Question about memory timings after cpu overclock ?

rxkevco

rxkevco

rxkevco

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Hi all,
I have been reading the stickys for the last few days now and i still am a little unsure as to some of the timings and settings.

P5Q PRO
Q6600
2 X 2GB GEIL BLACK DRAGON PC2 8500 (1066mhz stock )

By simply increasing the original FSB from 266mhz to 334mhz in ASUS AI , i have got my Q6600 up to a stable 3.1ghz without any temp issues or freezes.

I am just playing at the moment and familiarising myself with the bios and AI tweaker so forgive me for saying 3.1ghz cpu was stable, , without any stress testing, , am just playing for now.
The stress testing will come soon enough !

Using everest ultimate and cpuz to check settings, i have discovered that since going up to 3.1ghz on the processor. my memory timings (and info ) have gone awray , ,
My ram is supposed to be giving me 1066mhz but after the overclock cpuz tells me that my memory is pc2 6400 and not pc2 8500 as it is.
Also tells me that my Dram freq is 431.2mhz and fsb dram is 4.5 giving 5-5-5-15 (400mhz).
When i return the Q6600 back to stock, the Dram freq goes up to 534.5 and fsb dram down to 1.2.
This is whats confusing me, , along with cpuz telling me i have pc26400 installed ? ?

The only thing i have changed is the FSB from 266 to 334 leaving everything else to auto.
I am starting to get a little muddled with what i have been doing and what i am expecting.
Whilst at 3.1ghz for 6 hours, i enjoyed lightening fast websurfing ect with a temp increase of only 4c up to between 38c - 43c at idle and was delighted with the results however, i want to make sure i get the very best out of my ram, , which i thought all along was running at 1066mhz.
If it means decreasing the effectiveness of the ram, then overclocking the cpu might not be the best thing to do.
Would just like a little more advice please.

The stickys are very informative, , but at the end of the day, there is no substitute for personal advice by starting a thread to make sure you arent messing things up completly.
 
Cpu effects things much more than the ram, so that isnt too much of a big deal, you can srt that in the bios though
97_thumb.jpg

if you tweak the FSB strap (try 333Mhz) and DRAM frequency setting you should be able to get around 1002Mhz or so, which isnt far off the stock of the Geil.
 
Sorry, , the pc is back to stock at the moment.

If i am changing any memory settings, , should i first overclock the cpu again first ?

So , , Change the cpu setting to maual again , reset the fsb from 266 to 333 and then once thats done, what particular part of the memory should i be looking at to change, , or should it just be left to auto again ? ?
 
You arent overclocking the ram, you are just tweaking the setting to get it running near to where it should be.

If the CPU is stable at the overclock setting that you talked about to start with, then thats fine, the rest is just tweaking. You want something like:
Ai Overclock Tuner: Manual
FSB Frequency: 334Mhz
CPU Ratio: 9.0
FSB Strap to Northbridge: 333Mhz
DRAM Frequency: 1002Mhz
DRAM Timing Control: Manual
CAS: 5
RAS to CAS: 5
RAS precharge: 5
RAS activate to precharge: 15

everything else to auto

That gives you 3Ghz on the CPU (9x334), and 1002Mhz ram at 5-5-5-15 (just below stock).

If that isnt stable, then i recommend you reading up a decent Core 2 Duo overclocking guide, as its impossible to give you settings that are guaranteed to work with your system. The only sure way is the old slow way.
 
Thanks for that, , its much clearere now that i see what you mean.

Will give it another go in a minute or two.

Whats the best stress test to run to get an idea if its stable at 3ghz (there are enough 3ghz 6600s out there that already are) , just to be sure.

Many thanks, , kev
 
Hi,

Have justre tweaked everything, , fsb to 334, fsb strap to 333.

But, , when i enter the Dram freqency i only get three chioces and 1002 isnt one of them ? ? choices are 669 , 802, and 1069 !

I take it that by picking the 1069 option i am technically overclocking the ram as its slightly over the stock 1066 , meaning that i may have to look at ram voltages ? ? Or, is that the best option to take as its closest to what the ram should be running at ? ?

Talking of which, , cpuz says that my ram sticks are all running at 1.8volts , , , i cant be sure, but i think i have read somwhere that GEIL black dragon 8500 ram is 2.1 volts or something similar ? ?
 
