Memory Tips for Overcocking

[laezyre]

I have overclocked my E8400 to 3.55 ghz with good stability. I raised the cpu voltage from 1.15 to 1.25 and the memory voltage to 2.08v from 1.87. I haven't been able to post at 3.6 ghz thus far. I have mediocre memory: ocz vista upgrade 4 gigs 5-6-6-18 default ddr2 800 mhz running at 1:1 My fsb default 400, but I'm running it at about 380 ish. My mobo is gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l. Video card is msi 8800 GT OC. Case is mid tower coolermaster centurion.

My questions are:
1) Is my memory holding my back? I have had no errors on prime95, but only ran it for 10 minutes due to cpu temps gettig high. I have to add some as 5. Is running memtest the best way to determine if the memory is at fault?
2) Are 2 gigs of memory easier to overclock than 4 gigs?

Thanks for the help

 

[Zapper48]

If that is OCZP28004GK then I have mine at 500x8 on an Abit IP35 Pro

Setting tRFC to 54 lets me run it at 5-5-5-15 1.8v

My vcore is 1.375 in bios for 4.0ghz 24/7 Iv'e ran 3 seperate 12 hour+
Prime 95 sessions with no errors.

 

[laezyre]

The memory I have is the ocz2vu8004gk. Probably the one mistake I made building this system, as I had not considered overclocking at the time. I could have purchased alot of better memory for around the same price. There's always ebay.

 

[Zapper48]

On the OCZ support forums they recommend setting tRFC to 54 in bios if your motherboard will set that high.I was having trouble at anything above default till I tried that. I could run DDR 1000 now and lower voltage to 1.8 on the sticks.
Bottom line: Changing tRFC to 54 made all the difference.

 

[n7]

Argh.

That's terrible RAM, at least comparatively to what's out there for DDR2-800 2x2 GB kits.

Unfortunately, that RAM can barely run at 400 MHz, which is why OCZ has the timings already so loose (5-6-6).

You could try something like 5-7-7, & yes, a very loose tRFC as well.

But it's basically just a bad fit for OCing an E8400.

Any decent newer DDR2-800 kits will do DDR2-900 @ 5-5-5, so it won't be holding back your E8400.

That said, you may need a bit more vcore to hit higher speed with the CPU.

You really need to figure out the max of your RAM though.

Set CPU to stock 333 MHz FSB, & RAM divider to 5:6, or if you don't have that, 4:5.

4:5 will be DDR2-833 though, so that may not even be stable with that RAM.

Anyway, then raise the FSB slowly, & test the RAM w/ Memtest86+ or HCI Memtest till it starts crapping out, & you'll know.

 

[laezyre]

Thanks for the reply n7. I will do some more testing. So far I believe my memory is not the best for overclocking. I have the gigabyte p-35 ds3l mobo. Any thoughts on an upgrade?

 

[j0j081]

Originally posted by: laezyre
Thanks for the reply n7. I will do some more testing. So far I believe my memory is not the best for overclocking. I have the gigabyte p-35 ds3l mobo. Any thoughts on an upgrade?

That motherboard is great for overclocking. I have the e6750, basically the older version of your cpu and it overclocks like a dream on the DS3L. I only go up to 3.2 from 2.66 for now because I don't need the extra power but I've ran it at 3.5 and 3.6 without too much trouble.

 

[laezyre]

Thanks for the hot tip. I actually just ordered those about 5 hours ago, then logged on and saw the code. I'm going to call newegg and add the special code today. Anyone need some cheap ocz RAM?