Cpu stuck at 2.656 mhz

[bushwickbill]

I have a E6400 overclocked at 2.656 mhz 332*8, My Ram is 2*1GB Kingston Value Ram DDR2 533, Asus P5B Mobo,EVGA 8800GTS SC 320 MB, Cooler master 600 watt PSU. So I am trying to up my speed to 2.88mhz 360*8. I know my Ram is having a hard time getting past 684 MHZ at 2.0 volts 4,4,4,12. When I try 345*8 it won't boot into windows. If I up the Ram volts to 2.1 or 2.2 will I be able to hit my 2.88 mhz goal? I know I could go for it and try, but can't I cause permanent damage to my Ram by pouring too much volts into them? What will happen? If it will just not postwith no damage, then O.K. no harm in trying then. Or is there anybody out there with another way of getting to my goal on Air cooling? I wish I could just lock the Ram at a 667 mhz, then just crank away on the cpu till the temps get too hot. Wishful thinking. My next upgrade on my Ram is still A little bit away so there has to be a way to do this, Crysis is coming soon along with Quake wars So I want to have it optimized to play demanding games. Can someone help a new overclocker out??

 

[DrMrLordX]

Your best bet is to try booting into memtest when you run 345x8 to see whether or not your problem is related to memory. However, there's only so much you should expect out of RAM like that. Some cheap memory will OC well, while other stuff . . .

Also, have you tried 5-5-5-15 instead of 4-4-4-12?

 

[swtethan]

youre pushing your ram too far, it wont go any further i think

 

[lyssword]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
Your best bet is to try booting into memtest when you run 345x8 to see whether or not your problem is related to memory. However, there's only so much you should expect out of RAM like that. Some cheap memory will OC well, while other stuff . . .

Also, have you tried 5-5-5-15 instead of 4-4-4-12?

Yeah, I agree, perhaps loosening ram to 5-5 will let you oc it higher.

 

[Lonyo]

You could always run a divider on your RAM, and up the FSB more while reducing the CPU multiplier to try and get your RAM as close to stock as you can, while maximising the CPU speed.
Something like a 411MHz FSB, 7x multiplier (for 2.877GHz) with a 5:4 RAM divider (if it's available) which would mean your RAM ran at 329MHz (slightly lower than your current 332MHz which you know it will run at)

 

[SerpentRoyal]

DDR2 533 is rated at 266MHz. I believe that MB can only run RAM at 1:1 (lowest divider). Therefore, you're already pushing the ValueRAM above spec by running the FSB at 332MHz. The RAM is probably not Memtest stable at this speed. So you're stuck in HELL but you want cold water? Spend a few $ on quality DDR2 667 or 800.

 

[Xvys]

Kingston Value Ram should be able to reach 450MHz without too much trouble. I have a mis-matched pair of PC4200 ram that run 440-450MHz in my P5B...at 2.0v. Kingston VR is usually Micron D9 GMH, perhaps the best ram money can buy...although maybe "binned".

I would loosen the timings to stock 5-6-6-18 (by seeting ram speed "enabled" in bios). Then boost the cpu voltage to 1.40v and the ram voltage to 2.0v with the stock timings...reaching 430-440MHz (DDR2-880MHz = 1760FSB) on most P5B systems. After you reach your maximum stable FSB, then the ram timings could be tightened to 5-5-5 or 4-4-4, if possible...although ram voltage may have to be increased to 2.1v.

 

[bushwickbill]

Xvys, Are you saying my ram should be able to reach 450*2=900mhz?! Mine are also mismatched, one is DDR2 533, one is DDR2 667, 2.1 volts won't do any permanent damage? I also can't find where you can adjust the ram timings in the bios. can tell me where that is so I can try it. Thanx for the replys people:}

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Xvys
Kingston Value Ram should be able to reach 450MHz without too much trouble. I have a mis-matched pair of PC4200 ram that run 440-450MHz in my P5B...at 2.0v. Kingston VR is usually Micron D9 GMH, perhaps the best ram money can buy...although maybe "binned".

I would loosen the timings to stock 5-6-6-18 (by seeting ram speed "enabled" in bios). Then boost the cpu voltage to 1.40v and the ram voltage to 2.0v with the stock timings...reaching 430-440MHz (DDR2-880MHz = 1760FSB) on most P5B systems. After you reach your maximum stable FSB, then the ram timings could be tightened to 5-5-5 or 4-4-4, if possible...although ram voltage may have to be increased to 2.1v.

Kingston uses up to a dozen vendors for their VR line. Those with "N5" on the model number tend to overclock well (still no guaranteed success).

 

[nerdye]

I wouldn't expect ddr533 to be able to reach 450mhz or so on a regular basis, no matter what brand, but I do agree that it is possible, with caution. I'm running ddr800 at 465mhz no problem, it happens to be high end corsair xms2 with huge heatsinks, I could probably reach 500mhz, but am ok at the moment. If I was having trouble getting the performance I wanted out of my overclocked core 2, the first thing I would do is probably get faster ram.

 

[bushwickbill]

Well I think I hit my stable max of 2.75MHZ, Ram is at 688Mhz at 2.1 volts 4,4,4,12. Temps are low 45's at load, able to drop V.core to 1.25 volts so less heat. Ran two apps of orthos till it said 150% coverage, 0 errors(whatever that means?). Finally I can get some sleep. Yeah!! I did hit 2.864, just below my goal of 2.88, posted to desktop Ran 3dmark06, But it failed two applications of Orthos, I guess the looser timings 5,6,6,18 and a higher CPU speed got me no more performance considering I had to jack up the V.core to 1.40v to get it. Thanx to all for your help, got me a higher clock and some higher scores. I'll settle on 2.75 ghz till I can get more ram. One last thing, Can I hurt my ram by leaving it at 2.1 volts, Besides touching it for heat can it get damaged within 4-6 months?? It seems the tighter timings gets me more performance in gaming which is what I am after anyway.

 

[Xvys]

Xvys, Are you saying my ram should be able to reach 450*2=900mhz?! Mine are also mismatched, one is DDR2 533, one is DDR2 667, 2.1 volts won't do any permanent damage? I also can't find where you can adjust the ram timings in the bios. can tell me where that is so I can try it. Thanx for the replys people:}

At 5-6-6-18 timings and vDimm 2.0v, I'm pretty sure your ram could reach 450MHz. I had a 512 stick of Infenion PC4200 and a 512 stick of IBM Lenova (Micron D9) PC4200 and they were stable at 430MHz with stock 1.8v. and 450MHz with 2.0v. My new ram is PC5300 (Cas3) and runs fine at over 525MHZ (1050MHz) with 4-4-4 timings @ 2.1v. The memory divider changes to 1:1 above 401FSB making it easier to o/c.

Prolonged voltage of 2.1v might degrade the ram over a long period of time, but many manufacturers recommend 2.2v and many o/c'ers go that high and higher to achieve higher overclocks. I frankly would not go above 2.0v for 24/7 use, but that is probably over-conservative and 2.1v would be fine.

The bios ram timings are in the memory timings section. You "disable" the automatic settings and then some new ram timing settings appear. Unfortunately on my P5B if I try to set the ram timings manually, it does not boot, even at stock speeds. So I use Memset.exe program in Windows.