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Is this ram good for overclocking?

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amdfreak04

Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2004
Location
Woodbridge, Ontario
Heres a bunch of info i found on my ram... is this ram good for the 3.3 psu rail mod? ... should i run dual channel in my nf7-s..

ram chip info

w942508ch-5
0342wI
433273200

Specs

Basic Specs Name DDRAM 256X2 400M C2 3200 ELDCKOCZ OEM
Brand OCZ
Model OCZ400512ELDCPE-K
Capacity 512MB(2x256MB)
Speed DDR400(PC3200)
Type 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Manufacturer OCZ
Additional Info Bandwidth 3.2GB/s
Support Voltage 2.6V
Registered or Unbuffered Unbuffered
Error Checking Non-ECC
CAS Latency 2-2-3-5 1T
Organization two 32M x 64 -Bit
tRAC
Warranty
Special Features Optimized for Dual Channel Operation

Info on Winbond Ram Chip

CH-5 – This is a newer ram chip than BH-5 and on average cannot achieve the results BH-5 can. It is known to do around 220-230 MHz at cas2-3-2-X. This ram is a little different than BH-5 as it does not respond as well to voltage. Usually, anything over 3 volts does not yield any better results. This could be due to the manufacturer's PCB design, or simply the ram chips themselves. In some cases, however, this ram can achieve similar results to BH-5, it just does not happen very often. This is still great ram for the money and can most likely achieve cas2-2-2-X at 200 MHz with the right voltage applied. This ram is easier to find than BH-5 and usually costs a fraction of what BH-5 costs. It can be identified by the last 3 characters on the chip reading CH-5. It can be found in Corsair XMS, Kingston Hyper X, and many other offerings.

"Usually, anything over 3 volts does not yield any better results. "
-does that mean my ram is crap..

thanks in advance :cool:
 

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CH-5 are decent chips for mediocre OC'ers. They usually top out around 250MHz at it's best but with looser timings then what you would see with BH5's.

So yes if you ask me CH-5's are good OC'ers but not the best.
 
RedDragonXXX said:
CH-5 are decent chips for mediocre OC'ers. They usually top out around 250MHz at it's best but with looser timings then what you would see with BH5's.

So yes if you ask me CH-5's are good OC'ers but not the best.

So how should i set these up in my system ..

dual channel or not

psu rail mod to 3.3v?

better chipset cooling?

timmings to try .. 3-4-4-11 ?
 
Yea give them a try.

3V on Vdimm should be sufficient for these but 3-4-4-11 timings are little extreme for CH5's. With Winbond chips you are pushing towards tight timings not loose. I'm not sure if these can do 2-2-2 but you can try. 2-3-2 or 2.5-3-3 would be safe bet.
 
....

RedDragonXXX said:
Yea give them a try.

3V on Vdimm should be sufficient for these but 3-4-4-11 timings are little extreme for CH5's. With Winbond chips you are pushing towards tight timings not loose. I'm not sure if these can do 2-2-2 but you can try. 2-3-2 or 2.5-3-3 would be safe bet.

dual channel or not ?

psu rail mod to 3.3v necessary? any benefits form it.. i can currently put 3.12 volts to my ram with a potemtometer mod to my m/b..

better chipset cooling?
 
amdfreak04 said:
dual channel or not ?

psu rail mod to 3.3v necessary? any benefits form it.. i can currently put 3.12 volts to my ram with a potemtometer mod to my m/b..

better chipset cooling?

Your mobo doesn't support DC.

If you can give it 3V on Vdimm already I don't see a reason why you would need to mod your 3.3V rail.

As far as chipset cooling that is a different topic.
 
Since when does the Abit NF7 not support dual channel? :)

It will, of course, run DC, but as with all NF2 chipset based mobos, the performance loss is not huge by going SC, if needed. If you can get a significant enough increase in your FSB you will be fine running SC. That of course will depend on your specific system components. Testing is the only way to know for sure.

Now...about the ram.

Funny that you should ask about CH-5...yesterday I received a set of Mushkin 2x256 PC3200 Level One from a seller at another forum.

Currently testing on an MSI K8N Neo2 Plat, Winney 3200 and DDR Booster combo. I've tested Memtest clean at 240 with 2-2-2-7 (1T) using 3.2v, failed at 245 so I've upped the voltage to 245 and continuing to test. So far so good (update...20 clean passes at 245, so I'm now going up to 250).

These speeds are more than you'll likely need on most NF7 mobo, although we all know that there are some out there that will surpass 250.

Bottom line is that good CH-5 will work just fine on an NF7 mobo, provided you can give it sufficient juice. Remember active cooling once you start hitting 3.0v-3.2v and beyond.
 
NF7 is socket A. Per his sig he's running an mobile XP 2500.

You are right, however, about the S754 not shining in DC...more like not running in DC. :)

And by the way...I did have to chuckle when I read your comment about CH-5 being a"mediocre" overclocker because it could only hit 250 or so. PC3500 and PC3700 were high end parts in those days of the not too distant past. During those same days ram reviewers would write that giving your ram anything over 2.8 was insane and of absolutely no value to achieving high clocks. All this was just only 2-3 years ago (pre early 2003). Once the 865/875 chipsets hit the market it all changed. Then AMD's A64 blew the doors off 300MHz ram speeds for the average Joe.

There was a time not too long ago when hitting 250 was quite an accomplishment. These days we yawn at 300 and start to take notice only when someone is hitting 325 or better.

Aren't we getting spoiled or what?
 
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Yea tell me about it:)

Me myself I never used anything below s939 and s478 so therefore I'm not to familiar with them.

But you are right everyone these days is looking for a high freq RAM (aka TCCD/TCC5), but there are few people out there that still use old school stuff like BH5 (my favorite:D).
 
RedDragonXXX said:
Yea tell me about it:)

Me myself I never used anything below s939 and s478 so therefore I'm not to familiar with them.

But you are right everyone these days is looking for a high freq RAM (aka TCCD/TCC5), but there are few people out there that still use old school stuff like BH5 (my favorite:D).

I too have been known to collect a few sticks of Winbond, now and then. :D
 
You guys are awsome .. thanks for your comments.. ... i have recently redone my rig again... to acommidate some better cooling to my nf7 as well as 3.3psu mod... Im a little shaky about putting 3.3v to my ram .. im scared it might start smokin lol :eh?: anyways im hoping to put some picutres up so everyone can see .. i will try tonite if my friends lends me his digital...

thanks again :cool:
 
By the way, an update on my set of 2x256 CH-5...they wouldn't do 250 at 2-2-2-7 (1T), no matter how much voltage I ran through them. So the max is somewhere just past 245, as I was going in 5MHz increments. Based on the number of errors at 250 I would say that its closer to the 245 than the 250 side of things.

I might try them at more relaxed timings, including 2T, sometime during the next few days...just to see how high the will clock.

Since I paid $40 for that 2x256 set, I guess I won't complain...not too bad for "value ram". :D
 
Vintage CH-5 is good if you can feed them volts. My 3500 LVL I, which I recently donated to my younger brother, topped out somewhere between 255-260 2-2-2-X @ 3.5v.
 
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