Can number of ram sticks affect OC?

[spinrs2k]

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

 

[spinrs2k]

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.

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

 

[spinrs2k]

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

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