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Dear all,
Recently I’ve tried overclocking RAM for the first time - and it ended horribly. I am wondering if this was bad luck or actually is a consequence of my actions!
First, some specs:
CPU: i5-6500
GPU: RX 480 8GB reference
MoBo: ASUS B150I PRO GAMING/AURA
RAM: 2x8GB Geil White Dragon 3200Mhz CL15 (GWW416GB3200C15DC)
PSU: Corsair SF450
The RAM is rated at 3200 - the board can take 2133 maximum. So, I wanted to tighten the timings to take advantage of the headroom that the RAM has.
After reading about how difficult finding proper RAM timings is, I looked for the lowest timings I could find on similar models, which was 12-13-13-30-1T, and applied this to my RAM in the BIOS settings.
Everything went fine, and I ran MemTest86 for 1 full cycle (2 hours or something?). It gave no errors, so I accepted the overclock. There was a 5% performance gain in gaming, and I was happy.
It went wrong when I was editing a 3GB+ file in GIMP. While dragging around one of the image layers, my PC partially froze and would not shut down. This was followed by many different BSOD messages when I tried to restart my PC with the RAM reseated & returned to default mode (WRITE_TO_READ_ONLY / IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS / MEMORY_MANAGEMENT).
Removing a RAM stick from the 2nd slot solved the BSODs, and my PC was running absolutely fine again (I could even edit that file in GIMP again without trouble). I’ve tested both RAM sticks, and both are working normally. Just the 2nd RAM slot on my motherboard had died.
So I’ve since replaced my motherboard, and my PC has been running wonderfully again. The RAM itself is fine, but now running at its default settings. That 5% performance increase however is tempting..
My question is: Was the motherboard probably faulty from the start, or can the tightening of timings actually damage the motherboard in the way it did mine?
Thanks for reading!
Recently I’ve tried overclocking RAM for the first time - and it ended horribly. I am wondering if this was bad luck or actually is a consequence of my actions!
First, some specs:
CPU: i5-6500
GPU: RX 480 8GB reference
MoBo: ASUS B150I PRO GAMING/AURA
RAM: 2x8GB Geil White Dragon 3200Mhz CL15 (GWW416GB3200C15DC)
PSU: Corsair SF450
The RAM is rated at 3200 - the board can take 2133 maximum. So, I wanted to tighten the timings to take advantage of the headroom that the RAM has.
After reading about how difficult finding proper RAM timings is, I looked for the lowest timings I could find on similar models, which was 12-13-13-30-1T, and applied this to my RAM in the BIOS settings.
Everything went fine, and I ran MemTest86 for 1 full cycle (2 hours or something?). It gave no errors, so I accepted the overclock. There was a 5% performance gain in gaming, and I was happy.
It went wrong when I was editing a 3GB+ file in GIMP. While dragging around one of the image layers, my PC partially froze and would not shut down. This was followed by many different BSOD messages when I tried to restart my PC with the RAM reseated & returned to default mode (WRITE_TO_READ_ONLY / IRQL_NOT_EQUAL_OR_LESS / MEMORY_MANAGEMENT).
Removing a RAM stick from the 2nd slot solved the BSODs, and my PC was running absolutely fine again (I could even edit that file in GIMP again without trouble). I’ve tested both RAM sticks, and both are working normally. Just the 2nd RAM slot on my motherboard had died.
So I’ve since replaced my motherboard, and my PC has been running wonderfully again. The RAM itself is fine, but now running at its default settings. That 5% performance increase however is tempting..
My question is: Was the motherboard probably faulty from the start, or can the tightening of timings actually damage the motherboard in the way it did mine?
Thanks for reading!
