whats up with my memory?!

[Rimfire]

Hi guys,

I'm new to overclocking but I have managed to get a nice stable oc on my system @3.8ghz, I'm running 12gb of Kingston Hyperx Genesis 1333mhz memory on a GA-X58A-UD3R mobo, and for some reason when I look at the memory timings I'm only getting a frequency of 724 mhz with standard timings of 10-10-10-28?! Its probably because I'm missing something really obvious here, but I've been able to tighten it down to 8-8-8-24.

When I look at my system BIOS my DDR profile is 1.5v but there is no option to change it any higher, dunno if that would have anything to do with it?

Anyway, here is my complete BIOS, see if you can spot anything out of the ordinary....

Processor 930 D0:3.8Ghz HT
RAM 12Gb Kingston Hyperx Genesis 1333Mhz

LOAD LINE CALIBRATION LEVEL 1
CPU VCORE 1.36V
QPI/ VTT 1.335V
CPU PLL CORE 1.86V

PCIE 1.54
QPI PLL VCORE 1.22V
IOH CORE 1.18V
ICH I/O 1.50V
ICH CORE 1.14V

DRAM VOLTAGE 1.660V

CPU CLOCK RATIO 21X
CPU FREQ 3.8GHZ
TURBO OFF
HT ON

QPI CLOCK RATIO 36X
UNCORE CLOCK RATIO X18
PCI EXPRESS FREQ 103
CPU CLOCK DRIVE 800MV
PCI XPRESS CLOCK DRIVE 900MV
PERFOMANCE ENHANCE- STANDARD
XMP DISABLED
SYSTEM MEMORY MULTIPLIER X8
MEMORY FREQ 1066/ 1448

Any help you can offer is always appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[cmndr_andi]

Hi there,

With Dual Data Rate (DDR) type RAM, the advertised/effective frequency (in your case 1333MHz) is double the true clockspeed - since data is sent on both the rising and falling clock signal. Hence, if you are seeing a frequency of 724MHz in CPU-Z (or similar application) then the effective memory clockspeed is 1448MHz - so if this is the speed you are still running at then you are technically overclocking your RAM (667MHz is the actual clockspeed required for 1333MHz effective).

As you are running 12GB, may I ask how many RAM sticks you are using?

In terms of voltage control of the RAM, I just had a look at the manual there should be an option for "DRAM voltage" at the bottom of the MIT page of the BIOS. If this isn't accessible - the have a look in the "Advanced Voltage Control" page of MIT and loo for "DRAM Voltage" again.

 

[Rimfire]

Ahhhh,

Thanks for your help cmndr_andi!

I'm using six sticks so none of my slots are free, I've got an extra fan blowing on them to keep everything cool as I'm running a xfire setup as well, I tried dominators but the heat sinks wouldnt fit under my push pull setup on my megahalem lol!

So are the timings of 8-8-8-24 ok then? whats the difference between running oc'ed at 1442mhz with those timings and running stock at 7-7-7-20 like it was designed to do?

cheers!

 

[cmndr_andi]

So are the timings of 8-8-8-24 ok then? whats the difference between running oc'ed at 1442mhz with those timings and running stock at 7-7-7-20 like it was designed to do?

cheers!

It's a tough one - first thing to say about 1442MHz, as you are overclocking it is very much "suck it and see". The modules are only rated to 1333MHz, so any frequencies higher than this you will need to test out and ensure it is all stable, you may need to reduce the frequency or slacken the timings to maintain stability.

Also, please bear in mind that the memory controller on the i7 CPU is only rated to 1066MHz. Usually it will allow you to run memory a fair bit higher that this (technically overclocking the memory controller) especially if you are using three sticks instead of six. When you install the full six sticks then it puts even more strain on the memory controller. With six sticks you will most likely be ok at 1333MHz (or even 1440MHz), but if you do have any stability problems (that aren't associated with overclocking the memory sticks themselves), then you will want to either lower the memory frequency or slightly raise the QPI voltage.

 

[Rimfire]

so if I'm overclocking the memory, am I likely to do any damage to the system? Stability is my primary concern as I use this machine for work in photoshop and lightroom a lot. If i reduce the frequency and tighten the timings back down will I notice any particular performance drop compared to slackening the timings and overclocking the frequency if is it neither here nor there? If stability is improved by de-clocking the RAM and tightening the timings down and there is no noticeable performance hit I may as well just do that!

Thanks for your help so far, its been very inciteful!

 

[cmndr_andi]

As with all overclocking - it can cause your components to wear out faster and if you push them too far (usually with too much voltage) then they can fail quickly. However, when done carefully overclocking can be safe and rewarding.

However, when you are talking about triple channel DDR3 1333Mhz(+) RAM the benefits of overclocking memory are really very tiny. This is because the system already has so much memory bandwidth that adding more (by overclocking) really doesn't aid real-world performance. Hence the hassle of overclocking and ensuring stability (as well as longevity risks) is not really worth it imho due to the negligible rewards.

Personally I would suggest running all the sticks at kingston's rated frequency (or as close as you can get based on your BCLK), voltage and timings. This means you get maximum longevity and stability while also maintaining great performance.