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Can i run my old X58 RAM in a X79?

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Just asking because im going to be upgrading soon and RAM is last on the list :)
 
there both dd3 i dont see why not :p
 
Why the hell not? It's not like x79 doesn't support DDR3 modules.
 
Cool thanks will save me $200 for awhile :)
 
your 12GB of ram, is that 3 X 4 or 6 X 2GB kits?

reason I ask is that X79 is built around quad channel, or 4 sticks of ram.
 
your 12GB of ram, is that 3 X 4 or 6 X 2GB kits?

reason I ask is that X79 is built around quad channel, or 4 sticks of ram.

Its 6 x 2gb kits i got it on the release of the X58 :o
 
Awesome, use 4 X 2GB for quad channel, keep a hold of the extra 4GB just in case;)
 
You can use them, however, they might not run at "advertised" specs. I ran in to this issue with some G.Skill ripjawsX. They advertise them as "Designed specifically for P67", and of course I was like whatever, they're DDR3, they'll work. Oh sure they worked, but not anywhere close to their advertised specs of 2133MHz. No matter what I did, I couldn't get them to run any faster than 1066Mhz, no matter how much I messed with the voltages.
The only consolation though, they would do 5-5-5-15 timings @ 1066, so that kinda made up for it.

I've since sold those off and got a set "specifically engineered for x58" and it works beautifully.
 
You can use them, however, they might not run at "advertised" specs. I ran in to this issue with some G.Skill ripjawsX. They advertise them as "Designed specifically for P67", and of course I was like whatever, they're DDR3, they'll work. Oh sure they worked, but not anywhere close to their advertised specs of 2133MHz. No matter what I did, I couldn't get them to run any faster than 1066Mhz, no matter how much I messed with the voltages.
The only consolation though, they would do 5-5-5-15 timings @ 1066, so that kinda made up for it.

I've since sold those off and got a set "specifically engineered for x58" and it works beautifully.

Lets hope the XMP still work on my ram running them on the x79 chipset :toast:
 
I don't see any reason it wouldn't. In fact, you may be able to push them harder. In the past I've always been able to get a little bit more speed and tighter timings with my 775/DDR2 gear as newer chipsets came out. aka x48>925. Either that or they just built better boards but I didn't go from a $50 925 board to a $250 x48 board and say "oh wow look how fast my memory is now with this new chipset". I've always used high end boards when I upgraded. The memory controller is in the CPU now so this may not apply but one can hope there have been improvements in the controller.
 
Lets hope the XMP still work on my ram running them on the x79 chipset :toast:

Quite honestly, I doubt the XMP profile will work. But look at it this way, if you have to run it at a lower frequency, just crank the crap out of the timings.
When I was running those RipjawX @ 1066 CAS 5, they were actually really fast. It was definitely a noticeable improvement over OCZ sticks I had in there (1333 CAS 9).

With RAM it's a direct inverse function, the higher the frequency, the looser (numerically higher) the timings. And vice versa. You can actually experiment with it and you'll notice that even if you're running at a lower frequency, with super tight timings (numerically lower) you may actually have more performance that's noticeable at keyboard level.
 
Careful with the voltage, I know 1366 kits have up to 1.65v rather than the standard 1.5v
 
Careful with the voltage, I know 1366 kits have up to 1.65v rather than the standard 1.5v

Yer ill have to set the voltage to 1.5 and run the memory at a lower clock but its only for a few weeks after i upgrade.
 
What mb are you going to get some have 6slots ;)
 
I didn't read the comments, but a suggestion if you like/need more RAM.

I personally have 6x4GB of RAM on my X58 system and I have 2x4GB of the same RAM on its way to have 8x4GB for X79 ;)
 
Im not to sure about the voltage on my sicks they run @ 1.65v and seems X79 ram runs at only 1.5v should i lower the voltage down when installing my ram ?
 
Im not to sure about the voltage on my sicks they run @ 1.65v and seems X79 ram runs at only 1.5v should i lower the voltage down when installing my ram ?

