DDR3 1600 w/ i7: Clocking issues?

[Mill]

I just bought an i7 with 3x2gb DDR3 1600:

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365
cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

I was warned that I might have trouble clocking the RAM up to speed because of the locked multipliers on the CPU. I did some research and found this:

http://forums.techarena.in/overclocking-computer-modification/1100397.htm

My intent is to clock my RAM up to default (1600) without overclocking my CPU very much/at all. Is the best way to accomplish this through the 'Ram' multiplier?

Are his analogies correct in that BCLK = FSB, QPI = CPU Multiplier, and RAM = Memory divider? Do I need to worry about Uncore at all?

What is the best way to go about clocking the RAM up to speed without a big processor overclock? It seems like dividers are totally mandatory due to the low BCLK and high multipliers on the CPU.

If these questions have already been answered, I'm sorry, but I looked around as best I could :)

[Phoenix87]

Easiest way to get your memory running at 1600mhz is to just put the BLCK at 160 and the multiplier at 10. With a BLCK of 160 your CPU should be around 3.2 or 3.3ghz, which the stock hsf and voltages can more than handle.

[Evilsizer]

uncore is for QPI that is what is the new buss for carring information from NB to cpu.

as already said up the QPI and use 10x multi on the ram. that will get it to stock speeds, if your worried about the cpu. you need to lower the cpu multi to either get it at stock/just above/just below.

this is a better read imo
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-920-overclocking_2.html

[Mill]

Thanks guys. I read this post after I received and built the computer. What I ended up doing was increasing the memory divider so that it was at 1600 with the default QPI. Will a big divider like this lower the performance on my RAM?

uncore is for QPI that is what is the new buss for carring information from NB to cpu.

as already said up the QPI and use 10x multi on the ram. that will get it to stock speeds, if your worried about the cpu. you need to lower the cpu multi to either get it at stock/just above/just below.

this is a better read imo
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-920-overclocking_2.html

Thanks for the link. When you said use 10x multi on the RAM, did you mean processor?

[Evilsizer]

well since i dont have my i7 board, i was going by what is in that link. actually the highest multi for the ram is 8x and lowerest being 6x. making 6x133.33=DDR3-800 or 8x133.33=DDR3-1066.

no performance will not be lowered at all with a higher multi...

[Badbonji]

How about trying 8x memory multi, 200bclk (may work with cpu voltage tweaks) and that will give you 1600mhz, as for the multiplier, 20x (19x with turbo) will give you 4ghz, nice overclock which most i7's reach if not try 18 etc. What cpu cooler do you have?

[Mill]

How about trying 8x memory multi, 200bclk (may work with cpu voltage tweaks) and that will give you 1600mhz, as for the multiplier, 20x (19x with turbo) will give you 4ghz, nice overclock which most i7's reach if not try 18 etc. What cpu cooler do you have?

I'm using the stock cooler unfortunately.

If my RAM isn't going to perform any worse with a high multiplier, what is the benefit of changing from 133x21 (~2.8ghz) with a 12x RAM multiplier (1600mhz) to a setup with lower multipliers and a higher BCLK?

edit: I've been hesitant to OC this thing right now because frankly, I don't see a huge reason to - it is ridiculously fast as-is. I guess there's no harm in a moderate OC. Maybe bump the processor up to 160x21 (3.36ghz), and drop the RAM multiplier down to 10x (1600mhz)?

[Badbonji]

I thought the max memory multiplier was 8x or something that you could set, can you see a 12x or 10x in the bios?

[mgoode]

The evga and my bloodrage have 16x multi's for the ram.

[Mill]

I thought the max memory multiplier was 8x or something that you could set, can you see a 12x or 10x in the bios?

Yeah, it can go up to 16x I think.

[Charr]

My 920 and P6T Deluxe supports at least 12x on the RAM. With stock everything, I can set it to 1600.

[Badbonji]

The UD4P I have only allows up to 8x on a 940 ES, why do they all allow different multi's??? I only use a 10x on my G.Skill + Gigabyte extreme for 1740mhz...

[Mill]

So I tried a different OC setup last night and it sorta failed.

160 BCLK
20x CPU multiplier
10x RAM multiplier

Should have given me 3.2ghz CPU, 1600MHz RAM. When I did this setup, I never saw any video... just a black screen. I couldn't even get back in to BIOS, had to clear my CMOS.

I dropped the BCLK down to 150, same problem. Any ideas?

[Evilsizer]

either ram timings or you need more voltage to something...

[Deanzo]

@ Mill, what board are you using ?

@ Badbonji, The UD4P has the higher mem multi's as well, not sure why it's not working for you.

[Badbonji]

Make sure memory voltage is correct, or try up to 1.65V with manually entering timings. It looks to be the CPU or the memory causing issues, list of voltages used would be nice :)

[Mill]

@ Mill, what board are you using ?

EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

Make sure memory voltage is correct, or try up to 1.65V with manually entering timings. It looks to be the CPU or the memory causing issues, list of voltages used would be nice

I'm almost positive the problem is my RAM, here's what I tried:

BCLK: 160
Multiplier: 20
vCore: Various values ranging from ~1.2 to 1.35

RAM Voltage: 1.65, 1.7, 1.75
Multiplier: 10
Timings: 8-8-8-24 (default)

No video when I tried this. I dropped the memory multiplier down to 6x, and it booted just fine. I even upped the BCLK to 175 and kept the memory multiplier at 6x, and it still booted.

