How to check RAM Timings and SPD information on Linux

How to check RAM Timings and SPD information on Linux - BinaryTides

Ram timings are technical specs about ram modules that are installed in laptops or desktops. These number indicate the performance of the ram module interms of how fast they can read and write data.

The appear as 4 number set separated by a hyphen, for example like this: 16-16-16-39. Now these numbers tell us how fast the ram would potentially be able to handle data read/write requests from the cpu.

The timings are indicative of clock cycles required for circuit level operations inside the ram module, and usually higher timing means slower performance. So ideally you want ram with low timings. But yes faster ram is also more expensive.

On Windows there are plenty of gui tools to check the ram timings for example Rammon, HwInfo, CPU-Z etc. However on Linux there are limited gui tools for this feature. However there are commond line tools that can report ram timings

Instal i2c-tools

The first step is to install the i2c-tools package and then load the eeprom module from it.

sudo apt-get install i2c-tools
sudo modprobe eeprom

decode-dimms is probably what you're looking for, but apparently you need to have the correct i2c module loaded before it works. Follow this tutorial:

Ubuntu See Live RAM Timings Decode DIMMS - richud.com

I got it working after these steps:

sudo aptitude install i2c-tools
sudo modprobe eeprom
sudo modprobe i2c-i801
decode-dimms

Now you can run the decode-dimms command and get the spd information the ram's spd eeprom chips.

decode-dimms

According to the man page for decode-dimms: "decode-dimms - decode the information found in memory module SPD EEPROMs". So its pretty self explanatory. We shall try running this command on multiple systems like desktops and laptops all of which are physical hardware located near me.

Testing various systems

In this example we shall run decode-dimms command on multiple systems and compare the output, to estimate the performance of the ram module. In general faster ram means faster read/write speeds and overall better system performance.

1. Ubuntu system

The first one is a Ubuntu desktop machine with Gigabyte motherboard and Corsair ram (2400 MT/s-DDR) in 16G+16G configuration with identical sticks. Lets run the decode-dimms command and see the output:

$ decode-dimms
# decode-dimms version 4.3

Memory Serial Presence Detect Decoder
By Philip Edelbrock, Christian Zuckschwerdt, Burkart Lingner,
Jean Delvare, Trent Piepho and others


Decoding EEPROM: /sys/bus/i2c/drivers/ee1004/0-0050
Guessing DIMM is in                              bank 1
Kernel driver used                               ee1004

---=== SPD EEPROM Information ===---
EEPROM CRC of bytes 0-125                        OK (0x085B)
# of bytes written to SDRAM EEPROM               384
Total number of bytes in EEPROM                  512
Fundamental Memory type                          DDR4 SDRAM
SPD Revision                                     1.0
Module Type                                      UDIMM
EEPROM CRC of bytes 128-253                      OK (0x27DE)

---=== Memory Characteristics ===---
Maximum module speed                             2400 MT/s (PC4-19200)
Size                                             16384 MB
Banks x Rows x Columns x Bits                    16 x 16 x 10 x 64
SDRAM Device Width                               8 bits
Ranks                                            2
Rank Mix                                         Symmetrical
Primary Bus Width                                64 bits
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles)                           16-16-16-39
Supported CAS Latencies                          25T, 20T, 19T, 18T, 17T, 16T, 15T, 14T, 13T, 12T, 11T, 10T, 9T

---=== Timings at Standard Speeds ===---
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-2400              16-16-16-39
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-2133              15-15-15-35
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-1866              13-13-13-31
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-1600              11-11-11-26

---=== Timing Parameters ===---
Minimum Cycle Time (tCKmin)                      0.833 ns
Maximum Cycle Time (tCKmax)                      1.500 ns
Minimum CAS Latency Time (tAA)                   13.320 ns
Minimum RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD)                  13.320 ns
Minimum Row Precharge Delay (tRP)                13.320 ns
Minimum Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS)         32.375 ns
Minimum Active to Auto-Refresh Delay (tRC)       45.810 ns
Minimum Recovery Delay (tRFC1)                   350.000 ns
Minimum Recovery Delay (tRFC2)                   260.000 ns
Minimum Recovery Delay (tRFC4)                   160.000 ns
Minimum Four Activate Window Delay (tFAW)        22.000 ns
Minimum Row Active to Row Active Delay (tRRD_S)  4.160 ns
Minimum Row Active to Row Active Delay (tRRD_L)  5.820 ns
Minimum CAS to CAS Delay (tCCD_L)                5.356 ns

