just a quick one

paradisiac · 10 Apr 2009 at 09:46

ok, not sure what section this should have been in as im not sure which is the problem (mobo, ram or cpu) but basically, i have a E5200 2.5GHz CPU, 4x2GB DDR2 800MHz, and a biostar P35D2-A7 Motherboard.
The thing is, the RAM is only showing up in 3DMark06 as running at 667MHz. i did up until today have 2x2GB DDR2 800MHz and 1x2GB DDR2 667Mhz sticks in, so thinking maybe the mobo has not picked up the fact all the sticks are now 800MHz as i have heard Biostar are not the best.

any help would be appreciated.

paradisiac · 10 Apr 2009 at 10:48

RJC said:
What does CPU-Z show.

CPUz is showing

havent done anything in the bios as i wasnt sure whether it was a mobo issue or not.

paradisiac · 10 Apr 2009 at 10:59

i have manually set it to 800mhz but CPUz is showing as 400MHz with ratio 1:2 so not sure if thats how it should be. there are 2 sets of each stick, so do i set it to the highest or lowest pair?

paradisiac · 10 Apr 2009 at 16:38

so far it seems stable enough with the default settings (apart from the manual 800mhz one) so will leave it at that for now.
is my pc capable of running most games, albeit on medium gfx, or will it still struggle?

paradisiac · 11 Apr 2009 at 08:42

ok, now im getting 0x00000050 BSOD, acording to M$ thats a GFX issue, although its fine when the ram is running at 667MHz. any ideas?

paradisiac · 11 Apr 2009 at 22:59

its all 800mhz ram, its just not all the same make, 2 are kingston and 2 are team elite

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 09:32

the crashing appeared to be down to AVG so dont know why it was giving a BSOD code for gfx drivers, but seems to be ok for now.
would having a really cheap psu cause problems too?

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 10:08

ok, wasnt AVG, was having the 4 sticks in, took one out and its working fine.
the team elite ram has :
TVDD2048M800C5 on it but no voltage that i can see.
the kingston ram has :
KVR800D2N6/2G 2GB PC2-6400 CL6 1.8v on it. so what do i set it too?

this is what i get from speedfan (wouldnt load with all 4 sticks in, BSOD every time)

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 17:44

RJC said:
Googled the part number on yout Team Elite and this run's @ 1.8v.
Have ago upping the MCH volatge like I mentioned earlier, my old Abit IP35 needed 1.4v ~ to run 4 sticks, try uppimg yours a notch or two.

Edit: What RAM are you running at the moment.

whats the MCH voltage?

at the moment its running on 2 of the kingstons and 1 of the team elite. it seems to be pretty stable at the moment, so will put it down to the mobo isnt setup to run with all 4 slots full. still cant work out why the bios is only setting it to 667mhz even though all sticks are 800mhz. but that was easily changed. just the voltages im not too sure about. with my temp and voltage from speedfan, does it look like i can oc the cpu and gfx card without shelling out a lot of money?

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 17:53

RJC said:
The MCH voltage is the Northbridge, voltage should be listed with your ddr voltage / cpu volatge.

Double check your CPU temps with Core temp and Real Temp and see how they comapre with speedfan.
But you should have some overclocking potential, are you running the Intel stock heatsink.

Edit: If you are going to Overclock you may need to adjust the memory multiplier, ie, leave at 633mhz~

yeah its running standard heatsink and no case fans, so overall i am quite impressed with the temps from it. was looking at getting an aftermarket one as mine is getting rather noisey now but was unsure which to get, whether a cheap one would be that much worse than a sill expensive one.

this is where i hit problems with the multipliers and voltages. because i havent done it in ages i cant remember what links with what or what settings are best/safe.

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 18:06

RJC said:
Increase the cpu FSB and adjust the vcore up a little, save and reboot, run prime or orthos to check for stability and full load temps, I think you should get around 3.2ghz +, with trial and error.
I would keep temps below 70c.