Yes, lower it when you install, if your ram can run fine with lowered voltage. you might need to loosen timings and latency if its not stable, the usual tricks. I am not sure what the long term effects will be running the ram voltage 10% higher than specced though.
 
I believe X79 can probably handle 1.65V no problem... At worst their might be another voltage to change to be safe... I ran RAM at 1.8V on X58 (I had to make sure whatever voltage was within a certain voltage of my RAM voltage beforehand) for example and it ran great

EDIT: Seems X79 RAM is coming out @ 1.65V http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155290 so it should NOT be a problem at all
 
Last edited:
EDIT: Seems X79 RAM is coming out @ 1.65V http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=155290 so it should NOT be a problem at all

WHoa, partner!


The fact new kits are coming out, should tell you something!!!

I recommend using X79-approved ram only, and suggest 1.5v ram.

Thing is votlage may be the same, but you cannot know if CURRENT draw will be the same. With higher bandwidth on the same frequency, you can basically guarantee that the current pulled by those sticks will be higher than on X58. I cannot say that older ram will be fine, but as I work on my X79 reviews, you can bet I will be asking OEMs what they think.


Ram is so cheap now, if you are buying into X79, and cannot afford new ram, I suggest you re-evaluate your priorities.
 
WHoa, partner!


The fact new kits are coming out, should tell you something!!!

I recommend using X79-approved ram only, and suggest 1.5v ram.

Thing is votlage may be the same, but you cannot know if CURRENT draw will be the same. With higher bandwidth on the same frequency, you can basically guarantee that the current pulled by those sticks will be higher than on X58. I cannot say that older ram will be fine, but as I work on my X79 reviews, you can bet I will be asking OEMs what they think.


Ram is so cheap now, if you are buying into X79, and cannot afford new ram, I suggest you re-evaluate your priorities.

Never thought current could be a problem :ohwell: There are always new kits, and it is even more normal since it is a channel change ie: triple-channel RAM in packs of 3, so quad is in packs of 4, so that can't be an indication.

TBH, I'll try my luck with my current RAM, if it doesn't work I'll sell my RAM and have an excuse to go 1866+ lol :D
 
Yeah, I hear ya. I do plan to try 4 sticks od 1156 rma I have to see how it works, but I am leary of it working just because of my own experience with two kits of the same ram from the same batch being so very different...and both of them NOT working together very well.

If we were talking 1333MHz 1.5v stuff, sure, I think that should be fine, but it becomes questionable when using XMP-based memory.

X79 introduces XMP v1.3, while Sandybridge is XMP 1.2. I am not 100% sure how XMP v1.2 or XMP 1.1 memory will work, but, as always, I WILL be checking!
 
WHoa, partner!


The fact new kits are coming out, should tell you something!!!

I recommend using X79-approved ram only, and suggest 1.5v ram.

Thing is votlage may be the same, but you cannot know if CURRENT draw will be the same. With higher bandwidth on the same frequency, you can basically guarantee that the current pulled by those sticks will be higher than on X58. I cannot say that older ram will be fine, but as I work on my X79 reviews, you can bet I will be asking OEMs what they think.


Ram is so cheap now, if you are buying into X79, and cannot afford new ram, I suggest you re-evaluate your priorities.

Well some stores here are selling dual ch kits as quad which probably isnt right then, Takes these for example

Listed as a Quad ch kit for X79
G.SKILL 16GB KIT DDR3 RIPJAWS X C11 2133MHZ (F3-17000CL11Q-16GBXL)

But on the G.SKILL website they say RIPJAWS Z is for x79 not RIPJAWS X beats me.
 
More than likely they think sticks will work.

Kits for Sandybridge should be OK, but there will be some sets that just won't be capable of the same speeds as they are rated for.

If the memory is on the board's QVL, it should be fine, but there will always be isntances of kits not working fully, no matter the situation. The differences in XMP versions is something that could potentiallly cause issues, but again, I don't have a CPU yet(retail not available locally), so the best I can go with is MANUFACTURER specifications.
 
"Old" X58... lol kinda... My 939s slingbox is old lol...
 
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