Having trouble

[strummer]

First the rig:

Opteron 146 CAB2E
Stock HSF
G Skil 2x1 DDR500 (3-4-4-8)
Epox 9NPA+ Ultra
FSB 450W PSU
Cooler Master Case
Lite On combo drive
Home XP

First off - no way I can get 1:1 with the DDR500. It is recognized, and I tried a bunch of stuff, but I can do no more than HTT 240. Tried relaxing the timings, tried adjusting vDIMM both up and down, switched slots (moving them further away from the CPU). Nothing worked - so I used the 4/5 divider (DDR400) and started again from there. Got HTT 272 through 15 passes of memtest then I got 18 test 5 errors. Tried increasing vDIMM but then I got hundreds of errors after the first couple passes. So I backed the vDIMM and the HTT down 269 - nope, 267 - nope. Finally - HTT 263 it does 24 passes of memtest with no errors (overnight). Next up it is Prime 95 stable going on 10 hours (CPU multiplier 10, 2.63 Ghz) - 44C.

So is this the best I can get for this rig, 2.63? Real DDR 500 RAM frequency is 211? I don't know what to work since the RAM doesn't seem to like more juice, and it doesn't seem to want to give me any more. Any suggestions at this point would be appreciated? I am a n00b, so there is a definite chance that I am doing something wrong. I am somewhat disappointed with the 2.63.

 

[Elfear]

Maybe incompatibility between the ram and the mobo? I have the same ram and it does ~275MHz with the timings you're using. I have noticed that these HZ sticks are a little finnicky when it comes to voltage. Some seem to like pretty low volts (2.6V) and others, like mine, like 2.85V. If you're not using the latest bios, try switching to that and see if it helps. Hopefully some Epox/G.Skill owners will chime in.

 

[strummer]

Originally posted by: Elfear
Maybe incompatibility between the ram and the mobo? I have the same ram and it does ~275MHz with the timings you're using.

Are you running your RAM 1:1? I took the RAM up to 2.8V and kept seeing more and more memtest errors. What is the upper limit on the vDIMM for the G Skill?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

What vcore are you using? Remember on A64's when you overclock memory you are putting more stress on the ondie memory controller which may require you to increase the vcores

 

[Cook1]

I have that ram, it likes to run at lower voltages (have mine at 2.5v) and likes to run at a divider of 166MHz.

 

[strummer]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
What vcore are you using? Remember on A64's when you overclock memory you are putting more stress on the ondie memory controller which may require you to increase the vcores

vCore is 1.45V. The spec for the 146 says 1.35 / 1.4, so I am past that already. Should I take it up?