Corsair XMS3200 hardly o/c's at all

[timzak]

I was experimenting with max stable o/cs for PCI/AGP, and memory on system in sig. PCI/AGP maxed out at 37/74 (ATI video card starts crapping out beyond that), but I was surprised the Corsair did as poorly as it did.

I relaxed memory timings as much as the bios allowed (3.0 CAS, etc) and was still locking up at 210Mhz. Yes, I lowered the multiplier on the processor to known stable speeds. I'm not done with a thorough test yet, but at memory speeds in my sig, could only get the memory stable at about 205Mhz. I'm not sure why relaxing the timings isn't helping more. I figured 210Mhz would be easy for this memory at most-relaxed timings.

Anyone else with experience with this ram?

[Jognt]

hmm, how much volts are going through those corsairs?
ive got 2 sticks of corsair pc3200LL in my rig which do 210mhz 2-3-2-6 at 210mhz, so i dont know what it is that causing this with you, are you sure its the RAM?

was it OEM ram, or did you buy it seperatly?

[timzak]

I maxed out the voltage on the DDR as well...2.8 (actually reads at 2.89V in BIOS/MBM when set to 2.8V). I have not tried running the sticks singly, since I'm not interested in running only 512MB.

I purchased the ram separately...came in retail packaging and is ID'd as Corsair PC3200 by CPU-Z.

I'm reasonably sure it's the ram. At lower clock speeds I've verified the PCI/AGP busses are stable up to 37/74, which would compute to 218Mhz for the DDR400. I'm well below 218 with memory lockups. Also, when testing the ram my cpu was clocked in the 1.9Ghz range @ 1.8V and it is verified (P95) stable at 2.0Ghz @ 1.8V.

This leaves the ram as the culprit.

Could it be the 3.0 CAS I had it set at? I now seem to recall reading that a setting of 3.0 might cause stability issues? Seems odd, but when I get home tonight, I'll try setting it to 2.5 and relaxing all the other timings as well.

Any other ideas?

edit: my ram is rated at 2.0-3-2-6 1CL by Corsair, but I've never been able to run 1CL with stability either. However, I am running two sticks, and I've never tried a single stick to see if it's stable at 1CL. I can't really complain to Corsair since it's stable at its rated speed of DDR400.

[stan03]

its prolly the newer version of the ram which uses ch-5. i cannot get anything about 210 either.

[Jognt]

try them seperatly, even if you dont want to run single mode, you'll still know if its just a bad stick...

[ar47bl13]

ahh man, I hate this particular sick of mine. It simply stinks. The highest I have gotten mine to overclock is to 210 fsb, with the cheezy timings of 2.5/3/3/7. I was expecting better out of this ram.

What are the revision number on you guys sticks? Mine is 3202 v2.2

Yeh, I have has this stick since june or so. Weird thing about mine is though, if I feed it over 2.7 volts, no matter what fsb or timings, it isn't stable. Weird I thought. but ah..

I just don't think I will be buying Corsair for a while, but no telling.

[mamaboyjames]

i had a similar problem too :/
dissapointed from corsair

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=264864

[Twister1234]

hm,corsair pc3200c2 runing on 2,6 volts without probs 225@11-3-2-2,or 230@11-3-3-2,5...dual channel,if i upper my voltage,i get errors,so try lowering voltage...

[ar47bl13]

Originally posted by Twister1234
hm,corsair pc3200c2 runing on 2,6 volts without probs 225@11-3-2-2,or 230@11-3-3-2,5...dual channel,if i upper my voltage,i get errors,so try lowering voltage...

What version is your stick/sticks?

[2XS]

I also have the XMS PC3200 v2.2 and I have the same problem as everyone else. It just will not run in 1:1 over 210fsb. :(

[ar47bl13]

Originally posted by 2XS
I also have the XMS PC3200 v2.2 and I have the same problem as everyone else. It just will not run in 1:1 over 210fsb. :(

Do you have the problem where if you give it over 2.7 volts the ram will not become stable under ANY timings?

