Overclocking RAM

[BCboneless]

I have G Skill 8 GB @ 1333 MHz with an Asus P8P67 LE. When I manually set my RAM speed up my PC wont boot and my MemOK button is on. Do I have to enable X.M.P. to set my RAM up? How do I overclock it?

I am new to overclocking and any help would be appreciated.

 

[redduc900]

Why do you want to run the modules at higher frequencies than what they're rated for? Depending on the quality of the sticks and the eventual effective DRAM frequency like DDR3-1600 for example, you'll need to loosen the timings and / or add DRAM voltage and Vtt. So in order to run them at DDR3-1600, and for example the modules are rated at 9-9-9-24 and 1.5V, you may need to loosen the CAS to 10 (10-9-9-24), the Command Rate from 1T to 2T, bump the voltage to 1.55-1.60, loosen the tRAS to 28, etc. Tighter timings at a lower frequency normally beats out looser timings at higher frequencies in bandwidth tests.

 

[BCboneless]

Because I want to. I have tightened the timing to 8-8-8-24.

 

[hokiealumnus]

Because I want to = best reason to overclock.

What's the exact model # of your RAM? You definitely don't have to enable XMP to overclock it, you just need to manually set your memory's rated speed, voltage and timings. After that, it's a matter of seeing how far up it'll go in speed or how tight the timings will go. If they stop, add voltage. Rinse & repeat. Just be careful with voltage b/c it could start to affect your IMC if higher than 1.65V is settled on for extended use.

 

[BCboneless]

My RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231417

I made the timing 7-8-8-24 and I got a BSOD while Windows was booting. Should I add more voltage or is that all it is going to do?

I have manually set the frequency before and when I save and boot the PC doesn't show anything on the moniter (black) and my MemOK! button is on. For people with 1600 MHz RAM they have to enable X.M.P. on their BIOS for it to run at that speed. Do I have to enable it as well? If so where do I find it in my UEFI?

 

[hokiealumnus]

I bet there's a good chance it will do 1600 @ 9-9-9-24 if you use 1.65V. All RAM is different and you kind-of just have to play around to figure out what settings work for your specific kit. Be forewarned - RAM clocking is one of the easiest ways to kill an OS install. I'd recommend having a backup in case things go awry.

I'm not sure where you see that some people have to enable XMP to operate their RAM at 1600. XMP is set-it-and-forget-it, where you set XMP and the motherboard (in theory) sets your speed, timings and voltage for you. That's it. If you set those three things manually, you're doing everything that XMP does.

 

[BCboneless]

On the P8P67 boards enabling X.M.P. lets the motherboard access files to control stuff on the RAM. So says ASUS.

 

[BCboneless]

Also I hear 1333 @ 8-8-8-24 is better than 1600 @ 9-9-9-24.

 

[hokiealumnus]

I'm sorry, wherever you're reading that from ASUS, it's incorrect or its interpretation is off. It lets the motherboard set the RAM profile that's programmed into the RAM's XMP profile, but it does not enable control of anything over the RAM. ASUS has some of the best manual RAM controls in the business, with access to more timings than you can shake a stick at. You don't need to enable XMP to access those controls.

As far as timings vs. speed, I've never tested those particular speeds & timings. You'd have to test one against the other to determine which works best for your purposes. There are benefits to both and it just needs to be benched versus one another to determine which one is 'faster'.

 

[BCboneless]

Dude you are like the most know-how dude I have ever talked to. Thanks for all the info!

 

[hokiealumnus]

Not sure if that's facetious, but...thank you? Heh.

RAM is very much trial and error. ALL sticks are different. Some will perform similarly if they have the same ICs, but all of them will vary from kit to kit.

In your situation, I'd just set 1.65V and find the best speed and timings that work for you, and you alone. The voltage shouldn't hurt your RAM at all; while binned for 1.5V, 1.65V shouldn't even get them warm to the touch or hurt them at all. It's also a place where your IMC is happy, not too much but enough to clock your RAM better / tighter.

 

[bluezero5]

your ram 1333 at rated with 9 CAS at 1.5 V.

what you can do, if you want them faster, is first, set voltage at 1.65V, which most would agree is pretty safe for VDIMM, then by trail and error, you can test to see which yields you the best result.

you can start with 1600Mhz as Hokie mentioned.
if you cannot get them to boot, then loosen the timings to 10 CAS, I will guess you will have a Strong chance of getting them to work there at 9 CAS though

Now, the question of:

Also I hear 1333 @ 8-8-8-24 is better than 1600 @ 9-9-9-24.

the answer is that it depends, but yes, loosening the timings for such small clock change might not be worth it. If you want to find out which is better, try running Super-Pi 32M, and compare the time for it to complete. Obviously, faster is better.

Super-Pi 32M will also help you test the stability too, which is crucial, in mem overclocking.

 

[BCboneless]

If all I do is pull in the timings, (no change in frequency), should I give them more volts?

 

[Automata]

When overclocking, you want to change one factor at a time. Tighten the timings and test for stability. If the system is unstable, give it more voltage. Once you start changing multiple options, you have no idea what fixed/changed what. This will get very confusing later on or you may be running sub-optimal settings.

Also I hear 1333 @ 8-8-8-24 is better than 1600 @ 9-9-9-24.

Assuming a completely perfect scenario (meaning, the only factor is the RAM itself), 1600 @ 9-9-9-24 should be ~6% faster. Honestly though, you aren't going to notice any change by overclocking the RAM outside of synthetic benchmarks.

 

[vdgamer]

yes you need to raise voltage anytime you lower timings of raise frequency(depends on increase and ram itself), when i oc ram i like to set ram voltage to 1.65v, play with my timings vs frequency then when im done with those i slowly drop ram voltage and run prime, intel burn test to make sure its stable, i got my 16GB 1866 9-10-9-28 1T in quad channel to run at 2000 9-10-9-28 1T with 1.57v, thats pretty good for 16GB, the more ram you run the harder it will be to overclock it

 

[BCboneless]

It is stable at stock V (1.25?) and 8-8-8-24. Should I push for more?
Maybe it is me but I think windows boots faster and I scored higher on the WEI (I know that doesnt mean much)

 

[ivanlabrie]

It is stable at stock V (1.25?) and 8-8-8-24. Should I push for more?
Maybe it is me but I think windows boots faster and I scored higher on the WEI (I know that doesnt mean much)

I feel the same thing when using my ram oced to 2133mhz cl10 vs 1600mhz cl11, even though most people says the difference is negligible.

You should give it 1.7v and push moar mhz out of those!

 

[friendly1]

Hi!
Could you tell me is it possible to clock differently memory and cpu on intel 1155 platform,
specificaly on Asus P8Z77-V and i7 3770 (yes, without 'K') with memory sticks clocked at 2133 MHz stock speed (DDR3 PC-17000).

Is it worthy to buy higher clocked sticks than Ivy bridge default (as far as i know 1600MHz) ?

I know 'basic nature' fo my question. I'm quite new to the SB\IB platform (currently running Core2Duo 8600 on my VAIO).
Thx!

 

[BCboneless]

Hey all.

So I set my timings to 8-8-8-23 and when I booted CPU-Z says they are now running at 401 MHz. Did I push them too far and now they are throttling back?

 

[Automata]

Can you post a screenshot? You can manually set the speeds in your BIOS, which is what I'd do at this point.