Trying to set my PC's Memory Frequency to 1600MHZ !HELP!

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
I'm using an EVGA X58 FTW 3 Motherboard with 18 GBs of RAM, I'm using the Windows 7 Home Premium [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]64 [COLOR=blue !important]bit [/COLOR][COLOR=blue !important]OS[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] so I'm only able to use 16 GBs of it. My Ram consists of 3x 4GB Corsair Vengeance [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]memory[/COLOR][/COLOR] sticks. That is this Ram right here. http://www.bing.com/images/search? [...] ORM=IDFRIR It's timings are 9-9-9-24

My other kind of Ram is this http://www.bing.com/images/search? [...] ORM=IDFRIR which I believe to be my other set. I also have 3 of these.
The timings for this one are 8-8-8-24.

I know mixing Ram can cause problems, both sets of RAM are 1600 MHz. I need their timings set and I need them properly configured in BIOS to work with eachother. How might I set these to get their full performance without overclocking them?

Along with configuring the timing and memory frequency, what else do I need to adjust? Thanks in advance for your help.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,200
126
The problem is not your hardware, the problem is your operating system. You need to step up to Pro or Ultimate. Home Premium is limited by Microsoft to only 16GB of RAM. Sad, I know.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
The problem is not your hardware, the problem is your operating system. You need to step up to Pro or Ultimate. Home Premium is limited by Microsoft to only 16GB of RAM. Sad, I know.

Regardless, I'm rendering 3D Scenes and getting the same render speed when I started with 6GB. Now, I have 16GBs and I see no performance increase. Something must be wrong.
 

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
4,488
153
106
Regardless, I'm rendering 3D Scenes and getting the same render speed when I started with 6GB. Now, I have 16GBs and I see no performance increase. Something must be wrong.

How much of your memory are you using while rendering these scenes? You you don't fill up more than 6GB of memory, then of course extra ram isn't going to make it faster.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
How much of your memory are you using while rendering these scenes? You you don't fill up more than 6GB of memory, then of course extra ram isn't going to make it faster.

Well, according to the task manager, I'm only using 3.5GBs of RAM while rendering.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
81
Hello Viscte, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

If you went from 6GB to 16GB and performance did not go up, that normally means your lack of performance was not from lack of RAM. As for memory speeds and latencies, in most real world situations performance differences are merely a couple percentage points. If you were hoping to knock off 2 seconds every minute's worth of rendering, then optimizing memory may help. If you were hoping to have a greater impact on your rendering times, you will probably need a faster processor.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
Hello Viscte, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

If you went from 6GB to 16GB and performance did not go up, that normally means your lack of performance was not from lack of RAM. As for memory speeds and latencies, in most real world situations performance differences are merely a couple percentage points. If you were hoping to knock off 2 seconds every minute's worth of rendering, then optimizing memory may help. If you were hoping to have a greater impact on your rendering times, you will probably need a faster processor.

Thank you for the help and welcome. Judging from the render times, I didn't get a single second less in my render. My rendered out scene has taken a total of 1600 minutes both before and after the upgrade. I have monitored my RAM intake in the task manager and I still continue to only use around 2.5GBs of RAM during the render process when I expect to be putting all my RAM to use. My current CPU is very nice, and it is an i7 quad. The guy at Microcenter told me to set my MHZ to 1600 in BIOS and I still continue to see the same results. I don't know what to do.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,200
126
Too little RAM can make things slower, much slower, but more RAM beyond what you need doesn't really speed things up much. At least for CPU-intensive tasks like rendering.
 

imagoon

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2003
5,199
0
0
Thank you for the help and welcome. Judging from the render times, I didn't get a single second less in my render. My rendered out scene has taken a total of 1600 minutes both before and after the upgrade. I have monitored my RAM intake in the task manager and I still continue to only use around 2.5GBs of RAM during the render process when I expect to be putting all my RAM to use. My current CPU is very nice, and it is an i7 quad. The guy at Microcenter told me to set my MHZ to 1600 in BIOS and I still continue to see the same results. I don't know what to do.

I keep reading this looking for the program you are using. However once you hit a point where either a) the CPU can't keep up b) The Ram usage is not maxed out c) the disk can't keep up, adding RAM isn't going to help. While it is running try running the perf monitor to see what part of the system is maxed out. Are you using a program that can leverage CUDA for example (I see you are on ATI, I think ATI has something similar?) If you are you could be seeing your videocard's GPU being maxed. If not, maybe that is your solution for more performance.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
Hello Viscte, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

If you went from 6GB to 16GB and performance did not go up, that normally means your lack of performance was not from lack of RAM. As for memory speeds and latencies, in most real world situations performance differences are merely a couple percentage points. If you were hoping to knock off 2 seconds every minute's worth of rendering, then optimizing memory may help. If you were hoping to have a greater impact on your rendering times, you will probably need a faster processor.

Alright, thanks for your help. One last thing, could the changed I applied damage my PC? I turned up my RAM to 1600MHZ from the standard amount. Is this okay?
 

Schmide

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2002
5,615
792
126
Although I do not recommend this, some performance games have been made by using a ram disk. Especially if you don't already have a SSD.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
Although I do not recommend this, some performance games have been made by using a ram disk. Especially if you don't already have a SSD.
So if I can't use all my RAM what do I do with it? I have 16GBs worth of RAM, what is a good thing to do with it?
 

Schmide

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2002
5,615
792
126
So if I can't use all my RAM what do I do with it? I have 16GBs worth of RAM, what is a good thing to do with it?

