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njkid32

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Location
Glendale, AZ
I just got my new ram last Sat. and it was the best move I ever made so far. I tried several different brands and finally landed on Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL (DDR400) the OC is great I had this ram up to 270 at 2.7vdimm at 1:1. My problem is now I have dropped my multi to 9x and raised my FSB to 280 and dropped my HTT to 3x. Thats all I can get! :bang head I tried to drop my ram to 133 no post. I tried to lower my multi to 8x and still no post. I also tried to lower my HTT to 2x and you guessed no post. What am I doing wrong? I have posted on this forum several times and everyone has gotten me to this point with great ideas so I really hope someone can help me with this. Thank you!

One more question- is it better to have a higher FSB than ghz? Here are the two CPU-Z validators

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=18359

http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=17900
 
Probably the ram. You may need to relax your timings or use a divider. Use Memtest86+ to test.

You should shoot for high GHZ on the CPU. Everything else is secondary.
 
Well when I first got the ram I was running the ram at 200 2-2-2-5 1:1 250 FSB. I am now running it at 166 2.5-3-3-6 280 FSB stable I ran Prime95 and memtest86 for several hours. Thats why I am so confused cause when I raise the FSB to 285 it wont post. Whats weird is when I turn the comp on it goes through the post screen and then it shows the nvidia screen for raid. But when I change the FSB to 285 all I get is a blinking cursor any thoughts on this?
 
Going from 280 stable to 285 no post is abrupt but it happens. I think it is the ram. But it could be the CPU. Are you raising the CPU voltage? If you are raising the HTT to 285 for the computer you should first determine what setting your ram will need to run at say HTT300. If you had first tested the ram beyond the speed you think you will be shooting for we could be more confident in not looking at the ram as the problem area.

There are multiple things which could keep your computer from posting. Isolate each one to test. Otherwise you don't know why your computer is failing any one item and at exactly what point it is failing.
 
TCCD ram will run at high HTT speeds. I have never had a chip that would run at HTT300 so as a starting point I find the settings my ram will need to run at HTT300 using Memtest86+. Record those settings.

HTT itself can also be a problem. To isolate HTT all you need to do is lower the CPU multiplier way down. As shown in CPUz I have tested the HTT bus at HTT320. With the CPU multiplier set at 6x and the HT multiplier set at 3x the ram and CPU are below stock speed. With HTT isolated I would do about an hours stability testing with prime and super PII.

The next thing I did was test for HT stability. I did this by leaving the CPU multiplier low while upping the HT multiplier and adjusting the HTT setting. I found my computer was stable up to HT 1120. I don't think this setting is significant and rather than testing for the highest speed I would just us a multi which never let the HT bus run above 1000.

This is the start of my testing procedure.

What is your CPU voltage? Have you raised it at all?
 

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Well I have the volts set to 1.7 for the cpu and +2% on the ram which is 2.7. But I am going to try what your saying. I have dropped the multi to 8x but I was still having problems posting. I have my ram running at 166 which is 229.2 everything is running at 2521.3mhz which just seems like an odd number. I have had my ram to 270 stable I found this article on my ram and I just followed it for the ram settings-

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?id=1221&cid=4&pg=1

Thank you very much for your help and I am going to try what you say.
 
That much voltage for the CPU should be plenty. Not necessarily dangerous but will usually come with the penalty of high temperature. Also, it is probably best to slowly work up to that high of a setting. I will outline CPU testing in the next post.

I've had Corsair TwinX two times in the last few months and both sets ran best at 2.8v. I also saw a resent recommendation from Corsair that their ram would sometimes require 3.0v and even 3.1v to achieve stable high clocks on A64 systems. That information was on a DFI site and I do not know if it was intended only for DFI motherboards. In any event, you do have some room to raise ram voltage. I do not know what you are limited to there on the Gigabyte.

As for settings you get from an article: I too have often started with the settings I found in articles featuring products I have purchased. These can often be a great time saver. However I have NEVER found published settings or complete lists of settings offered by other overclockers to be the settings that I ended up ultimately using. Something ALWAYS needed atleast a slight tweak. What they are is very helpful starting points which can sometime steer you in a direction you had not thought of. Keep an open mind. Just because something has worked for someone else does not mean it will work for you.
 
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CPU Testing

The goal is to find the fastest speed you CPU will run at with your current components. You also want to be using the minimum voltage to achieve that speed. Most people, except for benchmarking, do not use that top speed CPU setting. For 24/7 operation they choose a speed just below top speed where the CPU will run cooler. The majority of CPUs when pushed close to their ultimate speed capability, start requiring voltage increases and quickly escalating load temperatures become a problem. Moderate high voltage and temperatures will decrease the life of your CPU. Most people can live with this as the ten year average CPU life is not reduced by but a small percentage.

