However CPU-Z implies the ram is pc-6400 which would give an 800MHz limit however on my invoice, the memory module itself and the corsair website it states pc-8500 which gives 1066MHz.
The fact that i cant get over the 800MHz threshold would suggest my memory is not what it seems, but as im not throughly clued up on such matters i wouldnt really know the true answer.
It is a bit frustrating though!!!
Hello corkyo4,
I can help you check the memory, it should be really easy!
Firstly, reset your system back to stock, save & exit, re-enter BIOS and with the whole system on stock find the
DDR2 Frequency BIOS option and change it to
[DDR2-1066] then save & exit
That's it, with the Intel® Core™2 Duo E8500 at stock 3163MHz (9.5x333) the memory will be running on the [8:5] memory multiplier @ DDR2-1066. If for some reason this doesn't work you may need to *manually* set the vDimm but [auto] has always worked for me. If everything works fine on [Auto] then I suggest you download
MemTest and create a bootable disk and give the memory a good workout (error will leap out in Red), if you get no errors then change the vDimm from [Auto] to 2.1v and test, 2.0 and test etc until you get errors in memtest and then just increase the value again so the errors disappear. I've had two sets of Corsair that had 2.1vDimm printed on the label but they both worked fine at 1.82vDimm.
Once you are happy that the memory is working sweetly with reasonable voltage you are ready to return back to the CPU overclocking!
4.0GHz with an E8400 should be a simple 421MHz-FSB x 9.5, with the memory on the [4:3] multi @ DDR2-561 . . . that will be eviiiiillllllllll!
