PC Hardware → Voltage requirement for Z77?

Alleged ram compatibility is a clusterfuck these days. I buy based on how good the ram is, not what the mobo manufacturer "claims" works in it.

But yeah, Asus should not be telling people it's OK to put 1.65v ram modules in Ivy Bridge.

I have 1.65 v QVL qualified Kingston memory in my Sandy Bridge Z77. It's fine.

That's because you cannot hear 5 years from now into the future, when bapc builder cries in a foetal position wondering why his build just suddenly died one day, unable to play his newly bought pre-ordered Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare 5:Team 6 Special Release:Day of Double Reckoning:Premium Edition:Microsoft Store Edition, because the incorrect RAM voltage was slowly eating at his processor. That and the fact that his 3570 was decaying slowly because of thermal insulation compound used by Intel is corroding his processor as well.

Just to clear up some misconceptions it seems like some people are having. There are two main reasons why 1.5v RAM is recommended aside from the fact that Intel's spec is 1.5v +/-5% for RAM. First, and the most important, is overclocking. Since Intel moved the memory controller off of the motherboard and onto the CPU die, voltage has a more direct impact on overclocking. Higher voltage RAM puts more stress on the Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) and can result in lower stable overclocks than with lower voltage RAM.

The second is long term life of the CPU. It should be noted that, to date, I have not seen an Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge CPU killed by higher voltage RAM. That said, the higher voltage puts more stress on the IMC and could potentially result in the CPU degrading faster. In other words, while some are insisting it will have long term negative effects, this is not certain as many have safely run higher voltage with SB. Given its smaller process, IB should actually handle higher voltages better. So if you already have 1.65v RAM, don't worry about it. Ideally you should undervolt it to around 1.6v, lower if you can, but it shouldn't be a big issue if you can't.

And most of that is FUD. 99% of users will replace or upgrade their computer, processor and motherboard before any sign of degradation appear.

The memory was set to 1333 Mhz/1.5 volts on boot. It is warrantied for 1.65 volts.

Only if it's the mobo that goes--not if it's, as everyone is saying, the CPU that goes, since the memory controller was moved to the CPU from the mobo.