applications such as CPU-Z, which provide raw data about your computer , They do not do it. The number you see in CPU-Z and Speccy is the megahertz frequency shown at single speed, not double speed. That is all. There’s no need to panic, request a return, or spend countless hours solving a problem that doesn’t exist.

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If at first glance your RAM is only running at half speed, don’t panic, there is usually no error.

But what should you do if your RAM isn’t performing as well as you’d like? One of the most common causes of poor RAM performance is not enabling XMP (Extreme Memory Profile). XMP is a technology developed by Intel that is found in Intel and AMD based PCs. If you don’t enable the correct XMP profile in your BIOS, your RAM will still work, but it will drop to a standardized value. Without XMP, the extra performance falls by the wayside.

To verify, navigate to your system BIOS and check the selected XMP profile. Profiles reside in hardware RAM, so you’ll only see the correct options. Make the adjustments you want and start enjoying the speed you paid for.

Advice:

Optimize RAM: This is how you maximize your working memory