Settings to tweak for stable 2x3700 Gold Rev2 (2GB)

[mongre556]

Hi,

I have the following hardware

Asus P4C800-E Deluxe
Intel P4 3.0C 30Cap (known stable at 3.5Ghz)
Antec TruPower 430W PS
2 3700 Gold Rev2 Kits

Settings with original kit

2.5
3
3
7
8
enabled
infinite
15.6

Ratio is 1:1

One kit is a recent arrival from OCZ, the other is from a couple of months ago. Origanal kit has been tested extensively with prime95, and with actual use at 227FSB.

I am testing the newer kit. I had some errors at 233 with prime95, although I am not sure if there is a possible issue with the black rather than the blue slots on the MB. Is that at all common that one pair of slots is not as strong as the other two? In any case some initial tests with both kits together showed errors at even 221FSB. The highest they seem stable at 217FSB.

I did a quick test with 2.75volts and a quick test with 3 instead of 2.5 for the first setting, both resulted in quick prime95 errors at 233FSB.

I am wondering what might be some settings to try with both kits together? Just to narrow things down a bit. :)

[AndyT]

Basically you look ok, but I would try 3-3-3-7-8 and see how you do. The extra load on the memory controller seems to be dragging your overclock down.

Often one set of slots will overclock better. We are not really sure why.

[mongre556]

I started a test at 3 4 4 7 8, just to check. Kind of kicks the heck out of the memory bandwidth, but lets see if I can get a stable run. Then I will try 3 3 3 7 8 again.

I am a little disappointed with my memory controller...Do you think it would be worthwhile to try a different motherboard?

[mongre556]

No go, machine spontaneously rebooted sometime during the day. Clocked back to 217FSB, which so far is stable.

I am kinda disappointed. I may try to see if I can squeeze some tighter timings out at that FSB, or a couple more points of speed. 221 is a no go for sure though...:(

[AndyT]

The fact that you are running 4 sticks of performance memory is the real issue. If you are just running PC3200 or 200FSB speeds then running 4 sticks has little or no impact. Start overclocking beyond what the chipset is designed to do and as you see your overclocking ability becomes more limited.
For kicks try 2.65v and see if that helps.

[mongre556]

So what you are saying is that I should generally be pleased with the result then that I can overclock my CPU still by 250Mhz and get a nice 5.3GB/s on my RAM?

That is fair. I am running 2.65V already. That is where I am the most stable. I am also satisfied that both kits are performing properly as I have tested each seperately.

I am going to run an overnight test to make sure I am good at 217FSB, although intensive gaming tonight showed no weakness. Tommorow I will try for some tighter timings.

I will post how it goes.

[AndyT]

I am glad both kits are performing well for you. I guess the whole point was that a 2 x 512mb kit would be overclocking a bit higher for you.

Please do let us know how you do with the tighter timings. It's always good info to have.
Thanks