For some reason, it boots just fine in the following settings:

CPU: 142x21, 1.25v
RAM: 12x, 1.65v, 8-8-8-24

So there, the RAM is over 1700mhz, but it boots just fine. Something about having the BCLK set to a higher value is making it fail. But if I drop the RAM multiplier to a really low value, it boots just fine, so it must not be the CPU. I'm totally confused as to why this is happening, any ideas?

[Badbonji]

No idea, looks like some sort of wall like my 780i had with cpu FSB, where it didn't like booting at a certain FSB but either side of that worked : \
At least you got it highger than rated speed, just be happy :D

[mgoode]

EVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039



I'm almost positive the problem is my RAM, here's what I tried:

BCLK: 160
Multiplier: 20
vCore: Various values ranging from ~1.2 to 1.35

RAM Voltage: 1.65, 1.7, 1.75
Multiplier: 10
Timings: 8-8-8-24 (default)

No video when I tried this. I dropped the memory multiplier down to 6x, and it booted just fine. I even upped the BCLK to 175 and kept the memory multiplier at 6x, and it still booted.

For some reason, it boots just fine in the following settings:

CPU: 142x21, 1.25v
RAM: 12x, 1.65v, 8-8-8-24

So there, the RAM is over 1700mhz, but it boots just fine. Something about having the BCLK set to a higher value is making it fail. But if I drop the RAM multiplier to a really low value, it boots just fine, so it must not be the CPU. I'm totally confused as to why this is happening, any ideas?


I have this board as well try upping your cpu vtt and qpi pll vcore.

Start with these settings fornm the EVGA forums:

[Mill]

thanks to everyone for the help, I'll try those settings later today I suppose.

[Mill]

Wait - 1.475 vCore? Isn't that really, really high?

[Badbonji]

Why yes, yes it is. But there will be a Vdrop, (drop not droop) from BIOS which will put it at 1.45V, which is a bit on the high end but helps to work out a good overclock before attempting to lower it.

[mgoode]

Set vcore to what your CPU needs for your oc. The settings in the pic are a little high but they should get you a clean boot with your mem @ 16000 then you can start relaxing them.

[Badbonji]

16000? Fastest ram ever! :D

Any luck yet?

[Mill]

16000? Fastest ram ever! :D

Any luck yet?

No luck :( Just won't boot when I raise the BCLK. Doesn't help that every time it fails, I need to reset the CMOS, and do ALL the settings again. The CMOS reset button (and the battery, too) is hidden under the graphics card so I have to take that out, hit the button, reseat the graphics card... such a pain :P

[mgoode]

16000? Fastest ram ever! :D

Any luck yet?

whoops.... I wish I had some ddr3-16000:)

No luck :( Just won't boot when I raise the BCLK. Doesn't help that every time it fails, I need to reset the CMOS, and do ALL the settings again. The CMOS reset button (and the battery, too) is hidden under the graphics card so I have to take that out, hit the button, reseat the graphics card... such a pain :P


From MIAHALLEN:press the power button rapidly 4 or 5 times...she starts right up . Okay start slow change your bclk to 137 then up by 3 till it wont boot. You have a good X58 board capable of 200+ bclk unless it defective.

Fill in this EVGA Bios Template with your current settings and post back we will get your mem sorted out.

Mother Board ( EVGA X58 X3 SLI )
Drivers ( )
Bios ( SZ1N )
CPU ( 965EE )
CPU Cooler ( Danger Den/water )
Memory ( OCZ Gold 1600 8 8 8 24)
PSU ( Thermaltake Toughpower 1200 )
GPU ( GTX295 X 2 )
Drivers ( 181.22 )
Operating System ( Vista 64)


Frequency Control
CPU Clock Ratio ( 24X )
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ( 133 )
MCH Strap ( Auto )
CPU Uncore Frequency (Mhz) ( Auto )
Spread Spectrum ( Disabled )
PCIE Frequency (Mhz) ( 100 )


Memory Feature
Memory Control Setting (Enabled )
Memory Frequency ( Auto )
Channel Interleave Setting ( 6 Way )
Rank Interleave Setting ( 4 Way )
Memory Low Gap ( Auto )
tCL Setting ( Auto )
tRCD Setting ( Auto )
tRP Setting ( Auto )
tRAS Setting ( Auto )
tRFC Setting ( Auto )
Command Rate ( Auto)


Voltage Control
EVGA VDroop Control ( With VDroop )
CPU VCore ( Auto )
CPU VTT Voltage ( Auto )
CPU PLL VCore (Auto )
DIMM Voltage ( Auto )
DIMM DQ Vref ( +0 )
QPI PLL VCore ( Auto )
IOH VCore ( Auto )
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage ( Auto )
ICH VCore ( Auto )
PWM Frequency ( 800 )


CPU Feature
Intel SpeedStep ( Disabled )
Turbo Mode Function ( Enabled )
CxE Function ( Disabled )
Execute Disable Bit ( Enabled )
Virtualization Technology ( Enabled )
Intel HT Technology ( Enabled )
Active Processor Cores ( All )
QPI Control Settings ( Enabled )
QPI Link Fast Mode ( Enabled )
QPI Frequency Selection ( Auto )

[Mill]

I'll give that a shot tonight and report back here, thanks.

Just to satisfy my intellectual curiosity, and guesses as to what is causing it to fail, given that the clock speeds on both memory and cpu are LOWER when I raise the BCLK and drop the multipliers?

[trents]

Oops! Didn't read very carefully. You're asking about DDR3 timings, not DDR2. Can DDR3 really go with a 1T at naive speeds? Most DDR2 can't even do that.

[mgoode]

Yes, I can run mine @ 1t all the way up ddr3-2000