Gigabyte P35C-DS3R / Q8200 /CORSAIR XMS2 PC6400

Hello to all:

i am attempting to overclock my memory and i am trying to understand / confirm an issue i am having.

When i overclock the CPU to 3ghz i have to use a FSB of 429 to get there because my multiplier only goes to 7. (Min 6 - Max 7)

When i use 7 as the multiplier (highest multiplier i can use) i am left with 2.0 and 2.40 as the memory muliplier which makes the memory run at 858 or 1030

To me it seems im stuck with one or the other. Either get the 3.ghz overclock and a minimal memory gain or drop the cpu speed to overclock the memory further.

Could this be due to the fact that my multiplier is so low and due to my coice or processor im in this position?

i have the Gigabyte P35C-DS3R , Core 2 Quad Q6600 and 6 GB Corsair XMS2 Ram (2) 2gb Chips and (2) 1GB Chips properly positioned. Memory runs at dual channel interleaved.

P.S. i am very new to overclocking.... Especially ram. I always overclock the cpu and leave the ram on auto.

i appreciate the help

Missing from the P35 chipset are the options to select 400D MCH strap multipliers (2.66 and 3.33; 2.00 is available w/ the 333 strap). You're limited to the 333 MCH strap, and ratio's of 2.00, 2.40, 3.20, and 4.00 (options are dependent on the CPU). If Memtest fails at a DRAM frequency of 858MHz, then loosen the timing(s) and / or supply more MCH / DRAM voltage (especially considering you have 6GB RAM installed).

when you say loosen the timings you mean the 5-5-5-18 timings?

could you give me a rough example - If it were your components your idea of losening would be what?

Before loosening any of the timings I would up the vNB (MCH OverVoltage Control) and / or DRAM voltage (DDR2 OverVoltage Control) first (only if Memtest fails), since the timings are already loose at 5-5-5-18 for DDR2-800MHz. But if you decide to change the timings, I would probably start by leaving the four primary timings at 5-5-5-15, and then use MemSet to read the current sub-timings while set to Auto in the BIOS. Next manually enter each of the sub-timings in the BIOS to correspond to the individual timings in MemSet. Then I would probably play w/ tRFC and Static tRead Value (corresponds to tRD / Performance Level in Memset; higher number numerically corresponds to a looser PL / tRD). Using this generic BIOS template for a Gigabyte P35, and default timings of 5-5-5-18 at 800MHz, post the readings from MemSet when the sub-timings are set to Auto ...