OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go?

ian_heath · 03-18-2008, 06:40 AM

Hi All
Ok .. my system specs are below (in my sig) but i want to know if o/c the timings on my DDR2 ram is worth the crashes/BSOD.
I have **** around with them in the past and at times thought some tasks were more responsive but am thinking maybe it was just in my head.
I have attached my current system setup as per CPUZ.
In my bios i have the RAM setup up as suto timings but have my new e8400 clocked at 4.0g (up from 3.0 stock)

any ideas on whether i should bother with the ram?

**mattlock** · 03-19-2008, 08:01 AM

Your timings are pretty good considering the OC you're running.

**linderman** · 03-19-2008, 01:42 PM

I see you are running Kingston Hiper memory with 512mb sticks

are you running 4 of these ????? I would "expect" trouble if you are ??

its very difficult to overclock with four sticks of memory at such high levels

I would also back-off to timings of 5-5-5-15 and you should begin to see more stability ?

ian_heath · 03-20-2008, 02:59 AM

yes i am running 4 although even though they are all the same type 1 pair are a newer release than the first (thanks Kingston you &^$&$&*%)
They still run ok in dual chan. tho

and the timings you see there are in AUTO mode so do you suggest i manually back them off?

and what Voltage is ideal for my ram?

**linderman** · 03-20-2008, 05:37 AM

the weak link in your system for overclocking is your ram and the four stick configuration

your auto config has them Identified incorrectly as PC6400 when in actuallity they are PC2-8500 sticks which are designed to run at 5-5-5-16 with voltages of only 1.8volts

Kingston IMHO was never much more than a value ram manufacturer, they played a major role and filled a much needed niche back in the day when memory prices were insane.

well; prices are no longer insane and high performance sticks can be bought very reasonably now days

I personally suggest you get a matched pair of one gig each stick (NOT four sticks!) of Corsair or Crucial PC2-8500 sticks with CAS latencies of 5-5-5-15 and capable of being volted to 2.1 or 2.2 volts then you will not have a choke point at the memory

you could sell off your existing sticks on ebay >>>>> just a thought

but I would manually back off your timings to 5-5-5-15 if you want stability back in your system and you cant raise the voltage with those sticks, I am amazed you got this far.

I have never seen four sticks run in an overclocked system without ramping up the voltage a tad!

enjoy, and nice clock

**mattlock** · 03-20-2008, 08:37 AM

I don't have a vast amount of experience with Kingston HyperX (I own a 2GB kit of PC3200) but I'm really happy with the RAM. My HyperX OCs higher than the Corsair XMS that it replaced with the same timings. Of course any company can hit the ball out of the park once, it's those who do it consistantly that become legendary.
That said Corsair is what I typically buy for myself and the my customers (which are few and far between these days.)

BTW, it can safely be ran at up to 2.2v, but I agree with Linderman, you are better off with 2 sticks of 2GB

KHX8500D2/512
512MB 64M x 64-Bit PC2-8500
CL5 240-Pin DIMM

Page 1
DESCRIPTION:
This document describes Kingston's 64M x 64-bit (512MB) DDR2-1066 CL5 SDRAM (Synchronous
DRAM) memory module, based on eight 64M x 8-bit DDR2 FBGA components. This module
has been tested to run at DDR2 1066MHz at a latency timing of 5-5-5-15 at 2.2V. The SPD is
programmed to JEDEC standard latency 800Mhz timing of 5-5-5-15 at 1.8V. This 240-pin DIMM
uses gold contact fingers and requires +1.8V. The electrical and mechanical specifications are as
follows:

ian_heath · 03-20-2008, 10:10 AM

Ok. Well it seems linderman was right (altho i kinda never doubted anything he said)
Running at 5-5-5-15 seems to be MUCH more stable and ive also decided to refrain from such over-keen cpu clocking. As per image below i am running CPU at 4068mhz and the vcore is now 1.384v

I have also just listed my current ram on ebay and placed an order for -
Kingston HyperX 2048MB 1066MHz DDR2, Non-ECC, CL5, KitX2 (KHX8500D2K2/2G)

This seems to be pretty much the same i am running now but in 1gb sticks (not 512)
And in case you were wondering why i went with Kingston again, it just so happened i found a great price on these (around $121AU incl postage!)