The following temperature goal settings are arbitrary and are only my recommendation.

Idle temps 24/7: low 30c / at top speed: high 30c
Load temps 24/7: low 40c / at top speed: low 50c

Set up for CPU testing:
Set HT multiplier to 3x
Set ram ratio to 100mhz at stock latency setting. Maybe go 2-3-3-7. Running ram at half speed will insure it is not holding back the CPU.
Set CPU and ram voltage to stock speed.
Set HTT to 280 (or lower if you can't load) and CPU multi to highest number.

Boot into Windows. I use ClockGEN within Windows to adjust HTT speed. It is much faster than having to reboot each time. I use Prime95 small torture test to stress the CPU. Start Prime 95 test. If test runs ok for five minutes, use ClockGEN to increase HTT by two. Allow Prime to run five minutes again. Keep increasing HTT until you reach your first failure. Usually Prime will error and stop. Sometimes the computer will lock or even reboot. In any event, re-start the computer and raise CPU voltage one notch in bios. Resume five minute tests at point of last passing test.

You will be able to tell when you are close to the limits of your CPU. When you reach this point, you will want to limit your HTT changes to small jumps and test for longer periods. You will be very close to your CPUs limit within two hours of testing. Don't be impatient. At this point you will also want to be monitoring your temperatures closely. When temperatures or voltage start reaching extemes, I would call it good. In my case, my CPU is stable at HTT280 and 1.55v. It is also stable at HTT281 and 1.68v. That one extra HTT point required a huge jump in voltage and my load temps jumped from about 46c to 55c. I do not concider that useful so I use HTT280 as my highest real setting.

When you have found your maximum useable setting, you will need to let the test run overnight. CPUs often fail the test after one hour but rarely fail after twelve hours. If it passes, you have your maximum CPU setting. If it fails, you need to lower the HTT one point and test again.

Please note that this is still only preliminary testing. You will have found the fastest stable speed for your CPU but only in that one test. When CPU and ram are both running at high speed you will want to test with other programs such as SuperPII and 3DMark ** to confirm stability.

I also feel it is valuable to keep records of your results at lower speeds. In my own case, I run my computer 24/7 at 2.64ghz and only use 2.8ghz to run benchmarks. At 2.64ghz I can run stock voltage and my temps are very little above stock temps. It is only a 20% overclock but I get it with no strain on my components.
 
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Wow what great info! I am going to go home after work and start testing. My current settings HTT 280-ram 166 at 2.5-3-3-6-9x multi-3x LTD. Voltage is set to 1.7 (but actually 1.66) and 2.7 but when I get into windows I can raise it to 2.8 in Gigabytes tweaker. I am going to go home and lower everything but my HTT and see how far I can take my CPU. Once I find that then I will start messing with the ram settings. What ram setting do you think I should start out with to find my max CPU speed?
 
One thing I left out of the CPU test post above: Do the testing with your 10x Cpu multiplier and also with your 9x multiplier. Usually your max will be very similar but not always. Being able to choose between using two different CPU multies will often make it easier to tweak for fastest speed.

When you have found your highest HTT setting needed for your CPU, you will want to try to adjust your ram to run at that speed or slightly higher. If, for example, your highest CPU speed was obtained with an HTT of 295, I would shoot for an HTT of 300 to test my ram in Memtest. When testing at say HTT300 in Memtest, lower your CPU multiplier so it is not a factor. Start with loose ram bios settings so you can boot into Memtest without problems. (Note: Not all ram will run HTT300. My current G.Skill will not go there no matter what I do.) I would suggest stock voltage and 3-6-6-12 settings. If those fail to post, increase your voltage.

When in Memtest, run about five passes in test five. If you get errors, go back to bios and increase voltage one step. Try test 5 again. Repeat as necessary or if your ram will not run loose settings at HTT300 with higher voltage, then you will need to give up on 300. (300 is my example, your # will vary) Drop back to whatever speed was you max CPU HTT. 295 in my example. If you cannot pass test five with loose settings at 295, you will need to determine your ram mhz at the next lower setting (166?) and tune your ram from there.

When in Memtest, use only test #5 for initial testing. You can adjust Tcl,Trcd,Trp, and Tras from within Memtest.

First test for Tras which is usually listed last and is the highest number. Changing this number will affect the ram bandwidth speed listed near the upper left conner of the Memtest screen. Start with Tras6 and increase this number until the bandwidth starts to decrease. You will want to use the highest number that produces the highest bandwidth. Using a lower number will not increase your ram speed but may decrease stability.

Next test for Tcl. The 3 setting is ok but you may be able to run fine at 2.5. A setting of 2 will likely fail.

The Trcd and Trp settings are the most important. At high HTT, a setting of three for each of these is ideal. I can almost guarantee you will not get to 3. Lower these numbers one at a time till you start to get errors.

