Just got my new Opty 165 and some G.Skill DDR500 delivered today!

[Cook1]

Was so excited all morning to come home and have two packages on my door step!

However...

G.Skill can't pass memtest at default settings Gah, what a way to ruin my weekend that I had planned of getting in some quality PC time.

 

[Fallengod]

Herm....You running it at regular spd stock timings and voltage and everything? Seems odd brand new gskill ddr500 is bad. Whered you buy it from? COuld always rma as a last resort. Definitely sucks though. In all my years buying parts online, im lucky and have never had a bad part.

 

[Cook1]

Yeah, it's at stock everything, read a few reviews (personal reviews from Newegg just now) and there was mention that it liked the 2.5V (lower volts) tried it, same thing. Got it from Newegg, and I'm so not happy right now!

 

[Fallengod]

Not sure what to tell you. Failing memtest at stock everything is bad. You know its not the motherboard im guessing? Could be incompatability with mobo. At least you bought it from newegg. Shouldnt have a problem rmaing to them. Still sucks though.

 

[Cook1]

Not a compatibility issue, guys on DFI street with my same mobo are getting amazing OC'ing results, which is why I decided to buy these over the muskin and the corsair.

 

[Shimmishim]

have you tried messing with the MAL and read preamble settings?

and is everything set to auto in the bios?

 

[Cook1]

Everything is set to auto EXCEPT I have to force it to run at a 1:1 ratio with the CPU and put my CPU at 250, otherwise the ram will run at a 200MHz frequency.

 

[Absolute0]

If it runs 200 then it works, sometimes it takes alittle tweaking to get it to 250 even if it is rated for that.

 

[Shaotai]

is it a amd64 setup? if so, you have to lower you LTD down to 4. (4x250htt=1000fsb)

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Absolute0
If it runs 200 then it works, sometimes it takes alittle tweaking to get it to 250 even if it is rated for that.

yeah and sometimes they'll rate the timings on a p4 rather than an a64, which results in more strict timings according to corsair

 

[5t3v0]

Cook1, I have the same memory which arrived earlier this week. When I run 1:1 with cpu at 250MHz with all timings on "Auto", except command rate which I set to 1T, the tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS timings default to 3-5-5-9 on this Epox board. Here's a screenshot of all the readings.

When I manually set tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS to 3-4-4-8 I couldn't POST unless I changed the "Read Preamble" from 5.5ns to 6.0ns. The settings on this screenshot are memtest stable. Note that the vdimm is 2.75v on Auto setting so if you're running on 2.5v, you might be too low.

My cpu maxes out at 280HTT on 1.55v vcore. At this speed I have to run the RAM on a 166 (5:6) divider which on a x9 mutliplier gives 229MHz. Since this is underclocking the RAM frequency I am able to tighten up the timings to 2.5-3-3-6. I also lowered tRFC a little from 24 to 20. Any lower fails memtest. To be sure this is stable I have set the vdimm to 2.8v which actually gives 2.85v due to overvolting by the board (not excessive enough to worry about). Here's a screenshot.

In order to find what gave better performance, speed or timings, I used 3DMark05 as my benchmark tool & tested using my prefered 166 divider (229MHz) and also on a 183 divider using A64Tweaker (252MHz). The results below, show that the tighter timings at the lower frequency out-performed the higher frequency with default timings in both game and cpu tests. The game score increase is negligible however, and would translate into an unnoticable effect in real world use. The increase in bandwith with the tighter timings is noticable in tasks like Windows & application startup. Not done any encoding or other heavy duty stuff so cant comment on that I'm afraid.

MHz_Timings__CPC_3DMarks_CPUmarks
229....2.5-3-3-6...1T.....6458.........5387
252....3.0-4-4-8...1T.....6454.........5233
229....2.5-3-3-7...1T.....6454.........5101
229....3.0-4-4-8...1T.....6447.........5132

Incidentally, when I tried to overclock the memory frequency I could not get memtest stable at 260MHz. This may have been due to me not having loosened timings enough or maybe just bad luck. It might have been nice to have got them over 270MHz, like in some reviews I've read, but I'm not too bothered though because the lower speed & tighter timings are giving good enough performance.

So, what speed are you hoping to run your HZs? You should strongly consider going lower than 250MHz & tightening the timings. And give them more than 2.5 volts.

I am planning on doing some more testing with my HZs and may start a new thread with all the findings. I'll keep you posted.

Steve

EDIT: Fixed links

 

[kyparrish]

Originally posted by: 5t3v0
...lots of good info...

Nice post 5t3v0

:beer:

 

[Cook1]

Thanks for the post there 5t3v0! It gives me hope about my RAM here.

Question though, the A64 tweaker...what does that do exactly? I mean does it allow you to change your BIOS options in windows then when you restart it applies them? I ask because my knowledge about all the settings via the BIOS are limited.

 

[gjwild]

A64 tweaker allows you to change RAM BIOS options in windows.
It will apply them at startup if you prompt it to...

 

[5t3v0]

I didnt have much luck with A64Tweaker. I found the apply settings at startup didnt work reliably & would cause the system to hang or BSOD. If I applied settings manually it was fine but who wants to do that every time the pc is started? I found that the 0.6 beta version did not save the settings I had made - you could test this by loading the settings from the saved file. The 0.31 full version seemed to save the right settings but still didn't make any difference to stability. If you want to try it, you can download if from here.