Will let you know how i go

ian

ian_heath · 03-20-2008, 10:14 AM

oh and here is my cpuz pic

**linderman** · 03-20-2008, 02:36 PM

Mattlock got one up on me again

I didnt catch the ability of your ram to be run at 2.2 volts

that ram can be bumped up to 2.1 volts is what I would try you will need to adjust that in the bios under ram settings / look for Vdimm voltage

although four sticks will never give the performance capability that two sticks will

**mattlock** · 03-20-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linderman

Mattlock got one up on me again

I didnt catch the ability of your ram to be run at 2.2 volts

that ram can be bumped up to 2.1 volts is what I would try you will need to adjust that in the bios under ram settings / look for Vdimm voltage

although four sticks will never give the performance capability that two sticks will

Gotta keep you in your toes Mr. Linderman.

Seriously though, I was looking at buying the exact same HyperX RAM when we had an earlier discussion about DDR1066 and OCing, and wanted to make sure it was able to handle a Vdimm of atleast 2.1v. I just couldn't justify the additional cost at since my XMS DDR800 is doing a pretty good job running @ 890mhz. (Although I'm not completely sure that it's not the cause of my OC becoming unstable from time to time)

I would also bump the Vdimm up to 2.1v. You might even be able to crunch your timings back down with the Vdimm increase.

ian_heath · 05-01-2008, 04:03 PM

ok. well i have taken the advice of you clever lads and ditched my 4 sticks 0f 512 hyperx and have replaced all this with corsair xms2 pc6400 ddr2 2x1gb CL4
already i am seeing far greATer stability even at high cpu clocks but i havent even started playing with it yet
im in the middle of moving house so i am hardly about to start tinkering when all my sheit is mostly in boxes. what i did not notice though was when i changed my vcore back to auto i was very surprised to see the volts (at moderate clock of around 25%) rise from my manually set 1.35-1.38v to the system controlled voltage of around 1.54 or so. Needless to say the temps also rose from around 38c ambient to around 45c
Seems a great deal of instability could hAVE been due to a severe lack of vcore voltage

anyways .. any thoughts??

IAN

**linderman** · 05-01-2008, 05:28 PM

IMHO i would not allow my system to run @ 1.54 volts on the cpu thats big!!

stick with the manual setting

two sticks of good ram will always perform better than 4 sticks

**mattlock** · 05-01-2008, 09:52 PM

I hope you meant 1.45v....As Linderman said, 1.54v on an E8400 is too much voltage for your CPU to survive in the longterm.

ian_heath · 05-05-2008, 07:19 PM

OK. point duly noted
i have just reset back to stock (auto) for now

so what is the max suggested vcore for a e8400
(considering also that i run water cooling)

**linderman** · 05-06-2008, 03:44 AM

http://www.evga.com/forums/printable.asp?m=322761

03-19-2008, 08:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
mattlock moderator hardware team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 3,703 OS: XP SP2, Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? Your timings are pretty good considering the OC you're running. __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!

03-19-2008, 01:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 11,953 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? I see you are running Kingston Hiper memory with 512mb sticks are you running 4 of these ????? I would "expect" trouble if you are ?? its very difficult to overclock with four sticks of memory at such high levels I would also back-off to timings of 5-5-5-15 and you should begin to see more stability ? __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD Last edited by linderman : 03-19-2008 at 01:47 PM.

