After suggested hardware upgrade, how to consolidate it all?

[pzykotik]

So, back in my first thread, trents told me all about overclocking my CPU.

First Thread

Then, I realised there was actually some slowdown after the OC, so I went back to default, and waited until I got my new 1866 ram.

Now, once the ram was OC'd, I tried OCing the CPU, and I froze up right away.

Simply put, I know how to OC the CPU, I know how to OC the ram, but how to make them work together?

 

[juane414]

How are you overclocking? If you're overclocking by raising the HTT or FSB then that will automatically overclock your RAM as well. If you do it that way you will need to lower your RAM multiplier.

If you're overclocking by raising the CPU multiplier then that will not overclock your RAM, but the added stress to the system could make your RAM unstable. In that case you might need to increase the RAM voltage or lower the RAM timings to make it stable again.

Your best bet is to keep your RAM below stock and find out your max OC on the CPU, and then keep your CPU below stock speed and find out your max OC on the ram. That way you will have a better idea of which component is causing you trouble. For example... On my system I found that my RAM really does not like to go above 800MHz but my CPU can go over 4.5GHz with enough voltage. So if I run into trouble at 4.3GHz it's more likely that the RAM is causing a problem because I know the CPU can go higher. Make sense?

 

[pzykotik]

I think I changed the CPU multi, but I'll keep an eye on that. Sure thing.

Since I got my 1866 I've seen an amazing improvement, compared to any OC with the CPU, so I will try and put more effort into keeping the ram at 1866 than upping the CPU. As you can see in my sig, the ram is clocked.

Just saying, spending 80$ on that kingston ram was like putting 300$ worth of speed. I realised that you can have 20 petabyte of ram, if it's slow, it's slow, period.

 

[juane414]

I think I changed the CPU multi, but I'll keep an eye on that. Sure thing.

Since I got my 1866 I've seen an amazing improvement, compared to any OC with the CPU, so I will try and put more effort into keeping the ram at 1866 than upping the CPU. As you can see in my sig, the ram is clocked.

Just saying, spending 80$ on that kingston ram was like putting 300$ worth of speed. I realised that you can have 20 petabyte of ram, if it's slow, it's slow, period.

Yea, and with RAM that fast you don't really need to overclock it. You'll probably see more of a boost in performance from OCing the CPU than the RAM, but it depends on what you do. In the past when I couldn't figure out what was causing my system to be unstable, it sometimes ended up being the RAM timings. For some reason you can crank as much voltage as you want into RAM but sometimes just dropping one or two of the timings is all that it needs. Just be careful not to put too much voltage into the RAM. You're better off lowering the timings if you find yourself increasing the RAM voltage a lot.

 

[pzykotik]

Hold on. Here are the ram's specs:

TIMING PARAMETERS:
• JEDEC: DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9 @1.5V <------- Stock
• XMP Profile #1: DDR3-1866 CL9-11-9 @1.65V <----- Current
• XMP Profile #2: DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9 @1.65V

More details here: Kinstong PDF sheet

/e just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about my ram

 

[wingman99]

I think I changed the CPU multi, but I'll keep an eye on that. Sure thing.

Since I got my 1866 I've seen an amazing improvement, compared to any OC with the CPU, so I will try and put more effort into keeping the ram at 1866 than upping the CPU. As you can see in my sig, the ram is clocked.

Just saying, spending 80$ on that kingston ram was like putting 300$ worth of speed. I realised that you can have 20 petabyte of ram, if it's slow, it's slow, period.

Just wondering what program did you see amazing improvement in?

 

[juane414]

Hold on. Here are the ram's specs:

TIMING PARAMETERS:
• JEDEC: DDR3-1333 CL9-9-9 @1.5V
• XMP Profile #1: DDR3-1866 CL9-11-9 @1.65V
• XMP Profile #2: DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9 @1.65V

More details here: Kinstong PDF sheet

According to that your timings should be 9-11-9 if your running at DDR3 1866. You should make sure that's what they are set to in the bios. However, RAM does not always run at these stock speeds as easily as it should. My new RAM needed a slight voltage bump just to run at stock DDR3 1600 speeds. On one of my previous builds my RAM would not run at stock speeds at all. I was able to run it at 400MHz which was stock for DDR2 800, but I had to lower my timings from stock 5-5-5-15 to something like 6-6-6-18 to make my system stable with my CPU overclocked.

 

[pzykotik]

Just wondering what program did you see amazing improvement in?

