Cant overclock since installing Dual Channel DDR!

[Steveio101]

Cant overclock since installing Dual Channel DDR!

Machine Spec

Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 mobo
AMD Althon 64 3000+ Venice Core (a real shame to not be overclocking this now!)
1 GB DDR PC3200 • 2-2-2-6 • UNBUFFERED • NON-ECC • DDR400 • 2.8V • 64Meg x 64 - Running in dual channel mode
ATI Radeon 9600 266MB core:527mhz memory:297mhz
Onboard 8 channel sound with Spdif output
SAMSUNG_SP1614N 160gb 7500rpm HDD
Liton Dual Layer DVD+-R
Aopen 52x CDRW
300w PSU
Samsung 73v 17" TFT

Basicly until recently i was running the above spec but with 1 basic 512mb pc3200 chip and one 256mb pc3200, both unknow origin definatly not matched! however even with such rubbish memory i was abole to overclock the stock 200mhz HTT speed up to 240mhz with absolutly no issues.

Since fitting the new memory i cant overclock at all without an unbootable system!

anyideas?

im thinking the 300w PSU isn't man enough for the job maybe!

[RedDragonXXX]

:welcome: TO THE FORUMS

Try rasing your Vdimm and relax the timings, but yes 300W is not sufficent enough for that system.

What are the rail readings?

[Steveio101]

right off to the shops for a better PSU!!

[RedDragonXXX]

If I were you I'd look for a single 12V rail PSU that has more then 30A.

[Steveio101]

Rail readings acoring to Speedfan are:

+3.3v = 3.14v
+5v = 3.44v
+12v = 12.22v
-12v = -6.19v
-5v = -3.08v

crap and they are all fuctuating by + or - at least a volt!!!

[RedDragonXXX]

Yea, that's not to good. Do you know how many Amps is your current PSU on 12V rail.

[Enablingwolf]

Gigabytes are notorious for reading low on voltages. Every one I owned read low.

I used a DDM on my board and it shows good. The sensors gives me on my 5v line 2v readings. I know my drives would not even spin if it was really that low. 12v is not so bad. Sometimes it acts wierd though.

The temp sensors are much better on a Gigabyte. I had good luck comparing against a probe. Actually they tend to read on the low side actually.

[Steveio101]

What should i relax my spd timings to then? they are currently

2-2-2-8

[darkcrystal]

sorry if i missed it, but what brand is it? are the chips TCCD or BH-5??! and yeah, you could def. use a new psu!

[Steveio101]

hmm not sure what the chips are all i know is that this is what i have!

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/partspecs.Asp?IMODULE=BL2KIT6464Z402

[darkcrystal]

ok it appears to be TCCD chips (low voltage, loose timings)
go ahead and take a look at this (http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Memory/Crucial-Ballistix-PC3200-2x512MB-Memory-Review/) article. it may be helpfull for your situation.

[Steveio101]

Right, borrowed a 650w psu from a friend! aslo tried relaxing the spd timings to 2.5-3-3-8
with no luck

also tried putting the dimms into un paired slots to force it into runiing them single channle, but still i cant get the HTT speed past 209mhz without freezing!

[Romulox]

Could you post your bios settings for us? It might help and I have a feeling something got reset to make it unstable.

[Steveio101]

how can i do a screen print of my bios?

[Romulox]

Do you have a digital camera to take a picture or write it down.
We don't need the whole thing just the cpu and memory related section.

[Steveio101]

ok good idea

http://www.fctuning.co.uk/b8.jpg
http://www.fctuning.co.uk/b9.jpg

[Steveio101]

sorry! phone pictures!

[Romulox]

This first thing for your OC is to
use dividers to test the new memory
lower ht x 4 until 250 fsb then to x3 for #> 250
set everything to manual
you need to find the cool n queit function and disable it
there are secret otptions I forgot, hit shift+F1, then alt+F2
if NV/ati speed up is enabled diasble it.
figure out the votlages you need

Edit
I just realized this a nofrce 3 board
make sure the memory is in slots 1+2
this can really effect the overclock

[Steveio101]

yup nforce3!

cant find any secert options in the bios! also there are no cool n quiet controls and no NV/ati speed up

i have downloaded gigabyte tune easy 5 to play about with clock settings within windows

best results so far have been
HT x 4
215hmz
2.6v

[Enablingwolf]

On a Gigabyte hit Ctrl+F1 while in BIOS. Then the secret options majically appear. :thup:

[darkcrystal]

HT frequency ratio X cpu frequency must be UNDER 1000. this is what romulox is saying
so 200mhz x 5 = 1000 250 x 4 = 1000 333 x 3 = 999. just keep ht x cpu as close to 1000 as you can without going over.

[Steveio101]

ahh i see!

also i have found the hidden menu
http://www.fctuning.co.uk/b1.jpg

what should i change?

[killermiller]

You can put DRAM timing to 2t. that is how many clock cycles the memory controller will wait until it tries to access the memory. It may default to 1T and that is to soon for the ram.

Fast writes- that allows the GPU to access the RAM directly. Try to disable that, although your FPS may suffer.

Speard spectrum should disable itself if you raise the HTT, do it manually if it doesn't.

[Steveio101]

right update is i have it running stable at 250mhz ht x 4

i have had to set the CPU/DDR clock ratio to 2/1.66 to achive this as the memory is unstable at speeds over 430

may try to push harder in the future but this is now a little faster than i was pushing it previously! so it'll do for now!

i have done a prime 95 torture test for 15 mins, cpu temp at idle was 32degrees and peaked at 38degrees, and thats with teh AMD box set cooler!