---=== Other Information ===---
Package Type                                     Monolithic
Maximum Activate Count (MAC)                     Unlimited
Post Package Repair                              Not supported
Module Nominal Voltage                           1.2 V
Thermal Sensor                                   No

---=== Physical Characteristics ===---
Module Height                                    32 mm
Module Thickness                                 2 mm front, 2 mm back
Module Reference Card                            B revision 0

---=== Manufacturer Data ===---
Module Manufacturer                              Corsair
DRAM Manufacturer                                Micron Technology
Part Number                                      CMK16GX4M1A2400C16  


Decoding EEPROM: /sys/bus/i2c/drivers/ee1004/0-0052
Guessing DIMM is in                              bank 3
Kernel driver used                               ee1004

---=== SPD EEPROM Information ===---
EEPROM CRC of bytes 0-125                        OK (0x085B)
# of bytes written to SDRAM EEPROM               384
Total number of bytes in EEPROM                  512
Fundamental Memory type                          DDR4 SDRAM
SPD Revision                                     1.0
Module Type                                      UDIMM
EEPROM CRC of bytes 128-253                      OK (0x27DE)

---=== Memory Characteristics ===---
Maximum module speed                             2400 MT/s (PC4-19200)
Size                                             16384 MB
Banks x Rows x Columns x Bits                    16 x 16 x 10 x 64
SDRAM Device Width                               8 bits
Ranks                                            2
Rank Mix                                         Symmetrical
Primary Bus Width                                64 bits
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles)                           16-16-16-39
Supported CAS Latencies                          25T, 20T, 19T, 18T, 17T, 16T, 15T, 14T, 13T, 12T, 11T, 10T, 9T

---=== Timings at Standard Speeds ===---
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-2400              16-16-16-39
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-2133              15-15-15-35
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-1866              13-13-13-31
AA-RCD-RP-RAS (cycles) as DDR4-1600              11-11-11-26

---=== Timing Parameters ===---
Minimum Cycle Time (tCKmin)                      0.833 ns
Maximum Cycle Time (tCKmax)                      1.500 ns
Minimum CAS Latency Time (tAA)                   13.320 ns
Minimum RAS to CAS Delay (tRCD)                  13.320 ns
Minimum Row Precharge Delay (tRP)                13.320 ns
Minimum Active to Precharge Delay (tRAS)         32.375 ns
Minimum Active to Auto-Refresh Delay (tRC)       45.810 ns
Minimum Recovery Delay (tRFC1)                   350.000 ns
Minimum Recovery Delay (tRFC2)                   260.000 ns
Minimum Recovery Delay (tRFC4)                   160.000 ns
Minimum Four Activate Window Delay (tFAW)        22.000 ns
Minimum Row Active to Row Active Delay (tRRD_S)  4.160 ns
Minimum Row Active to Row Active Delay (tRRD_L)  5.820 ns
Minimum CAS to CAS Delay (tCCD_L)                5.356 ns

---=== Other Information ===---
Package Type                                     Monolithic
Maximum Activate Count (MAC)                     Unlimited
Post Package Repair                              Not supported
Module Nominal Voltage                           1.2 V
Thermal Sensor                                   No

---=== Physical Characteristics ===---
Module Height                                    32 mm
Module Thickness                                 2 mm front, 2 mm back
Module Reference Card                            B revision 0

---=== Manufacturer Data ===---
Module Manufacturer                              Corsair
DRAM Manufacturer                                Micron Technology
Part Number                                      CMK16GX4M1A2400C16  


Number of SDRAM DIMMs detected and decoded: 2
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