Everything. From opening a random folder, to opening a browser/browsing internet, to gaming (as far as I can remember, Saints Row 2 is the game I have that demands the most resources overall).

Now if I could just give my rig that little push from the cpu OC, I think I would be done for a while. The only other thing that could be upgraded would be the GPU, but that's not hapenning anytime soon.

According to that your timings should be 9-11-9 if your running at DDR3 1866. You should make sure that's what they are set to in the bios. However, RAM does not always run at these stock speeds as easily as it should. My new RAM needed a slight voltage bump just to run at stock DDR3 1600 speeds. On one of my previous builds my RAM would not run at stock speeds at all. I was able to run it at 400MHz which was stock for DDR2 800, but I had to lower my timings from stock 5-5-5-15 to something like 6-6-6-18 to make my system stable with my CPU overclocked.

Like I said (and in my sig) this is what my timings are at the moment. 1866MHz // 9-11-9-27-42 // 1.65v

 

[juane414]

Like I said (and in my sig) this is what my timings are at the moment. 1866MHz // 9-11-9-27-42 // 1.65v[/QUOTE]

Yea those are your stock timings. If you're having trouble achieving stability, it might be worth playing with them a bit.

 

[pzykotik]

They aren't stock (I changed it manually in the bios) as the stock ones are 1333Mhz CL9-9-9 @1.5V.

Unless you mean using others timings that this.

 

[pzykotik]

/e Double posting

 

[Dlaw]

Stock doesn't necessarily mean what the BIOS sets it at. I've seen a lot of boards default super fast ram to stupid low speeds, and I've seen boards set timings that would never make any sense. Stock is what your components are rated at, not what your board runs them at by default.

 

[Anonaru]

These boards will always (to the best of my knowledge) set over-specced RAM to 1333 (Or very rarely 1600) with those base timings. You have to manually set higher-end RAM to run at the settings it says it can acheive.. Stock is what the sticker says on the RAM, not what your board sets it at

If you get lockups with just the new RAM, you might consider a micro bump to your CPU-NB and your RAM voltage, it might just need a tiny bit more juice (Mainly the RAM voltage, I'd definitly give that a bump)

 

[pzykotik]

So, 1333 9-9-9 1.5v is default.

I changed the speed to 1866 and timings 9-11-9-27-42 1.65v, which isnt the default setting, but its still not overclocked.

Is this right?

 

[Anonaru]

So, 1333 9-9-9 1.5v is default.

I changed the speed to 1866 and timings 9-11-9-27-42 1.65v, which isnt the default setting, but its still not overclocked.

Is this right?

Said it yourself

You changed it from the motherboard's "Default" setting to the RAM's "Stock" setting. You're good to go

 

[trents]

So now, are you still getting lockup when you try to OC the CPU?

 

[pzykotik]

The last time I tried OCing, I had my ram set up as it is right now (1866, 9-11-9-1.65v) and tried changing the CPU multi of .5...

BIOS crashed, CMOS reset, okay, I'll stick with this until I figure it out.

So since I got that ram, I didn't take the time to OC properly.

Basically, what I should do is find the CPU max settings (as described in the first thread), then find the RAM max settings (and this looks more complicated than just using the XMP profile... idk, it's not clear yet I think) then put them together?

I think I'll really need a step-by-step help on that one, idk, it feels like more big time than just OCing the bulldozer.

 

[Anonaru]

The last time I tried OCing, I had my ram set up as it is right now (1866, 9-11-9-1.65v) and tried changing the CPU multi of .5...

BIOS crashed, CMOS reset, okay, I'll stick with this until I figure it out.

So since I got that ram, I didn't take the time to OC properly.

Basically, what I should do is find the CPU max settings (as described in the first thread), then find the RAM max settings (and this looks more complicated than just using the XMP profile... idk, it's not clear yet I think) then put them together?

I think I'll really need a step-by-step help on that one, idk, it feels like more big time than just OCing the bulldozer.

Completely unrelated, but you do know the idle readings of FX processors are way off, right? 5 degrees C is under 42 degrees F, if you didn't know haha

There's a bit more to it, and some parts don't get along well. I'd look at potentially getting the latest BIOS, then start looking at the basic guides available on this site.

 

[pzykotik]

Well, I have the latest BIOS, and yeah, trents told me about that. about 15°c off. AndI don't understand °F, sorry. lol

 

[wingman99]

I would test your 1866, 9-11-9-1.65v RAM first with memtest86 and leave your CPU at stock.