My crazy Samsung PC2700 overclock...

Alright, it seems I've come across a couple of sticks of freak Samsung PC2700. I bought them at different times a while ago when I had a KT333 board. Both are 256mb versions. One is a DTL stick, the other DTM.

Well I threw them into my nForce 2 board in the dual channel configuration not knowing what to expect. I've been running at 210mhz FSB with the memory at 100% with the stock voltage of 2.63v. The timings are 7 3 3 2.5. At a cas setting of 2 I can't even boot at 180mhz so I'm leaving that alone.


Tonight I decided it was time to push the limits of the motherboard and memory. I upped the voltage to the next available setting of 2.77v. I've now successfully overclocked to 220mhz on the FSB with the RAM running right in sync!

Tell me if I'm wrong but this sounds amazing for these sticks. I've currently run through 3dmark and some Sandra benches. Of course you all want to hear about Prime95 though. I'll run that overnight and get back to you all with the results though I think it will hold up for at least a while.

I have a question though. Is this voltage safe for the RAM? I'm a little worried about that. I figured I needed the extra voltage to overclock anymore, but to be honest it may run these speeds at stock. I haven't tried. Also, I have not tried anything faster yet. It won't help too much overall because I can't gain access to the 10.5 or 10.0 multipliers.

I was worried about RAM voltage too.
I am less worried about it now.

Out of curiosity, what can you do with 1.95 Vcore voltage in comparison to 1.85 volts?

Unbelievable FSB for PC2700! Congratulations.

c627627 said:

I was worried about RAM voltage too.
I am less worried about it now.

Out of curiosity, what can you do with 1.95 Vcore voltage in comparison to 1.85 volts?

Unbelievable FSB for PC2700! Congratulations.

Click to expand...

I've kinda hit that limit on the CPU before it demands obscene voltage. I haven't tested it extensively yet. With 1.95v I was able to run most things at 2500mhz but Prime 95 didn't last long at all. I'll have to try again with the cooler coming. I think good things are to come in light of my recent cooling project. http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=234697&perpage=30&pagenumber=1

To update the voltage on the RAM...

I could get half way through boot with the RAM at it's stock voltage of 2.63 so it needs the extra juice to run at 220.

Your results doesn't surprise me, considering the timings. And I can confirm your results. I tested some Samsung PC2700, really good 0208 batch of CTLs. These were the very first sticks to break DDR400 at 2-2-2-5 - a really big deal in those days (hmmm, about 2 years ago???). It's like ram doing DDR600 CAS 2.0 right now. I recently tested them on an 8RDA+, not even as good an overclocking board as the NF7-S. It did 210, 2.5-3-3-6 in dual channel. Check if your sticks are actually 3D stable at 220 though. The DTLs, except for the batches before 0218, were not the best.

If you've read my other posts here, I've tested SanMax PC2700 which used BH-6 chips. Haven't tested on an AMD board yet, but at 2.8 volts on an 875CW board (4PCA3+) they do DDR420, 2-2-2-5 or DDR432, 2-3-2-5. Give 'em 3.2 volts and they do DDR478, 2-2-2-5! Yep, the stuff is rated 2.5-3-3-7 at 166 mhz too!

Hmmm....I won't be giving them any more voltage I don't think. They are indeed stable with 3d and several hours of Prime95. Though, I haven't had a chance to run them for a full 12 hour session. I have them at 215 though ,which is where I'm doing my testing. They just weren't quite up to the task at 220 with a full load for more than a while.

I also tested a 512 MB stick of Samsung DTL on an 845PE board. For some reason some boards really like this ram at relaxed settings. I think it was on a PX845PEV Pro or 4PEA+, but it did DDR456 at 2.5-3-3-6, at 2.8 volts. I couldn't test higher as I was CPU limited. But it IS easier running them on P4 boards, and this was a single stick.

Well I now have it at 2.5 3 3 6 which seems just fine.

I have some samsung pc 2700 too and I need to take it out to see what it is... I can only get it to 169 on my A7N8X non deluxe. I'm thinking of getting a new mb..