Corsair Vengeance 1866Mhz memory doesn't run at full speed on the X220

Hi,

I thought I'd provide a heads up on this memory for those looking at purchasing it for use on an X220.

I purchased this memory as I thought I'd get a bit of a speed bump up from 1333Mhz.

Upon installing the RAM, I checked the speeds with CPU-Z which came back with 1333Mhz.

I then used the latest version of memtest+ which confirmed that the memory is running at 1333Mhz.

I'm a little dissapointed that the memory didnt even revert down to 1600Mhz, which would have been a bit of an increase from 1333Mhz.

I've attached a photo of the RAM in my X220 running memtest.

 

Typo in there.. In memtest you saw 1333 speed, not 1866, right?

Anyways, good to know. Toshiba portege r835 with sandybridge runs samsung 1600 ram at 1600 speed. There was a memory performance mode setting in the bios. I guess lenovo dont want users to touch any of those.

 

Doesn't this laptop's CPU/architecture limit the memory speed to 1333MHz?

 

Thats what I thought but my toshiba ran fine at 1600 speed but no low voltage. I have a samsung 1.35v 1600 speed ram. The cpu was i5-2435m. Runs 1.25v at 1600 speed in x230t with i5-3320m.

 

According to X220's datasheet the memory is limited to 1333mhz.

 

That's strange, another forumer was able to get his 1866MHz RAM working. I don't know if these things matter but it looks like he is using Kingston brand RAM (HyperX) and has a slightly different CPU (i7-2640M) based off his signature.

 

Sigh. I wish I'd found this thread earlier. Now I'm also stuck with an 1866MHz 8GB kit from Corsair that runs at 1333Mhz on the X220.. Which is infuriating, considering that the HyperX memory from Kingston runs at 1866Mhz...

Is there any way to force higher memory clocks on the X220?

 

Nothing wrong with the RAM's, the memory controller is within the CPU.

Check Intel site Intel® Core

Usually Quad cores can use higher memory speed....though not all. Remember to check the Intel Specification before purchasing a new one if you really want the speed increase.

 

What I don't understand is why the Kingston memory works at 1866 automatically and the Corsair doesn't (I'm talking about the i7 2620, other owners have confirmed that 1866MHz ram works with it)

 

oops, wrong forum!

 

I've also posted on Corsair's support forum but I doubt we 'll see a solution to this problem unless a new BIOS fixes it or someone mods the existing BIOS to unlock locked out settings I suppose..

 

The Corsair RAM uses an Intel XMP profile to overclock the RAM to 1866Mhz, and as you can't access memory settings in a thinkpad your stuck.

You really need RAM to have the desired JEDEC SPD timings to work out of the box.

From memory my Corsair kit didn't show up with a SPD setting for 1866Mhz. The only SPD setting it had was for 1333Mhz.

I've had a look at the Kingston specs and the memory is certified to have JEDEC SPD timings at 1333, 1600 and 1866Mhz which explains why it works.

 

Kingston memory does work at speeds above 1333mhz, the same test with my 1600mhz ram displays the correct result. Can't exchange your corsair ram?

 

I've actually sold the Corsair ram and was thinking about picking up the Kingston ram.

So its confirmed that the Kingston ram won't run faster than 1333mhz on an x220?

 

Was there a typo in your post?

This is what people have confirmed does run at 1866mhz:
Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1866 HyperX Plug n Play Laptop Memory Model KHX1866C11S3P1K2/8G

 

Guys, my previous x220's corsair memory worked at 1600 Mhz. Now on my current x220t (intel core i7 2620) same memory works at 1333 Mhz. The only explanation for this is that may after BIOS 1.29 lenovo engineers managed to downclock memory frequency to official 1333 Mhz... Current bios on my x220t is 1.33.

 

It's possible that is the case, I'm still using bios 1.23 on my x220 as I haven't had any reason to upgrade.

 

I confirmed the latest BIOS on x220 disabled 1600Mhz memory support. I was on 1.29 and could not get 1600Mhz memory work at 1600, instead at 1333. I flashed back to 1.24 and now my adata 2x4gb 1600Mhz kit works at 1600!

Thank you, achoh.

Will try to see if I can o/c the adata to 1866.

 

Thanks for the heads up! indeed, flashing back to bios 1.28 made my Vengeance RAM run at 1866MHz!

I wonder why Lenovo removed this feature...

Also, just to confirm, it was on BIOS 1.29 that faster memory support was removed? I want to run the latest version that supports 1866MHz.

 

Flashed today x220t's BIOS to 1.28. Everything works fine, and memory runs at 1600 Mhz as it should be. It seems to be latest BIOS to date supporting this frequency.

 

Did you see what the change log says for those two versions of BIOS? 1.28 and the newer ones? I'm just curious why they would do such a thing.

 

The change log isn't very detailed. No mention of this change anywhere. I posted on the official Lenovo support forums and received the standard "Intel supports 1333MHz officially, you will never see a BIOS supporting greater speeds etc".

I guess we 're stuck with 1.28 then...

 

it costs a lot of money to test systems with faster memory.   every permutation of hardware must be tested and certified, including wireless cards, planars, CPUs (if discreet), add-on cards, storage, optical drives, and so on.   if intel's specs stop at 1333MHz then that's where manufacturers stop their testing, too, unless something drives a need to test again and budget allows.

the same costs are involved for intel.   even if sandy bridge mobile procs can hit 1600 or 1866MHz, JEDEC testing is big bucks.

since ark.intel.com says "1333MHz" for most of the mobile sandy bridge procs, that's considered the official spec and where most manufacturers will limit a system if they decide to introduce a limit in the BIOS.   anything higher is either a fluke or dumb luck.