Can number of ram sticks affect OC?

spinrs2k

spinrs2k

spinrs2k

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hampshire
Hi,

Been having some instability issues recently on my 4.4ghz overclock with my 2500k, so i have been tweaking the CPU voltage to try and get stable after going upto 1.4 vcore i still couldnt get stable, prime95 would fail after 2 hrs. so i decided to drop CPU to 4.0hz and it still wasnt stable, i am running 4x4gb ram 1600mhz ram so next i decided to remove 2 sticks of ram and low and behold the system is now stable (24hr prime95).

I'm pretty sure ram isn't faulty as either of the sticks run in the 2 slots only is stable, so guess my question is can number of ram sticks affect the OC stability? anything i can try to get stable without lowering the OC?

RAM voltages have been left completely stock and timing are set to the XMP profile.

System:
Intel Core i5 2500K
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO GEN3
16GB 4x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600mhz
 
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Prime 95 no one cares!! Use your PC as you would normally for testing.

On Z68 yes full dimm population can dramatically effect performance and OC ability.

The voltages you need to look at adjusting are those related to the IMC of your chip so VTT, VCCIO or VCCSA I cant remember on that generation what they where called now. Also memory timings such as TRFC could help too.
 
Does the same go for Z97? I will be looking to upgrade soon but was only going to go for 8gb to start with, using the saving for a better GPU then potentially adding another 8gb in the future.
 
hmmmm less so on later chipsets but its possible. If you know the tuning to make you often loose nothing.
 
8 Pack said:
Prime 95 no one cares!! Use your PC as you would normally for testing.

On Z68 yes full dimm population can dramatically effect performance and OC ability.

The voltages you need to look at adjusting are those related to the IMC of your chip so VTT, VCCIO or VCCSA I cant remember on that generation what they where called now. Also memory timings such as TRFC could help too.
Click to expand...

i agree, i don't care about prime95 im just using it as a means for stability testing, i keep getting BSOD when gaming 1-2hrs in and it was getting annoying, no BSOD's since removing the 2 dimms and just running 8gb even after a extended 4+ hours gaming session sunday.

Any idea on what the maximums are with those voltages on sandybridge? i dont want to take it to far, i'm fairly inexperienced at overclocking.

Thanks
 
yep bin prime 95, my OC was no stable for 10mins in prime, but 8pack said i just just run the pc as normal and tune from there. its now been stable for 12 months with the same setting that prime could not run at.
 
r22snapper said:
Does the same go for Z97? I will be looking to upgrade soon but was only going to go for 8gb to start with, using the saving for a better GPU then potentially adding another 8gb in the future.
Click to expand...

I have 16Gb (4 sticks/Z87) and my overclocks are just the same with two or four sticks. I got my 4.8Ghz forum cinebench record with four sticks fitted.
 
spinrs2k said:
i agree, i don't care about prime95 im just using it as a means for stability testing, i keep getting BSOD when gaming 1-2hrs in and it was getting annoying, no BSOD's since removing the 2 dimms and just running 8gb even after a extended 4+ hours gaming session sunday.

Any idea on what the maximums are with those voltages on sandybridge? i dont want to take it to far, i'm fairly inexperienced at overclocking.

Thanks
Click to expand...

anyone know the safe limits to stay within for VTT, VCCIO or VCCSA voltages for me to try?
 
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