RAM Frequency and Speed questions

Hello guys,

I have an Alienware Aurora with an i7 930 CPU at 2.8, Overclocked to 3.8 along with liquid cooling. My RAM is from Nanya technologies, and the part number is: NT2GC64B8HCONF-CG. I have 6GB of RAM. After I overclocked my CPU, I heard that my RAM would also be affected without my direct input.

In CPU-Z, it says my max bandwidth is 667MHz, my DRAM frequency is 722MHZ, and my NB Frequency is 2888MHz. Are these numbers reasonable? Am I hurting my RAM or CPU with these frequencies? If I am, how do I change these correctly, and what frequencies would you guys suggest? Thanks for your input, I look forward to hearing from you. If you need any more information, please let me know.

Assuming a BCLK of 180 (x21 = 3.8GHz), and a x8 DRAM multiplier = DDR3-1440 (722MHz), the RAM is overclocked by 53.5MHz x 2 (rated at DDR3-1333 and CL9 at 1.50V). Post pic's of CPU-Z open to the CPU, Memory, and SPD tabs.

CPU-Z open in CPU, SPD, and Memory tabs. Also included CPU Temp.

Lower the DRAM frequency from DDR3-1440 (x8) to DDR3-1080 (x6), raise the Vcore to 1.25V, then start upping the BCLK from the current 180 (don't worry about the lower than rated DRAM frequency for the time being, instead focus on your chips max. stable overclock). Up the BCLK in increments of +2, for example 182, 184, 186, etc., then run Prime blend or LinX after each increase to check for stability. Take the DRAM timings and voltage off Auto, and manually adjust them to 9-9-9-24-1T at 1.50V.

Thanks, I'll start doing that in about an hour, and I'll get back to you. However, I am slightly hesitant to continue to OC my CPU. With my current cooling, I have maxed out at about 75-77C running each core 100% for about 10 minutes. Is that too high? Or, is that normal?

You can continue on as long as you keep core temp's below 80 - 85C, although I would look into better cooling since you're already at 77C w/ 1.20V Vcore and 8 threads. You could disable HT for the time being, at least until you get better cooling, which will lower the core temp's significantly and allow for a higher overclock.

In your CPU-z pics, compare your current ram frequency with the JEDEC #4 max factory rated frequency for your ram. You will see that you are currently exceeding that. Go into bios and bump the ram starting speed down a another notch. Command Rate (CR) probably is too aggressive and needs to be relaxed to 2T as well at those high speeds.

In my BIOS, vcore can be changed by selecting a "Dynamic Vcore Offset" with options:

By CPU VID
+20mv
+40mv
+60mv
and so on

What is "By CPU VID"?
What is the +XXmv being added to?