03-20-2008, 02:59 AM	#4 (permalink)
ian_heath Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Posts: 102 OS: XP Prof. SP2	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? yes i am running 4 although even though they are all the same type 1 pair are a newer release than the first (thanks Kingston you &^$&$&*%) They still run ok in dual chan. tho and the timings you see there are in AUTO mode so do you suggest i manually back them off? and what Voltage is ideal for my ram? __________________ <My System> CORE2DUO E8400 (O/C >4g) .. T/Take CLW0076 W/COOLING .. Zalman GPU+RAM H2O blocks .. HIS X1950 C/FIRE 512mb DDR4 .. ASUS P5B Deluxe{BIOS v1226] .. 4X KINGSTON HYPERX DDR2 PC28500 512mb .. 4X WD SATA 160g (RAID0) + WD IDE 250g HD .. 2x DVD Burners .. T/Take T/Power 750w PSU .. XP SP2 (OEM) .. ANTEC P180B CASE

03-20-2008, 05:37 AM	#5 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 11,953 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? the weak link in your system for overclocking is your ram and the four stick configuration your auto config has them Identified incorrectly as PC6400 when in actuallity they are PC2-8500 sticks which are designed to run at 5-5-5-16 with voltages of only 1.8volts Kingston IMHO was never much more than a value ram manufacturer, they played a major role and filled a much needed niche back in the day when memory prices were insane. well; prices are no longer insane and high performance sticks can be bought very reasonably now days I personally suggest you get a matched pair of one gig each stick (NOT four sticks!) of Corsair or Crucial PC2-8500 sticks with CAS latencies of 5-5-5-15 and capable of being volted to 2.1 or 2.2 volts then you will not have a choke point at the memory you could sell off your existing sticks on ebay >>>>> just a thought but I would manually back off your timings to 5-5-5-15 if you want stability back in your system and you cant raise the voltage with those sticks, I am amazed you got this far. I have never seen four sticks run in an overclocked system without ramping up the voltage a tad! enjoy, and nice clock __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD Last edited by linderman : 03-20-2008 at 05:38 AM.

03-20-2008, 08:37 AM	#6 (permalink)
mattlock moderator hardware team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 3,703 OS: XP SP2, Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? I don't have a vast amount of experience with Kingston HyperX (I own a 2GB kit of PC3200) but I'm really happy with the RAM. My HyperX OCs higher than the Corsair XMS that it replaced with the same timings. Of course any company can hit the ball out of the park once, it's those who do it consistantly that become legendary. That said Corsair is what I typically buy for myself and the my customers (which are few and far between these days.) BTW, it can safely be ran at up to 2.2v, but I agree with Linderman, you are better off with 2 sticks of 2GB KHX8500D2/512 512MB 64M x 64-Bit PC2-8500 CL5 240-Pin DIMM Page 1 DESCRIPTION: This document describes Kingston's 64M x 64-bit (512MB) DDR2-1066 CL5 SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) memory module, based on eight 64M x 8-bit DDR2 FBGA components. This module has been tested to run at DDR2 1066MHz at a latency timing of 5-5-5-15 at 2.2V. The SPD is programmed to JEDEC standard latency 800Mhz timing of 5-5-5-15 at 1.8V. This 240-pin DIMM uses gold contact fingers and requires +1.8V. The electrical and mechanical specifications are as follows: __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free! Last edited by mattlock : 03-20-2008 at 08:58 AM.

03-20-2008, 10:10 AM	#7 (permalink)
ian_heath Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Posts: 102 OS: XP Prof. SP2	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? Ok. Well it seems linderman was right (altho i kinda never doubted anything he said) Running at 5-5-5-15 seems to be MUCH more stable and ive also decided to refrain from such over-keen cpu clocking. As per image below i am running CPU at 4068mhz and the vcore is now 1.384v I have also just listed my current ram on ebay and placed an order for - Kingston HyperX 2048MB 1066MHz DDR2, Non-ECC, CL5, KitX2 (KHX8500D2K2/2G) This seems to be pretty much the same i am running now but in 1gb sticks (not 512) And in case you were wondering why i went with Kingston again, it just so happened i found a great price on these (around $121AU incl postage!) Will let you know how i go ian __________________ <My System> CORE2DUO E8400 (O/C >4g) .. T/Take CLW0076 W/COOLING .. Zalman GPU+RAM H2O blocks .. HIS X1950 C/FIRE 512mb DDR4 .. ASUS P5B Deluxe{BIOS v1226] .. 4X KINGSTON HYPERX DDR2 PC28500 512mb .. 4X WD SATA 160g (RAID0) + WD IDE 250g HD .. 2x DVD Burners .. T/Take T/Power 750w PSU .. XP SP2 (OEM) .. ANTEC P180B CASE

