BH5 that doesn't respond to voltage?

[rizzaz]

Hey,

I'm trying to overclock some slightly older hardware, i have some corsair BH5 ram that i would like to run 1:1 with my cpu at 247fsb but it just refuses to go above 200 not matter what timings / voltages i give it... up to 3.2 v on my motherboard (1c7-max3) It even seems to especially dislike CAS 3 which is a bit odd..

Am I missing somthing? I thought BH5 was supposed to fly on high volts....

cheers.

 

[Vegitto]

3.2V is quite normal for BH-5. BH-5 really flies at 3.5~3.8V with active cooling..

 

[rizzaz]

darn.... 3.2v is the most my board will do, still i was thinking that should get me above 200.. relaxing the cas timmings doesn't seem to help either? i run 2-2-2-7 at 200 but if i say drop to 3-3-3-7 this doesn't help me get above 200...


i'll try sticking some fans on the ram

 

[Shimmishim]

that is very strange indeed.

old school bh-5 does not like cas 3 so don't even try cas 3.

even with 3.2 you should easily be able to get 230ish to even 240ish mhz.

hmm... something is definitely strange

 

[rizzaz]

hmm, adding fans didn't really seem to help

i can run at 2-2-2-7 200 and get no erros in memtest, but at say 220 and 2.5-3-3-7 @ 3.2v I get tons of errors on test #5.. and your right about cas 3 being no good.

i guess my ram is just a bit duff?

 

[Hacp]

Your ram probably isn't bh-5

 

[rizzaz]

it deffinitly is bh5, corsair 3200LL v1.1, + i've had the heatspreader off of one to check and it said bH5 on the chip......

 

[imhungry]

Well you can always buy a DDR Booster to hit higher volts.

But after 3.2V you will need active cooling. Light active cooling is fine.

I've got a spare DDR Booster..

 

[rizzaz]

thanks for the offer, however i currently have all 4 slots filled so i assume i can't use the booster.... i was really hoping for an easy solution but i guess there isn't one!

 

[palouse]

Originally posted by: rizzaz
thanks for the offer, however i currently have all 4 slots filled so i assume i can't use the booster....
-------------------------
Abit IC7-max3, E0 P4 3.4 @ 4.2, 1gig Corsair BH5, unlocked 6800, Raptors Raid 0.

Is that "1gig" as in 4X256? Does that board have settings for the equivalent of "command rate"? If so, try setting to 2T. Have you tried OC each dimm separate from the other three? If one dimm is bad, the rest can not OC beyond the first's limit.

 

[rizzaz]

yeah it is 4 x 256, guess thats not ideal though they are all identical,

i dont think the intel boards have an option for command rate, not a bad idea to try them idividualy, though it'll be annoying if that is the cause,

thanks.

 

[TrevorRC]

If it's 4x256, that's what is holding you back.

The CPU either can't handle all of it, or the board can't.

Take out two, and see how high it'll go

 

[Big Lar]

What ^^ He said, 2 sticks for high clocks, 4 sticks for more ram, but no high clocks with less than 3.5v.

 

[rizzaz]

thanks for the info!!

i tried it with just 2 sticks and it's much happier, i can get 250mhz @ 2.5-3-3-7 3.2v and its ok if a bit flaky, however super pi times at this are not much of an improvement due to the looser timings stil 29s for 1m

however.. i can get another 300mhz out of the cpu now and run the ram 5:4 @ 2-2-2-7 so all good! cut my 1m super pi time down to 27's : ) just a shame i have to run with only 512 of ram..

might have to invest in a couple of 1gb sticks instead, what do you guys think would that work well? maybe 2x1 gig crucial balistix??

 

[Shimmishim]

avoid the 2x1 gig crucial ballistix like the plague...

i can't tell you how many users have to RMA these sticks...

i went through 3 sets!!! (2 died... 1 i sold).

if you want some high end stuff, then mushkin redline 2x1 and ocz plat 2x1 are good as well...

 

[TrevorRC]

Run with the full gig, but run the RAM as low as necessary (on a divider) RAM size > CPU speed > RAM speed in 95% of the cases. The extra 512MB will make a huge difference.
-T