CPU cooler have a look at the Arctic Freezer 7 pro.

Edit: In the overclocking section there is a sticky which may help.

thanks, had a quick play with my old P4 before i fitted the dual core, got it from 2.4GHz to 3GHz just by adjusting the fsb clock. but with the dual core being new, dont want to fry it.
how long does prime or orthos take to do?
that cooler looks good value for money, might look and see if i can get it through work cheaper.

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 18:17

i have 2 vcore readings through speedfan, so does that mean the bios will have 2 settings for it (not at my pc so cant check) if so, as they are both different now, do you keep the difference the same (is there a formula to work out what they should be or is it all trial and error). what is 'safe' voltage wise?

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 20:56

well i set the clock to 240 so its running at 3.0GHz (still only with the 3 sticks of ram) without changing any voltages, and it successfully passed intel burn test with the temp sitting on 72-74 hitting a max 75 so all in all im pretty happy. havent tried upping it as that will do for me for now, until i get a better heatsink/fan.

paradisiac · 12 Apr 2009 at 22:28

another quick thing, SATA hdds seem really unstable on my pc. the first one i tried kept powering up, clicking, then powering down. the second worked fine for a few days then it started playing up (BSOD, cutting out, windows freezing). it has done this on 2 different motherboards, so think it could possibly be down to the psu. the first hdd still has the power up, click, power down on my external adaptor, but the second one works fine externally. any ideas or would you say 99% psu

paradisiac · 13 Apr 2009 at 10:08

tried it on 260 (3.2GHz) but it wouldnt post, so i guess thats a voltage change, but not too confident on doing that so will leave it at 240 (3GHz) for now until i get a new psu and cooling

paradisiac · 13 Apr 2009 at 11:41

SBD said:
Have you got the pci frequency set to auto? if you have set it to 100MHz that could sort out a few of your problems

pretty sure the pci is set to 100, but will have a quick look.
any ideas why it wont run with 4 sticks of ram?

paradisiac · 13 Apr 2009 at 11:49

yeah its set to 100mhz standard.

for my voltages i have cpu and fsb, which do you change?

paradisiac · 13 Apr 2009 at 11:57

SBD said:
It might be u need to give the memory a bit more voltage, if you have set it to run at 240 the ram will be running at 960Mhz i think unless u have them on a divider.

If they are running at those speeds loosen the ram timings to as loose as they will go and see if it posts if it does keep testing with lower timings until it becomes unstable then use the previous timings and run prime 95 for a few hours.

it wouldnt run with 4 sticks even on default settings (which was downclocking the ram to 667mhz)

paradisiac · 13 Apr 2009 at 11:57

SBD said:
I'll look up your bios settings and get back to you as i havn't played with a biostar board before

thanks. the bios has a lot of settings, which is good, but does complicate things somewhat

paradisiac · 13 Apr 2009 at 12:17

SBD said:
Ok well i have looked at the manual and you do have some settings for memory voltage.

1.9V is your default so this could be holding you back depending on your memory. My ram needed 2.1-2.2V to even boot lol.

So i would boot into your bios with 2 sticks set the voltage to 2.0, then put all four sticks in and see if it boots. What ram do you have btw?

paradisiac said:
ok, wasnt AVG, was having the 4 sticks in, took one out and its working fine.
the team elite ram has :
TVDD2048M800C5 on it but no voltage that i can see.
the kingston ram has :
KVR800D2N6/2G 2GB PC2-6400 CL6 1.8v on it. so what do i set it too?

this is what i get from speedfan (wouldnt load with all 4 sticks in, BSOD every time)

basically, it will post and load into windows with all 4 sticks in with default settings, but then BSODs while AVG is loading (or when i uninstalled AVG, when i load something like speedfan) so im not sure where to go from there.
which voltage do i change for the ram, and to oc the cpu a little bit more?