RAM ISSUE

[appye]

I am trying to figure out whether this is the memory controller (integrated into the CPU), the motherboard, or the RAM.

I can run the CPU at a Prime95 (blend) stable 2304 MHz using 1.6v, 256x9, 4x HTT, 5:4 (166MHz divider, works out to 213 MHz) 2-2-3-10 1T (2.85v) for hours on end. This is a far cry from the 2610 MHz using 1.52v, 290x9, 3x(probably)HTT, 1:1 2.5-4-4-10 1T (2.85v) achieved in the initial Anandtech 90nm review we all drooled over.

Even though the CPU is ?only? capable of ~2300 MHz, I can live with it. But regardless of RAM voltage, how low I set the HTT, or how much I loosen memory timings, I cannot achieve much higher than 220 MHz using this RAM without Prime95 (blend) crashing a few minutes into the test or DOOM3 hiccuping and ultimately crashing. These kinds of mediocre results with this supposedly ?killer? RAM are disappointing indeed.

I have tried all BIOS versions from 1.2 to 1.41(beta), disabled all unused ports (SATA, parallel, serial, firewire, USB keyboard, etc) all to no avail. I am definitely running this RAM in DUAL CHANNEL MODE, and have tried both sets of DIMM slots (1,2 and 3,4) .... Heat is also not a problem.

Seeing as how I do not have access to other hardware to test items individually, how might I find out if the problem is rooted in the CPU (integrated memory controller), the RAM itself or perhaps traces on the motherboard?

 

[Sparky19692]

I would try loweing HTT to 3 for starters, along with a lower multiplier.
Idea being get your CPU running low and then bring up you FBS (HTT) speed
I have different Ram but you should get alot better ram timming than that up to 275. Also when you are playing check everything with CPU-Z after boot to verify
I.E. bois shows 200 X 8 = 1600 MHZ what do CPU-Z show. It is my understand with any OC you want to push only one item at a time verify where it is stable move on to the next. That way you know what the individual max speeds are.
after that start bringing things up togather see how close to the MAX you can get.

 

[acivick]

Look on this forum for many of the common things that may be going wrong (using SATA drives, HTT multiplier too high, using different memory slots, loosen timings, changing command rate to 2T, etc.). This topic has been raised several times with minor variations. Look for anything that has to do with A64s and OCing. I can point you to HERE if things improve by going to 2T and you want to run at 1T. You have a different MB, but most of the settings should be similar. You should also run memtest before prime as prime mostly stresses the CPU. I'm sure you will be able to squeeze more performance, such as by running at 1:1, just by doing a little research and having a bit of patience. Good luck.

 

[appye]

As I have stated, I already tried lower HTT multipliers, and the RAM will not go over 220 MHz regardless of what CPU multipliers are used. I can max out (stable) at 275 MHz FSB so long as I use lower CPU, HTT and RAM multipliers. The only thing CPU-Z varies from what the BIOS reports is with memory dividers other than 1:1 I.E. when I report 213 MHz ram I am stating what the BIOS reports, while CPU-Z reports 209 MHz ... Individual (Prime95 blend stable) maximums are as follows:

FSB - 275 MHz
CPU - 2304 MHz (regardless of voltage)
RAM - 222 MHz (regardless of timing, voltage)
HTT - 1065 MHz (FSBxHTT)