Memory overclocking confusion

[Vasudan]

Well, I've been looking into my memory of late because it's one area of my system I've not taken much notice of until now.

Running the following:

Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2
AMD Athlon 2800+ Barton
2x512 DDR400 and 1x256 DDR400

I have a couple concerns, I'll explain the Overclocking one first.

12.5 x 183 - 2.28Ghz, so memory is at 366. FSB can't get much higher, 183 is 100% stable though.

My concern is that to the best of my understanding the memory should run at 400. I've played with the multiplier and had the CPU running far less than 2.28 but it will not take much more than the above, let alone 200 FSB without booting assues.

So, I got the CPU-Z thing to find out what exactly I'm running, It's been awhile, the memory actually missed the last upgrade, hence the 2x512 and 1x256, had another 256 but the board will not boot with 4 double sided sticks, hence the 3, just used what I had. I found the following...

The 2x512's are Nanya PC3200, the 256 is Hyundai PC3200.
All I know is that I understood it to be Samsung, it's been a few years, never heard of Nanya and didn't know Hyundai made memory.

I once played with the timings, the default is 3.3.3.8 which know is not great from what I've read but last time I played with it I got sick of removing the battery to reset the bios everytime It screwed up.

So in conclusion I'm hoping someone can clear this all up.
Is there a big hole in my overclocking techniques, is my memory so crap that's it explains the overclocking issues and should I even bother playing with it anymore than I have?

I'm planning an Upgrade at Xmas but funds are limited, getting the following.

Gigabyte K8NS 939-Ultra
AMD 64 3200+ Venice

The other question is memory, I don't know if I should keep the current 2x512's, replace them or get 2 new ones and try to run 4x512. I can't really afford 2x1gb sticks but keeping the current ones for now and saving is an option if Nanya isn't all that bad.

Sorry, this got really long but if I can sort this confusion out now I can avoid the same mistakes in the next upgrade.

Included the CPU-Z file just in case it helps.

Thx in Advance.

Vas.

 

[flapperhead]

remember the more stix u use the harder the mem controller has to work.. secondly, try testing each stik singly and see if u have a flaky one.. thirdly cpu speed will give you better performance by a factor of approximately 3-5. that is for every mhz in cpu speed is equal about 3-5 mhz of memory bandwidth...(if i remember correctly)

 

[Reefa_Madness]

Well, I've been looking into my memory of late because it's one area of my system I've not taken much notice of until now.

Running the following:

Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2
AMD Athlon 2800+ Barton
2x512 DDR400 and 1x256 DDR400

I have a couple concerns, I'll explain the Overclocking one first.

12.5 x 183 - 2.28Ghz, so memory is at 366. FSB can't get much higher, 183 is 100% stable though.

My concern is that to the best of my understanding the memory should run at 400. I've played with the multiplier and had the CPU running far less than 2.28 but it will not take much more than the above, let alone 200 FSB without booting assues.

Reply:
The ram is rated to run DDR400 speeds. It will run in sync with your FSB when running 1:1 memory dividers so if your FSB is at 183, then so will your ram. What is limiting your FSB could be one or more of several things such as the cpu needing more voltge (increase vcore) or the ram needing more voltage in order to be able to hit higher speeds (increase vdimm), or alternatively, the northbridge might need an increase in voltage for increased stability. I would start with the cpu as it is the most likely culprit at this point. Is it locked? If not, lower the multiplier and increase the FSB and see how far you can get that way.

For what its worth, I have the same mobo with a locked 3000 and 183 is very close to my max FSB, but in my case the cpu and the locked multis play a big part.

So, I got the CPU-Z thing to find out what exactly I'm running, It's been awhile, the memory actually missed the last upgrade, hence the 2x512 and 1x256, had another 256 but the board will not boot with 4 double sided sticks, hence the 3, just used what I had. I found the following...

The 2x512's are Nanya PC3200, the 256 is Hyundai PC3200.
All I know is that I understood it to be Samsung, it's been a few years, never heard of Nanya and didn't know Hyundai made memory.

Reply:
Nanya is mostly an OEM supplier, as opposed to someone like OCZ or Mushkin, and I believe that Hyundai is the same as Hynix (either name change or merger or something similar).

I would suggest dropping the 256 stick and running just the 2x512MB modules in Dual Channel (DC) configuration. This might allow you to reach a higher clock and in any event running DC will give you better performance over single channel (depending on how your slots are populated you may or may not be in DC at this time). While 512 sticks can create problems for the NF2 chipset, it is not until the higher speeds (220 or more FSB) that these limitations surface. I think that just two sticks of the same brand and specs would be easier to work with than your current blend.

Even though the Gigabyte mobo has 4 slots I believe that in the manual there is no configuration that will allow it to run 4x512MB (I think that it can run 4x256).

I once played with the timings, the default is 3.3.3.8 which know is not great from what I've read but last time I played with it I got sick of removing the battery to reset the bios everytime It screwed up.


Reply:
Increasing the vdimm might allow you to run tighter timings, however, depending on the chips used in that ram in may also not net you any gains.
So in conclusion I'm hoping someone can clear this all up.
Is there a big hole in my overclocking techniques, is my memory so crap that's it explains the overclocking issues and should I even bother playing with it anymore than I have?

I'm planning an Upgrade at Xmas but funds are limited, getting the following.

Gigabyte K8NS 939-Ultra
AMD 64 3200+ Venice

The other question is memory, I don't know if I should keep the current 2x512's, replace them or get 2 new ones and try to run 4x512. I can't really afford 2x1gb sticks but keeping the current ones for now and saving is an option if Nanya isn't all that bad.

Reply:
If on a budget, then I would keep the 2x512 and try them out on the new A64 and see how they do before spending the money to replace them. Clearly they won't perform as good as a set of TCCD, however, because of the available memory dividers, it is still possible to get good performance out of an A64 while using Generic ram. If it turns out to not work well, you can always upgrade the ram at a later date.

Sorry, this got really long but if I can sort this confusion out now I can avoid the same mistakes in the next upgrade.

Included the CPU-Z file just in case it helps.

Thx in Advance.

Vas.

I hope some of the above helps.



Changing gears...flapper, how are you doing bud?

Long time since I've run across one of your posts...hopeful that I'll see more of them in the days to come.

 

[Vasudan]

Exactly what I needed to hear and makes perfect sense to my information overloaded brain at the moment.

Much apprceiated, I'll have a play around and see what I can do.

Vas.

 

[Reefa_Madness]

By the way...welcome to the Madness we call OCF.