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8GB Overclock - Preliminary Results

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Atomic Dawg

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2007
I've had a chance to mess with the RAM a little bit. In case you didn't see my first post, I'm running two kits of G.Skill F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ. That's four sticks at 2GB each for a total of 8GB. (For a complete list of my hardware, click here.) But, before we jump into the RAM, let's review a couple of things:

ENERMAX Chakra ECA3052B case: I can't say enough good things about this case. The 250mm fan really keeps everything cool! I don't have a single case fan and air is blowing out from everywhere. Plus, it's quiet! The only downside is the 250mm fan limits the height of your heatsink. The maximum height is 145mm. (I originally said the maximum height was 130mm. I was wrong.) At 145mm, you would just about be touching the 250mm fan. So, this rules out your Tuniq and Scythe towers. You could easily mount the 250mm fan on the outside of the case giving you an additional inch. (25mm) You would have to lose the fan cover and it would look kinda funky though.​

Rosewill RCX-Z3 heatsink: I got crucified when I listed my system components with the Rosewill RCX-Z3 as my heatsink! I ended up getting this heatsink for $6 bucks. I couldn't resist giving it a try. This heatsink stands 143mm tall leaving me with 2mm clearance! Guess what... this thing is working pretty damn good! I'm not saying it's close to being on par with a Tuniq Tower but the temps speak for themselves! (see below) Plus, I think I could improve the cooling by adding another 92mm fan on the other side in a push-pull configuration. The fan shroud is already drilled for another fan. It was super easy to install and I have no clearance problems. I can mount this heatsink in any direction and it doesn't block my RAM. Also, I like the mounting system. It's certainly better than anything with plastic pegs. Anyway, my original goal was 3.2 and I can hit that with a Vcore of 1.3625 and everything else set to default. Between the 250mm fan and this heat sink, everything stays nice and cool.​

Now for the RAM. First, let me start off by saying that I'm just coming up to speed with Core2 and this Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. I'm coming from an Abit AN7 and Athlon XP 2500 so I've got some catching up to do. Second, the consensus seems to be that the DS3's NB heatsink sucks. Today, I ordered a Thermalright HR-05 with a 70mm fan. We'll see how that works out. (certainly couldn't hurt!) And lastly, I'm going to be a wuss when it comes to memory voltage. Fortunately, I've read that these sticks like low voltage. (1.8v~1.9v) This is good because I have no intention of cranking up the voltage to see what happens. Frying $800 dollars of RAM would be a disaster I can't afford.

So, I set the Vcore to 1.4 and everything else to +.1. (DDR2, PCI-E, FSB and MCH) First, I tried setting the timings to 4-4-4-12. I couldn't even get it to boot. I tried some different things but didn't have any luck. I plan on trying again but for now, I set the timings to 5-5-5-15 and moved on to the FSB. I wanted the system to be stable for an hour of running two instances of Prime95. I managed to do this with a 414 FSB. (8x414=3312) I really tried to get to 425 FSB but I couldn't do it. So for now, that's where we stand. I'll work on it some more this weekend after I install my HR-05. Considering I'm using 4 sticks, I guess this isn't too bad. What do you guys think? All comments welcome!

digit1.png


digit2.png
 
wa77ss said:
64bit windows?

Yes... Windows XP 64-bit. I have a copy of Windows Vista Business 64-bit on the way. (Assuming Microsoft approved my upgrade coupon.)

BTW, the ambient temps during my tests were 21C / 71F.
 
Nice. Some bandwidth tests would be sweet to see too (Everest or Sandra, preferably). :beer:

Is there an app like A64 Tweaker for Intels? A screenie of something like that would be cool to see.
 
LoneWolf121188 said:
Nice. Some bandwidth tests would be sweet to see too (Everest or Sandra, preferably). :beer:

Is there an app like A64 Tweaker for Intels? A screenie of something like that would be cool to see.

Another vote for sandra and everest screens.
 
Try to run the ram at default vcore and do more tests, maybe they can go a little higher or at least do CAS4 @ 800mhz.
 
Atomic Dawg said:
So, I set the Vcore to 1.4 and everything else to +.1. (DDR2, PCI-E, FSB and MCH) First, I tried setting the timings to 4-4-4-12. I couldn't even get it to boot. I tried some different things but didn't have any luck. I plan on trying again but for now, I set the timings to 5-5-5-15 and moved on to the FSB. I wanted the system to be stable for an hour of running two instances of Prime95. I managed to do this with a 414 FSB. (8x414=3312) I really tried to get to 425 FSB but I couldn't do it. So for now, that's where we stand. I'll work on it some more this weekend after I install my HR-05. Considering I'm using 4 sticks, I guess this isn't too bad. What do you guys think? All comments welcome!


either try lower multi or up the vcore. at 1.4v you are pushing it. that might be the reason you can't get to 425, not the ram itself.
 
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