Is 1.6v DRAM voltage safe for i5 750?

[idata]

Hello.

I recently ran into problems keeping my stock i5 750 system stable on 8Gb of 1333MHz CL9 RAM at the standard 1.5v. My system ran fine at the said RAM speed, timings and voltages with a single 4Gb RAM kit. But after adding another 4Gb DIMM kit to the system, I began having DRAM timing problems, BSODs and crash dumps indicating memory mangement errors. I contacted the DIMM manufacturers and they advised me to set the DRAM timings manually in the BIOS and raise my DRAM voltage to 1.6v. Since they assured me that thjis should be safe, I did so, and the abovementioned problems disappeared. Four hours of Memtest86+ and some runs of the Intel Burn Test have yielded no errors (63°C max temp at full load, which is just about normal for my PC).

I can't seem to find any official documentation on the maximum safe DRAM voltages for the i5 750. So my question is, do I risk damaging my CPU by running on 1.6v DRAM voltage? There are a lot of memory manufacturers out there that produce low latency 1333MHz DIMMs that run on 1.6v, claiming these are compatible with the i5 series. I've been told, however, that DRAM voltages above 1.5v will likely damage the i5 750. Can anyone offer some informed insight on this matter, or provide a link to the information I need?

Thanks.

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[idata · Accepted solution]

max recommended ram voltage is 1.65v so you are fine

[idata]

@Cpt Dogfruit

Thanks for your reply. You've been a big help!

[idata]

NP, enjoy your system

[idata]

Possible, but not recommended

Check the ranking of your memory. If the the first set is dual-ranked and you may not replace it, you'll either have to overvolt memory. If the second one is dual-ranked, it's better to replace it for single-rank.

If both are single-ranked, then either the first or the second set is misbehaving - try them separetly on 7-7-7-20 clock. The one that would not even load is faulty.

W/o overvoltage and other tricks 1333MHz is supported only on two ranks (one dual-rank or two single-rank modules per channel), for more ranks (up to four) the default speed is 1066MHz, over that - 800

[idata]

Thanks for replying.

Well, it turns out I had a bad RAM stick. I had paid hard-earned, blood-and-guts cash to purchase the DIMMs. Then I went through so much trouble getting them to run as advertised, tested and re-tested for hours, took my system apart and put it back together again several times to find the problem. On the nth try, Memtest86+ finally caught it. Some 800 errors or such into the first few seconds of a cold boot test. I was so frustrated I didn't even bother with the RMA stuff. I just went out and bought new DIMMs from a different manufacturer: 4gb CL7 sticks that are now running on 1.5v. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

In any case, I do appreciate your inputs. Thanks!