[Twister1234]

my stick is version 1.2 think its ch-5

i m just testing it @ 225 with 11-2-2-2

at that settings it isnt memtest stable,but i test it under prime(memory torture test...)...

you may ask,why prime...the memory was stable under memtest@225 fsb with 11-2-2-2 and 2,7 vdimm,but wasnt stable(random crashes under windows,100% crash,if i start an application),so i think my voltage on ram is another,when my os is running,then under memtest(startcd)

now i m running 2,6 vdimm,and prime went into the second test...will test it some hours,to see,if its totaly stable(in memtest i got about +-2 errors in test 5,with that voltage)

[timzak]

Pretty dissapointing...I did some more testing this weekend and this ram isn't stable above about 205Mhz even with relaxed timings. I tried different memory voltages, etc. I'm just going to leave it at 200Mhz for peace of mind and oc by multiplier only.

When running the ram at SPD, the following timings are assigned at the following speeds:

DDR266: 2.0-2-2-6
DDR333: 2.0-3-3-7
DDR400: 2.0-3-3-8

DDR333 will run stable at 2.0-2-2-6 with manual settings.

DDR400 will run stable at 2.0-3-2-6 with manual settings. A 2.0-2-2-6 setting at DDR400 results in a hard system lock. Have to reset the bios to be able to get back into the system. CL1 is unstable with 2 sticks, so I have to run at CL2.

I don't know the revision of my sticks, but they are of the C2 variety (not LL). What can I say, you get what you pay for.

[2XS]

That is correct. 2.65 is the max voltage I can give these sticks and keep my rig stable. My current timmings are 2.5,3,3,6 @ 250 (5:4 - 200mhz) I can get 254 but stability becomes an issue.

I am waiting for the tax return to get back so I can get some Geil or OCZ PC4000.

[malon]

I can get 210 FSB DC 2-2-2-11 with my 2x256 Corsair 3200C2 v1.1

[2XS]

V1.1 uses a different chip than the V2.2s that I have.

[ar47bl13]

Originally posted by 2XS
V1.1 uses a different chip than the V2.2s that I have.

Yeh 1.1 is bh-5...:)

But yeh, my ram HATES high voltage.

[timzak]

What is the rated voltage for Corsair's ram anyway? I don't see it anywhere on their website spec sheet.

[eva2000]

i managed to get my 2x 512MB XMS3200C2v1.1 to max 220mhz 2-2-2-6 at 3.2v vdimm on AI7 seems as far as they can go

[ar47bl13]

Originally posted by eva2000
i managed to get my 2x 512MB XMS3200C2v1.1 to max 220mhz 2-2-2-6 at 3.2v vdimm on AI7 seems as far as they can go

bh-5 shining through:)

[malon]

Yeh 1.1 is bh-5...

But yeh, my ram HATES high voltage.


3200C2 v1.1 uses BH-6, not BH-5

[ar47bl13]

Originally posted by malon



3200C2 v1.1 uses BH-6, not BH-5

I think it must vary, because I saw someone that took heatspreaders off and it was bh-5:)

[WinXP]

timzak
You are using a via mobo an most of them I have found run better with 1 stick than 2 sticks for a high fsb. The Corsair XMS PC3200c2 will ussually be bh-6 chips as the 3500c2 used bh-5 chips. The memory may not be bad, just does not work good in your mobo of choice. I switched from via mobo to nf2 mobo an was surprised at how high they would run in these mobo's. I have 2-256meg sticks of the Corsair XMS PC3200c2v1.1. I ran them in a NF7-Sv2.0 an maxed at 238fsb with tight timing 11-2-2-2. Now tried them in my DFI Ultra infinity A+ today an maxed at 250fsb at 11-3-3-2-2. In my via mobo's these same sticks were hard to get 220fsb. The via mobo's seemed to like the Samsung PC2700 tcb-3 memory for high fsb.

[StealtheR]

Originally posted by Jognt
hmm, how much volts are going through those corsairs?
ive got 2 sticks of corsair pc3200LL in my rig which do 210mhz 2-3-2-6 at 210mhz, so i dont know what it is that causing this with you, are you sure its the RAM?

was it OEM ram, or did you buy it seperatly?
me 2 :) they're running 210mhz great in my sig

i think i run 2-3-3-6

[timzak]

Thanks for the help guys!