to get high FSBs i should do....

[ketchup318]

i'm running a mobile barton with a new set of RAM (corsair 3700) on an NF7-S board. I was wondering should i set my timings first and optimize my FSB around it... or should i set an FSB and then optimize my timings around that. Currently i can't pass memtest86 at 11-3-3-2.5 @ 2.9V with a 225 FSB. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

edit: not 225 FSB only 215

[ketchup318]

also, i've already done the L12 mod. and that doesn't seem to help too much either. I was wondering if i would get any increase in performance if i used a timing of 11-3-3-3 or run the ram asyncronously... thanks

[johan851]

You might try 3-3-3-11, but that's kinda loose. I would suspect that your RAM isn't at fault, but instead your motherboard. Look in the Abit motherboard section for tips like the VDD mod and some good BIOSes to use. Some NF7-S's are just duds.

[ketchup318]

i'll try the VDD mod? hmmm.. i'll give that a look, oh by the way, i'm using the D23 Subzero bios by tictac. I guess my board is kinda bad. By the way, i can run the FSB up to 233 at 11-3-3-3.. the the 18 points in FSB made up the the last number 2.5 vs 3? Thanks

[Tebore]

Something doesn't seem right your ram should do 217 at 2.5,3,3,7 at about 2.7v. For one my board and ram all in my sig does 220 at 2.5,3,2,11 at 2.7 without any mods except for the L12.

Your ram might be bad. Drop your CPU to a slower speed. Run the ram at everything it's rated to do.

[mrspec3]

I think your problem lies in more places that one. In general high speed (pc3700+) ram doesn't run well on AXP systems. The loose timings and chip to chipset compatibility can be a problem. If you can, try running 1 stick at a time. If you get higher on the FSB I would put both sticks in the mobo but in single channel mode. If you get 3Mhz higher on the FSB you will already have made up the difference the DC would have given you. But also look at better cooling in the NB, VDD mod, vdimm mod and maybe also this bios if you have 512MB sticks

Bios
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35799

Vdimm mod without solder :D
http://amdforums.com/showthread.php?t=325088

If all this fails I think the DFI infinity board should be able to give these sticks a good run :D

Steve

[Tebore]

I really don't think he needs mods at those speeds. Getting to 220 without mods isn't too hard, if he needs mods now then something is really wrong.

[ketchup318]

Tebore: i don't know if the ram is bad, i already traded it for another set. i checked the serial and it's a different set of ram and i still get the same results... so i guess it may be the board. I am running memtest at a setting of (6X230) and it's fine. Strangely enough, i was running at 2.9V, and i tried 2.8 and 2.7... same results, 231 fails regardless of voltage... i'm leaving it at 2.7 to keep it cooler.

Mr Spec: i'll give the single stick of ram a try... i don't know what it's going to do... but you say that 3700 and AXP's don't get along well... that's not too good for me, especially since i paid like an extra 50 dollars to upgrade to 3700 (from 3200) A gig of ram is a lot. Lets see, i am running a water cooled pc, with a vantec copper fan on the NB. I don't know what the VDimm mod is going to do for me (see tebore's reply, 2.7 and 2.9 don't do anything... 230 seems like the wall for me). What does the CPC mod do for me?

Hey thanks guys for the help...

[Tebore]

Try Tictac's 3D-Fire bios. And make sure CPU interface is enabled. It's strange that your ram maxes out so easily my ram maxes at 228 using 2.7v 2.5,3,2,11.

It's not unusual to have 2 sets of bad ram I had to RMA twice to get this set.

Just wondering is your NF7-S a Rev2 board? If it's Rev 1 then you've hit the wall.

[ketchup318]

single channel, dual channel, 2 sticks, 1 stick, all the same. 230's the wall.. time for a new board? i really like the NF7 though

[coil]

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=321763&page=10&pp=15

try using the - d24 sata 4247 rev. 3 infinity ED bios.

it has improved ppl's fsb by quite a bit

hope it helps

[tedy]

i will try this d24 sata 4247 rev. 3 infinity ED bios

hehe

[ketchup318]

here's an interesting twist. I'm running fine using dual channel running at 230 with 2.7 Vdimm in memtest. But my computer fails at 8*230 with vdimm of 2.9 and vcore of 1.75. I chose 1.75 cause it's a big jump from 1.525 and i'd figure it'd stablize the CPU and stress the RAM.

I seem to be fine with 220 though, but it's a 10point difference, and i'd like to know where it's going.

[Tebore]

Wait a tink, how big is your power supply. Some people have been saying that the mobile chips are stressing their Power supplies like never b4 and it's causing weird problems like lower FSB.

Oh and what timings are you running?

[ketchup318]

i have a vantec stealth 520 power supply. it shouldn't be that. then again, i'm running 2 raptor 36's in a raid 0 array, and have 2 SATA WD800JB's with 2 optical drives. Currently my working timing for memtest is 11-3-3-3 with a max of 230 FSB and 11-3-3-3 with a max of 220 for a stable prime run (8+ hrs). I'm beginning to think it's time for a new board.

[Tebore]

That's really strange...
I guess you hit the wall with your current stuff. It's either board or ram now...

[Gautam]

You do have the spread spectrum options disabled, I hope?

[ketchup318]

yeah, i have that disabled. Well thanks for the help everyone. i'm getting the DFI infinity board cause i hear it's a little more friendly to OC'ing. I'll try my luck with that too.. thanks

[Tebore]

Hope you don't waste the money to get the board to find out it's RAM. You should really try to find some other ram to test with...

I know a lot of people have gotten bum sticks from corsair lately.

[ketchup318]

you have any suggestions on 2x512 sticks of ram i should get? I can cancel the order for the board... i am running fine at 230 FSB with an L12 mod. the funny thing is that there is NO difference with TicTacs Subzero 3dfire, Trats infinity d24 mods. and for some reason, Vdimm voltage changes have ZERO effect on the FSB in memtest

Currently i am running stable at 210*10 @ 1.775 VCore. And i need all that voltage, otherwise i get prime errors.

so what do you thing?

[Tebore]

Well if you changed your BIOS that many times it might not be the board. Because if you changed the BIOS that many times you should see some improvement. I think it is the ram holding you back. Does the ram run it's stock settings at stock voltages? If not RMA it. A few bucks postage is better than finding out you wasted like $90 for a new board.

[ketchup318]

yeah, sadly enough.. and just barely. regardless of voltage 231 is the MAX these things will go... and for 3700 ram, it's about 230 right.

Currently, aside from corsair, what do you recommend?

[Tebore]

OCZ ram is pretty good, if you have any problems their Customer service is pretty good too.