 

[5t3v0]

cook1, a word of warning. Despite passing Super PI 32M, Memtest & 3DMark05 my memory setup still isnt stable. It BSOD'd on me in FEAR last night & locks up in Prime95 on the second test. I'm starting to think this memory is a pile of sh1t. What are your SPD values? Mine are 3-5-5-10 in cpuz & bios. Why are they marketing them as 3-4-4-8?

 

[jktamp]

Originally posted by: 5t3v0
I'm starting to think this memory is a pile of sh1t. What are your SPD values? Mine are 3-5-5-10 in cpuz & bios. Why are they marketing them as 3-4-4-8?

Here is a Screenshot of mine at 266 FSB. My 3200 isn't stable past this without a big voltage increase but the memory has tested to 280 at these settings.

 

[5t3v0]

Any chance you could post a screenshot using A64Tweaker to show all the other settings? Did you manually set the Idle Timer to 256 clocks or is that the correct spd?

 

[emilyek]

I have this kit running right now. Manually set your memory to 3-4-4-8. Samsung set the default timings wrong. Set it to 3-4-4-8 and it will be fine.

It will do 250mhz @1t with those settings. It might do more-- 280ish at 1T-- but you'll have to test it.


Don't put more than 2.7volts on it, since any more will not be beneficial.

 

[jktamp]

Originally posted by: 5t3v0
Any chance you could post a screenshot using A64Tweaker to show all the other settings? Did you manually set the Idle Timer to 256 clocks or is that the correct spd?

I have the Timer set to 256 in the BIOS. All my settings are posted Here.

 

[5t3v0]

Originally posted by: emilyek
I have this kit running right now. Manually set your memory to 3-4-4-8. Samsung set the default timings wrong. Set it to 3-4-4-8 and it will be fine.

It will do 250mhz @1t with those settings. It might do more-- 280ish at 1T-- but you'll have to test it.


Don't put more than 2.7volts on it, since any more will not be beneficial.

Thanks for that tip. I think the voltage was my problem. I had at 2.8v but lowered down to 2.6v & now I'm running Prime95 without the lockups on 2.5-3-3-7 1T @ 229MHz. Its early days but looking more promising than before. I had already set manually to 3-4-4-8 1T & tested @ 250MHz and it was fine.

Originally posted by: jktamp
I have the Timer set to 256 in the BIOS. All my settings are posted Here.

256 seems a bit high. I have mine on 16. I must try lowering the read preamble time now that I'm lower volts. Thanks for the link

 

[Aarondeep]

Originally posted by: emilyek
I have this kit running right now. Manually set your memory to 3-4-4-8. Samsung set the default timings wrong. Set it to 3-4-4-8 and it will be fine.

It will do 250mhz @1t with those settings. It might do more-- 280ish at 1T-- but you'll have to test it.


Don't put more than 2.7volts on it, since any more will not be beneficial.

HE IS CORRECT!! I have G.SKILL DDR500 as well and the default ram timings are wrong!
Go and change all these settings in the bios manually to 3-4-4-8. And you should be alright. Try it out let us know...

 

[5t3v0]

Originally posted by: aarondeep
HE IS CORRECT!! I have G.SKILL DDR500 as well and the default ram timings are wrong!
Go and change all these settings in the bios manually to 3-4-4-8. And you should be alright. Try it out let us know...

I think its very poor that memory as costly as this (£160 here) doesnt have the right spd values :|

I've already tested 3-4-4-8 at 250MHz & it's fine. Its tighter timings that I'm more interested in as I'm running on a divider @ 229MHz. Now that I've corrected the high voltage issue, I appear to be stable on 2.5-3-3-6 1T. The next exercise is to tighten up all the other timings that seem to excessively high. There's a very good post on DFI Street that explains all the timings and recommends settings (scroll to the bottom of the page to find the relevant bit). I may have another go at testing this memory up to 280MHz on looser timings but the divider and tighter timings is working well for me just now.

 

[Cook1]

Thanks for the post 5t3v0, my ram is stable but not at stock. When I put a divider in there everything is very stable. I did find a spot that I'm happy with on the RAM and my CPU...

CPU= 280x9= 2.52GHz @ 1.3v
RAM= 229MHz @ 2.5-3-3-7

 

[5t3v0]

Nice one. Have you run a lengthy Prime95 blend test? I find that's the most punishing test on the system & finds faults where memtest doesn't.

Since tinkering with the other timings, I am now unstable in Prime95! I used the link jktamp posted + the DFI Street memory guide as a guides to set the following:

CPU Frequency = 280
CPU Multiplier = 9
DRAM Divider = 166 (5:6)
DRAM Frequency = 229
Command Per Clock (CPC) = 1T
CAS Latency Control (Tcl) = 2.5
RAS# to CAS# delay (Trcd) = 3T
Min RAS# active time (Tras) = 6T
Row precharge time (Trp) = 3T
Row Cycle time (Trc) = 7T
Row refresh cyc time (Trfc) = 13T
Row to Row delay (Trrd) = 2T
Write recovery time (Twr) = 2T
Write to Read delay (Twtr) = 1T
Read to Write delay (Trwt) = 3T
Refresh Period (Tref) = 15.6µs
R/W Queue Bypass = 16
Bypass Max = 7
32 Byte Granularity = Disable
DQS Skew Control = Disable
DQS Skew Value = 0
Read Preamble Time = 5.0ns
IdleCycle Limit = 16T
Max Async Latency = 7.0ns
Dynamic Counter = Enable

Now I'm going to have to go through the lengthy process of undoing those changes & re-test :|

Any chance you could post what you have set for all these?

Edit: Added link