Yeah, 1069 is your best bet, that's hardly even overclocking, its barely a 0.003% increase on stock. As far as voltage goes, if it can pass Memtest (best way to get hold of that is to run it off a Linux cd) it'll be fine, if not then bump it up untill it passes.

try running Orthos for the CPU, always works great for me, just testing out my E6400@ 3480Mhz / 1.4V right now..... you'll want a temperature monitor as well (i use intel TAT, dont trust motherboard reporting temps if i were you) to keep an eye on how toasty that thing is getting..... i hope you have more than the stock heatsink on!

Prime95 is the other one you can use instead of Orthos
 
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I have a zalman digital temp and fan monitor, and to be honest with you, its so far been accurate to within 1c of any temps recorded from the motherboard and everest ultimate so am pretty happy with the temp recording for now.
Am also using an ASUS V-60 aftermarket cpu fan/cooler as well so should be ok, , i know there are better ones out there for a similar price but it caught my eye and its not doing so bad so far.
My idle temp at the moment is 39c (everest says 40c ).

What about this Dram frequency thing, , shall i set it to 1069 or choose one of the lower frequencys ( 669 or 802 ) as its still set to auto at the moment and they were the only 3 choices i was given , , auto, 669, 802 or 1069 !
 
set to 1069.

My point about motherboard monitors stands, there are better temp detection software out there, and the fact that Zalman is so close to the mobo temps is suspicious. Try downloading Intel's Thermal Analysis Tool and comparing...... its free and reads off the chip rather than off the mobo.
 
Thanks for that,
Will set it to 1069 and keep figers crossed for the orthos test !
Will also download the thermal analysis tool also.

Many thanks for your help,
Cheers, kev
 
Well, wasnt able to use the thermal analysis tool. It downloaded no problem, but everytime i clicked on it to open it, it appeared for a split second then a beep and it disapears. Its obviously not compatible with vista x64 !

Anyhows, , i changed the memory timing to 1069mhz as that was the closest choice to my memory. But, when i checked in cpuz again, its still displaying my memory as pc2 6400 and a whole new set of timing figures has appeared.
cpuz says , , , , ,

dram freq 535.9mhz
fsb:dram 5:8
cas 5.5.5.15.

I dont understand why the dram frequency is 535.9 when i actually set it at 1069mhz.
Can anyone clarify what i have actually done and what these figures mean ? ?

The cpu is still running fine at the 3.0ghz overclock and temps at idle are barely more than the idle temps i was getting at stock 2.4ghz so am very pleased with the very obvious speed increase i now have.

Have yet to run a proper stress test but have downloaded prime95 for x64 bit os. I ran it for one and a half hours this morning, but had to go out unexpectadly so stopped the test as i want to be with the pc when its running just in case something needs my urgent attention.
For the time prime95 was running it didnt show up any errors and maximum temp i got was 50c, but will give it a proper run tommorrow as i will be in all day.

Has anyone got any ideas on the memory timings i have ? ?

Many thanks, , kev.

PS: Have noticed that the cpu is jumping from 2ghz to 3 ghz every few seconds. I summise that this is something to do with the speed stepping function. Is there any point in disabling it, or is it safer to keep it enabled, , , just a thought !
 
rxkevco said:
dram freq 535.9mhz
fsb:dram 5:8
cas 5.5.5.15.

I dont understand why the dram frequency is 535.9 when i actually set it at 1069mhz.
Click to expand...

DDR means Dual Data Rate, this means that the operating frequency of the ram is 2x that of the FSB x the FSB:RAM ratio.

So you have 334 x 8/5 = 535.9
then 535.9 x 2 to give you 1069Mhz ram speed

Often software will read the FSB x FSB:RAM rather than telling you the "true" speed of the memory, thus the confusion.

Not the most rigorous explanation technicaly, i'm not a RAM guru, but be secure in that all is functioning as it should.

As far as the timings (5-5-5-15) go, that is spot on and exactly what you want.

CPU freq fluctuation is down to speedstep, worth keeping on if you dont mind it and it doesnt cause stability errors as it will drop the idle temps on your core a lot and reduce power consumption
 
Great, , thats all a relief.
Thanks for your help once again.
Apart from running a decent stress test ( should prime95 do the job ) i think things should be left as they are now and i should just forget all the worries and get on with enjoying my new faster system.

Many thanks, kev
 
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