03-20-2008, 02:36 PM	#9 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 11,953 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? Mattlock got one up on me again I didnt catch the ability of your ram to be run at 2.2 volts that ram can be bumped up to 2.1 volts is what I would try you will need to adjust that in the bios under ram settings / look for Vdimm voltage although four sticks will never give the performance capability that two sticks will __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD

05-01-2008, 04:03 PM	#11 (permalink)
ian_heath Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Posts: 102 OS: XP Prof. SP2	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? ok. well i have taken the advice of you clever lads and ditched my 4 sticks 0f 512 hyperx and have replaced all this with corsair xms2 pc6400 ddr2 2x1gb CL4 already i am seeing far greATer stability even at high cpu clocks but i havent even started playing with it yet im in the middle of moving house so i am hardly about to start tinkering when all my sheit is mostly in boxes. what i did not notice though was when i changed my vcore back to auto i was very surprised to see the volts (at moderate clock of around 25%) rise from my manually set 1.35-1.38v to the system controlled voltage of around 1.54 or so. Needless to say the temps also rose from around 38c ambient to around 45c Seems a great deal of instability could hAVE been due to a severe lack of vcore voltage anyways .. any thoughts?? IAN __________________ <My System> CORE2DUO E8400 (O/C >4g) .. T/Take CLW0076 W/COOLING .. Zalman GPU+RAM H2O blocks .. HIS X1950 C/FIRE 512mb DDR4 .. ASUS P5B Deluxe{BIOS v1226] .. 4X KINGSTON HYPERX DDR2 PC28500 512mb .. 4X WD SATA 160g (RAID0) + WD IDE 250g HD .. 2x DVD Burners .. T/Take T/Power 750w PSU .. XP SP2 (OEM) .. ANTEC P180B CASE

05-01-2008, 05:28 PM	#12 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 11,953 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? IMHO i would not allow my system to run @ 1.54 volts on the cpu thats big!! stick with the manual setting two sticks of good ram will always perform better than 4 sticks __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD

05-01-2008, 09:52 PM	#13 (permalink)
mattlock moderator hardware team Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 3,703 OS: XP SP2, Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? I hope you meant 1.45v....As Linderman said, 1.54v on an E8400 is too much voltage for your CPU to survive in the longterm. __________________ Matt Everest-Thermal Paste Instruction-Power Supply Info-Sensorview PSU Calculator-Speedfan-Bench Test Help TSF Fight Disease. It's Free!

05-05-2008, 07:19 PM	#14 (permalink)
ian_heath Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Posts: 102 OS: XP Prof. SP2	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? OK. point duly noted i have just reset back to stock (auto) for now so what is the max suggested vcore for a e8400 (considering also that i run water cooling) __________________ <My System> CORE2DUO E8400 (O/C >4g) .. T/Take CLW0076 W/COOLING .. Zalman GPU+RAM H2O blocks .. HIS X1950 C/FIRE 512mb DDR4 .. ASUS P5B Deluxe{BIOS v1226] .. 4X KINGSTON HYPERX DDR2 PC28500 512mb .. 4X WD SATA 160g (RAID0) + WD IDE 250g HD .. 2x DVD Burners .. T/Take T/Power 750w PSU .. XP SP2 (OEM) .. ANTEC P180B CASE

05-06-2008, 03:44 AM	#15 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 11,953 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: OverClocking RAM timings. Whats the go? http://www.evga.com/forums/printable.asp?m=322761 __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD