I'm going to admit right off the bat I'm a newbie when it comes to overclocking... but I'm learning quick, so anyone who can help me, please feel free to be as technical in your explanation as you like.
Premise: I've just built a machine for statistical simulation and visual modeling, so it's a number cruncher, not really much for gaming. I went with a QX6700 because the software I use lends support for quad core optimization. I'm dealing with HUGE volumes of Data, so I also picked up 8 GB (4 x 2 GB) of Dual Channel PC26400 specifically Kingston KHX6400D2LL_2G. I know that in general more ram = runs slower, but I'm having trouble getting it to work at STOCK speeds. I intend to O/C the CPU to 3.2 ghz and no further, but have not yet tweaked it at all. I have a CoolIT Eliminator water cooler to that end, and due to the nature of my work, the extra clock cycles will make a tangible impact on extended runs of computation, but I don't want to overly-risk shortening the lifespan of the system.
According to the datasheet here
http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/KHX6400D2LL_2G.pdf
"This module has been tested to run at DDR2 800MHz at low latency timing of 4-4-4-12
at 1.9V. The SPD is programmed to JEDEC standard latency 667Mhz timing of 5-5-5-15 at 1.8V."
True enough, The Striker Extreme this is running on (don't laugh, I was already spending too much money on the system and the pretty LED's were a selling point above the P5N32-E SLI) sees the RAM default at 667 5-5-5-15 1.8V
Going into the "Extreme Tweaker" menu on the BIOS, setting the O/C to Manual, unlinking FSB and Memory Bus, Keying in 800 4-4-4-12 for the RAM is easy enough to do... but the system then always blue screens when loading windows. I even set the Voltage to 1.925 just to add leeway. Only by dropping the timings back to 5-5-5-15 could I get the machine to load windows with the RAM at 800mhz. I did not experiment with intermediate values of timings. Anyone have any idea why this is happening? No other values have deviated from default, the CPU is still running at 2.66ghz and peaks at a happy 35 degrees C under heavy load. Does this qualify the RAM is "faulty" and I should seek a replacement under warranty?
I have one other question: what is the inherent value of increasing clock speed via FSB as opposed to multiplier? If the multiplier is unlocked, and given that the RAM bus speed is unlinked and I've hypothetically managed to get it stable, should I see better benchmarks out of the system with 1280 FSB 10X multiplier, or 1066 FSB 12X multiplier?
Premise: I've just built a machine for statistical simulation and visual modeling, so it's a number cruncher, not really much for gaming. I went with a QX6700 because the software I use lends support for quad core optimization. I'm dealing with HUGE volumes of Data, so I also picked up 8 GB (4 x 2 GB) of Dual Channel PC26400 specifically Kingston KHX6400D2LL_2G. I know that in general more ram = runs slower, but I'm having trouble getting it to work at STOCK speeds. I intend to O/C the CPU to 3.2 ghz and no further, but have not yet tweaked it at all. I have a CoolIT Eliminator water cooler to that end, and due to the nature of my work, the extra clock cycles will make a tangible impact on extended runs of computation, but I don't want to overly-risk shortening the lifespan of the system.
According to the datasheet here
http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/KHX6400D2LL_2G.pdf
"This module has been tested to run at DDR2 800MHz at low latency timing of 4-4-4-12
at 1.9V. The SPD is programmed to JEDEC standard latency 667Mhz timing of 5-5-5-15 at 1.8V."
True enough, The Striker Extreme this is running on (don't laugh, I was already spending too much money on the system and the pretty LED's were a selling point above the P5N32-E SLI) sees the RAM default at 667 5-5-5-15 1.8V
Going into the "Extreme Tweaker" menu on the BIOS, setting the O/C to Manual, unlinking FSB and Memory Bus, Keying in 800 4-4-4-12 for the RAM is easy enough to do... but the system then always blue screens when loading windows. I even set the Voltage to 1.925 just to add leeway. Only by dropping the timings back to 5-5-5-15 could I get the machine to load windows with the RAM at 800mhz. I did not experiment with intermediate values of timings. Anyone have any idea why this is happening? No other values have deviated from default, the CPU is still running at 2.66ghz and peaks at a happy 35 degrees C under heavy load. Does this qualify the RAM is "faulty" and I should seek a replacement under warranty?
I have one other question: what is the inherent value of increasing clock speed via FSB as opposed to multiplier? If the multiplier is unlocked, and given that the RAM bus speed is unlinked and I've hypothetically managed to get it stable, should I see better benchmarks out of the system with 1280 FSB 10X multiplier, or 1066 FSB 12X multiplier?
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