Overclocking A85X - RAM only

[Ber_MM]

I just built myself a DVR / General Purpose PC, and I'd like to boost the GPU by OCing the RAM. My question is whether I can get the RAM up to its 2133 rating without giving up the low power / low heat capabilities of the system. I remember way back when that tuner cards were very sensitive to OCs, is that still an issue?

My system is as follows:
AMD A10-5700 APU
Alpine 64 GT R2 PWM HS/Fan
Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 Motherboard
G.Skill F3-17000CL9D-8GBXM RAM
Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe Tuner
Hauppage WinTV-HVR-2250 Tuner
Western Digital Scorpio Black 250GB x2 Hard Drives (RAID 0 System & Apps)
Seagate 7200RPM 750GB Hard Drive
Hitachi 7200RPM 500GB Hard Drive (JBOD with Seagate as DVR Storage)
Arctic F8 PWM 2x Intake Fans
OCZ ModXstream Pro 600W Power Supply
Lian-Li PC60-USB Midtower Case
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Thanks!

 

[Soulkeeper]

The memory is a relatively small % of total system power usage
You'll likely add only a few watts

I doubt you'll have any problems, that's a pretty good motherboard.

 

[Ber_MM]

Thanks SK.

I haven't really overclocked anything since socket 7 ruled the world, so I may as well be a noob. What I've been reading now suggests that anytime you OC you need to disable C&Q, variable rate turbo, etc, basically anything that would let the system drop back to lower power when the OC isn't needed. For the moment this system will likely run 24x7 and my room is too well insulated so every watt less heat is multiplied because I have to run my AC that much more often.

When I can save up the funds again I may get a used Atom to run the few things that require a constant on system, but that could easily be summer. I have a Q6600 + 275 GTX that I use for hardcore gaming (and was my heavy duty workhorse til now) but it produces way too much heat so my constant on apps, day to day work, and light gaming have been on an Inspiron 9400 with a Go 7900 GS. The Inspiron is beginning to show its age, and I finally saved enough for the DVR, so I'm trying to relegate the Inspiron back to its mobile role, limit the heat produced by its replacement, and minimize the need for the high heat Q6600 (hence maximizing the gaming capability of the A10).

Any suggestions on how to achieve this or if it is even feasible are greatly appreciated.

Update: Since I'm currently limited to running the RAM at 1866 I looked up the timings for the 1866 version of my RAM and applied that. Seems to have taken without issue so far. Old timing: 9-11-10-28@1.65V, new timing: 8-9-9-24@1.5V.

 

[Centauri]

If you want 2133 RAM at low voltage, get some Patriot Viper 3. I run mine at 1.45v, which is even lower than spec, and it's solid as a rock.

 

[sm625]

You arent going to gain more than 8% by going to 2133 from 1866. Not sure what that is worth to you.... But if you want to produce less heat you need to pull less power. The best way to do that is cut your drive count down and get rid of all those fans, and most importantly get a psu that delivers 90% efficiency at idle as well as a light gaming load. The 600W supply you are using is only about 80% efficient at a load of under 100 watts, which would be most of the time.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

What I've been reading now suggests that anytime you OC you need to disable C&Q, variable rate turbo, etc, basically anything that would let the system drop back to lower power when the OC isn't needed.

You only need to do that if you are overclocking the CPU, and even then you can turn CnQ back on once you have a stable overclock.

Isn't there a RAM divider in the BIOS, so you can set the RAM to 2133 and not touch anything else? If you can do that, you may have to manually tweak the voltage and/or timings, but nothing else.

 

[Ber_MM]

Thanks everyone. This is really helping me understand how the different clocks affect each other. I'll take another look into the BIOS later and let you know what I figure out.

The main reason I'm looking at RAM speed is that benchmarks have shown it to be the biggest factor in boosting the integrated GPU, as it only tolerates a minimal direct overclock.

 

[Centauri]

Minimal? The 7660D's default is 800MHz in the 5800K and 760MHz in the 5700; I'm running at 1085MHz - I've gone as high as 1169MHz but I didn't like the temperatures.

APUs are very dependent on system memory speed for graphics, yes, but unless you're pushing the GPU well beyond your 760MHz you're not gonna realize much benefit from 2133MHz+ RAM.

 

[Ber_MM]

Alright, conflicting research always makes thing easier. So what are the key settings I should look for, and what values should I try given that though the case sheds heat very well, the cpu cooler is only rated at 70w (oh and I want everything to last forever).

As for the drives and power supply, they along with the case were existing spares I already had. The challenge was to build the most capable DVR for my limited $$ and heat. The two fans were new and replaced all three of the stock Lian Li fans. I don't see how they are at all excessive.

So far I am very impressed, though NFS:HP is always getting stuck between the race preview and the race loading screen. I see plenty of youtube videos of HP running on various APUs, so the solution is probably simple (once I find it).

 

[Soulkeeper]

These APUs undervolt pretty well, if you are concerned with heat/power you can play with lowering the vcore a bit.

 

[Ber_MM]

Found some more info that is nearly perfect for my rig. It is direct from Gigabyte Tech Daily. It sounds like my initial goal of getting my RAM up to 2133 requires that I up the Northbridge voltage, with a suggested starting point of 0.0125 above stock.

Of course, now I have a new question: 1866MHz 1.5v 8-9-9-24 versus 2133MHz 1.65v 9-11-10-28. As I understand everything, it comes down to higher throughput vs faster command switching right? So which is generally preferred?

Oh and there is no way to unlock the A10-5700, no pencil tricks or BIOS mods, etc?

Thanks again everyone!