At this point go back to bios and increase ram voltage. Test in #5. Increase voltage again. Test in #5. You will want to test all the voltages you would likely use at this point. What you are looking for is the voltage which is most stable. The voltage in which the least errors occur. When you have found the most stable voltage leave bios set there.

Go back to Trcd and Trp and adjust to produce zero errors in 30 passes of test five.

Now go to test #8. If it does 30 passes clean you are likely good. If not, loosen Trcd and/or Trp settings.

This part will be done when you can run the complete standard Memtest86+ suite overnight without errors.

I do not know what other ram settings your m/board offers. All the testing done above should be done with those settings adjusted as loosely as possible. Once you have passed the testing outlined above, you can play with other settings for peak performance.
 
Great guide! I am going to print this out and go home and run these tests. Should I run the ram test at 1t or 2t that is the other setting in the bios.
 
Go for 1T if you can. It is one of the most important settings and has a huge effect on bandwidth on the A64. It is worth dropping a few mhz of speed if you can keep at 1T speed. Drop to 2T if necessary. It is generally better to drop to 2T and run 1:1 rather than drop ram speed to 166.
 
I think you will have success. A word of caution. When laying out a step by step guide I try be be as logical and failsafe as I can. I have done this type of setup on multiple machines in the last few years and it has worked well. What I have written above is just off the top of my head without notes or thoughtful organization so it may well be I have left out a step or setting perameter that is essential. Don't be afraid to question what I have said. Other people follow other methods and also have good results. Almost nothing is locked in stone.

It may well be that you have already reached your highest overclock at HTT280. I don't believe that but it is possible. In any event, if you follow the (I hope) logical progression of steps I have outlined you will be more secure in the knowledge you will have tested your components to their maximum in all areas.

Good luck with your overclock.
 
Well here is the first run- I lowered the ram to 100 and the CPU multi to 6x and raised the HTT to 300 then ran prime the small test and let it run for 2hrs with no errors. I then ran memtest to see where I stand with the current settings. The clock was only like 1.7 at that time. So memtest finished without any errors so I then raised the mem to 133. I then booted to windows just to see if everything was still running ok. I then ran prime again but this time only for a half hour with no errors. Everything seems ok so far. Temps are running about 34c not to bad. Now whith the settings this way and no finding any errors I raised the multi to 7x then it all went to hell! I was using clockgen and it just froze. So yet another reboot (I swear I am going to break the power button I have pushed it so many times) and thats another thing this mobo does not like to boot when the system has been at idle or off for any period of time. It takes several tries to get it up and running again even at stock settings. Anyway I then lowered the mem to 100 again and it booted just fine with the multi set to 7x. Also I didnt realize that my system had set the timings to auto I guess from a failed reboot or something so I set the timings back to 3-3-3-6 with no problems. So now I am at 300 with the ram at 133 and the multi at 7x I am maxed out on vdimm and vcore and LTD at 3x. I have passed all the tests and I am going to let prime95 run overnight to see if I get any errors. I would like to see my multi at 9x and the ram at least 166 but I dont think I will get there. I think my system ran better with HTT 250 with 1:1 ram settings I even had the timings at 2.5-3-3-6 and when I ran Sandra I got 7400 for ram bandwith. That is the best I have ever gotten. I just cant figure out what is better. But I am just going to see if I can get to my goal. I will go out and get better parts if I have to. I really dont want a new chip but if thats what I have to do then I will. But I think that its my mobo cause of voltage. I just dont think I have enough vdimm cause I can only get it set to 2.7 in the bios. I was thinking of getting a Neo2 if I can find one at a local store but nobody has one. I would also really like to get this when it comes out so I dont have to get a new video card-
http://www.hardwareasylum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=430#post430
 
all i have is ..
CAS Latency 2.5 default. options are 2,2.5,3
Memclock Index Value default at 200. options are 133,166, 200
Typematic Ratedefault 6
typematic delay 250 default. options are 5-750

I have no multipliers .HTT. Could it be named diff.

FX-55 Claw. @ default
gig of ddr @400 default.


M
 
hookedm said:
all i have is ..
CAS Latency 2.5 default. options are 2,2.5,3
Memclock Index Value default at 200. options are 133,166, 200
Typematic Ratedefault 6
typematic delay 250 default. options are 5-750

I have no multipliers .HTT. Could it be named diff.

FX-55 Claw. @ default
gig of ddr @400 default.


M
HTT is also called FSB or Front Side Bus

Memclock Index are your ram ratios. 200=1:1 166=5/6 133=2/3 100=1/2

Typematic stuff effects how your keyboard types repeated characters and has no bearing on performance.

Cas or Tcl is the first number in ram timings and is often used to indicate the general speed of ram when you purchase it. i.e. cl2=performance ram cl3=value ram cl2.5=mid range ram
 
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