[ttfrog]

After seeing all the positive things everyone said about the buffalo pc3700ddr here, I decided I would buy two sticks of these (512mb). Unfortunately, unlike many people here who reported some awesome performance from these modules, I cant seem to run this memory @ 2-2-2-5 @ even 205 fsb (2.8v) without getting errors in prime 95 -__-; Its completely stable @ ddr 400 with 2-2-2-5 timings, and GAT settings Turbo -auto-auto-disabled-disabled. I'm running a p4 2.4c in an abit IS7, and right now i'm pretty much stumped. I dont know how the abits read the case temps, but right now it seems a little bit stifling @ 36C when running prime 95. Do you have any idea what I could do to squeeze more performance out of these modules, or do i Just have duddy memory?

*EDIT* err I forgo to add that it will NOT boot at cas 3 and sometimes will hang when i set it to 2.5. furthermore it shows up as Melco DDR-SDRAM pc2700 in cpu-Z....... did newegg send me some repackaged messed up ram.. or what?? help

[black_dog]

Hi, i'm pretty much in the same boat as you are. I too just recently purchased a 2.4c, 2x512mb Buffalo PC3700 and an Asus P4P800 motherboard. I have been experimenting with different ram timmings and have run into some problems too.

At 2.4 ghz and 400 mhz ddr I can run the ram at 2-2-2-5-4 with Memory Acceleration Technology. My system won't fully load windows if I enable the Turbo ram setting. This is confusing because the ram is supposed to run at 466mhz at cas 3(??) At 400mhz it should be able to run very tight timmings. I don't know what turbo mode really does though concerning ram or overall system performance.

Right now I have my system at 3.12ghz, 260mhz fsb with 5:4 ratio (ram at 416mhz) with 2-2-2-5-4 timmings and no MAT or Turbo mode. This seems to be my maximum speed for my cpu without getting BSOD while loading windows.

I have tried default ram settings and enabling Turbo mode but with no go. I know heat isn't an issue in my case since my heatsink and ram don't get hot after playing stressfull missions in IL-2 FB (where 1GB of ram is needed).

Can other people report their experiences with this ram? I have a fealing that the good timmings you are referecing were probably a few good reports out of many more cases like ours where people aren't really stressing or overclocking their systems too much.

[larva]

I ran 2x512 PC3700 Buffalo on a P4P800 a month ago or so and it tolerated 225fsb in 1:1 (450MHz on the ram) at 2-2-2-5 with the turbo mode on. The bios I was using at the time didn't have a seperate MAM setting, enabling the Turbo system performance mode enabled the PAT. This was at 2.85V. You do have your memory voltage maxed, don't you?

Also, the bios I used only had 4 memory timing fields. The -4 on the end of you string confuses me. In any event you may have to run one of the "2s" in your string at 3, or the 5 at 6 to gain stability. as long as you maintian cas latency (the first field) at 2 upping one of the other values one digit may really aid stablilty and compromises performance very little. Since I don't even know what the 4 is there's no telling how much increasing it might help.

[larva]

Same advice applies to the Abit user, leave the cas latency at 2 and try upping the other values and see if it doesn't give you more clock speed. You may have to volt-mod the board and achieve 3-3.1V to run 2-2-2-5 on the Abit much above 400MHz. The memory calibrations on the Abit are very agressive and BH5's like their voltage.

All Buffalo 3700 reads Melco 2700 in the spd. This is normal. Actual Buffalo 2700 doesn't carry BH5 chips, it has non-winbond 6ns chips of one type or another.

You have to understand that over 400MHz at 2-2-2-5 with GAT enabled on an Abit is the most demanding memory situation. Any BH5 will require quite a bit of voltage to do it. It's just an unbeleivably aggressive memory calibration that yields tremendous performance when you pull it off, but is very hard on ram. The Kingston HyperX 3000 will do it a touch better, as will the Mushkin PC3500 Level 2, but these are expensive. And most people that are getting better-than-Buffalo results are only using 256MB dimms, rather than the 512MB modules people focus on with the Buffalo due to the moderate cost.

[ttfrog]

well, since I figure I wasnt going to get very good overclocks @ a 1:1 ratio, I decided I would go for 5:4, and see if I could do it without sacrificing memory bandwidth. I raised my fsb to 250, at 5:4 ratio, which puts myr am @ 200 (at which its stable) 2-2-2-5 + turble-auto-auto-disabled disabled. When I first did this, my memory bandwidth dropped to somewhere around 3.8k/3.7k ish and I was shocked at how much difference it made. Then I tried setting the N/bstrap to 800 (I dont know exactly what this does, but I figured it keeps the fsb of the system @ 800?) and my bandwidth went up to 5.4k/5.37k. So... could you tell me exactly what the N/B strap does, and if its safe to keep it at the settings I'm running it at, and finally, if there are any other tweaks I could maek to get my system to run faster?

[larva]

Make sure you have bios 16, it helps 5:4 performance. Try running like 2-5-3-2 or 2-6-3-3 and see if it doesn't open up more clock speed. You really need 3-3.1V on the memory to run 2-5-2-2 at speeds above 400. That's just the BH5 characteristics.

As far as the cpu strap sertting, it shouldn't matter if it gives you access to the ratio you want to run. But apparantly the PAT doesn't work unless it's set to 800fsb, and you can see the effect on performance.

[ttfrog]

yeap, I'm using bios 16. The performance I'm getting right now is pretty satisfactory, but I have one last question. I'm using motherboard monitor, and the sensor for "Winbond 1" (which the website for MBM tells me to set for case temp) reads up to 40 @ some times!! I know that abits overread the temp for the cpu, but what about this case temp. It seems kind of ridiculous. Could my memory be overheating to such an extent that my case temps become so ridiculous?

[larva]

Use the Winbond Hardware Doctor 2.71 software that comes with the board. It is calibrated correctly for the board. My system temp reads 35C, you might want to consider a little more case airflow if you can accomplish it. The Abits do read a bit high on this number compared to other boards, about 5C higher than an Asus. My cpu reads about 8C higher on the Abit than the Asus. Who knows which is really accurate, if either.

That being said with 125cfm of case aiflow and good routing you will see about 35C on the Abit system temp in 75C room temperatures. So if you've got AC and the thing reads 40C you might need more and/or more powerful case fans to maximize the potential of an air-cooled rig.

Abits just read high on the temperatures all around, the memory isn't running abnormally hot. Even at 3.1V the heat generated is minimal. Beef up your case airflow to where the system temp reads 35C and the ram won't even be warm to the touch.