First. Read the article.

Second. Do you have a SSD?

Third. Many have asked what program you are using? Answer that.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
First. Read the article.

Second. Do you have a SSD?

Third. Many have asked what program you are using? Answer that.

Isnt the the response and link you posted just for getting more RAM on a 32 system? The program I am using is 3DS Max. I don't think it will help because people on my 3D site coulden't even help me with it.
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
81
I have monitored my RAM intake in the task manager and I still continue to only use around 2.5GBs of RAM during the render process when I expect to be putting all my RAM to use.

There is your answer. Your tasks obviously does not require more RAM, thus more RAM won't help.

Here is an analogy for you. Imagine that you need to drive 60 miles to the next city for an event, and you need to take your three closest friends with you. None of your friends have driver's licenses, so you have to do the driving. If you have a Mazda Miata, obviously you would have to make three trips there to bring your three friends, since there are only two seats and you take one of them. What if you "upgrade" your car to something with four seats, like a Honda Civic? Suddenly you are a lot more efficient because you can take all of your friends to the event in one trip! You then decide to up the ante by buying a bus. Yes, a huge bus that can take dozens of people. So, you pile yourself and your three friends into this huge bus... does having all the empty seats make the trip more efficient?

Your extra RAM is like the empty bus seats. If what you are doing doesn't fill the seats, those extra seats are wasted effort.

My guess (and just a guess, but others can correct me if I'm wrong) is that since you are not being limited by RAM, you are probably limited by something else such as CPU. Check your CPU utilization during rendering. If all your cores are near the limit, then that's what is holding you back.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
There is your answer. Your tasks obviously does not require more RAM, thus more RAM won't help.

Here is an analogy for you. Imagine that you need to drive 60 miles to the next city for an event, and you need to take your three closest friends with you. None of your friends have driver's licenses, so you have to do the driving. If you have a Mazda Miata, obviously you would have to make three trips there to bring your three friends, since there are only two seats and you take one of them. What if you "upgrade" your car to something with four seats, like a Honda Civic? Suddenly you are a lot more efficient because you can take all of your friends to the event in one trip! You then decide to up the ante by buying a bus. Yes, a huge bus that can take dozens of people. So, you pile yourself and your three friends into this huge bus... does having all the empty seats make the trip more efficient?

Your extra RAM is like the empty bus seats. If what you are doing doesn't fill the seats, those extra seats are wasted effort.

My guess (and just a guess, but others can correct me if I'm wrong) is that since you are not being limited by RAM, you are probably limited by something else such as CPU. Check your CPU utilization during rendering. If all your cores are near the limit, then that's what is holding you back.
I think you're onto to something. Here is an example of when and where I would need 18GBs of RAM. http://www.evermotion.org/modelshop/show_product/the-secret-fx-training-dvd/6360/0/0/ It also requests that I have 8 cores to go with it. Is it possible to put my 18 GBs of RAM to use by networking my 2 other PCs together with this one to run a render farm?
 

Zap

Elite Member
Oct 13, 1999
22,377
2
81
Is it possible to put my 18 GBs of RAM to use by networking my 2 other PCs together with this one to run a render farm?

I do not know. That's outside of my realm of interest, so someone else will have to answer this.
 

Schmide

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2002
5,615
792
126
Isnt the the response and link you posted just for getting more RAM on a 32 system? The program I am using is 3DS Max. I don't think it will help because people on my 3D site coulden't even help me with it.

You must of just glanced at it, jeeze. You can wait 1600min for a render but you can't read 6 pages??? If you read on it goes into 64bit later.

AGAIN DO YOU HAVE A Solid State Disk (SSD)??? While not equal to ram disk it would alleviate the swap penalty tremendously.

When you're rendering a complex 3d scene there is a lot of math (CPU/GPU) and a lot of data (memory/disk). The 32 bit system of 3ds can only see 4gb of memory regardless of what OS you're using. The 64 bit version can see more memory but still swaps out to the swap space on disk. Even if you have 16gb of memory it may end up using less. You may still get some benefit from running a ram disk. If you have the 32bit version of 3DS the ram disk would certainly trick the system into using more ram.

I quote from the 64bit part

THG said:
The synthetic benchmarks don't show any significant performance advantage, so we decided not to create a lot of pointless charts with identical bars. The fact is that a good-sized RAM disk provides a better performance increase than having more memory once you cross a minimum threshold.

At this point, we want to refer to our 32-bit benchmark results, as they're also valid for the 64-bit equivalents. However, in terms of usability on multitasking systems, we'd say that 8 GB of RAM is the minimum, even when not factoring in system memory used by the graphics card. If necessary, 6 GB will do as an interim minimum for enthusiasts in triple-channel systems.
 
Last edited:

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
You must of just glanced at it, jeeze. You can wait 1600min for a render but you can't read 6 pages??? If you read on it goes into 64bit later.

AGAIN DO YOU HAVE A Solid State Disk (SSD)??? While not equal to ram disk it would alleviate the swap penalty tremendously.

When you're rendering a complex 3d scene there is a lot of math (CPU/GPU) and a lot of data (memory/disk). The 32 bit system of 3ds can only see 4gb of memory regardless of what OS you're using. The 64 bit version can see more memory but still swaps out to the swap space on disk. Even if you have 16gb of memory it may end up using less. You may still get some benefit from running a ram disk. If you have the 32bit version of 3DS the ram disk would certainly trick the system into using more ram.

I quote from the 64bit part

No, I do not have a solid state disk and no, I'm not running a 32 bit Max. You're telling me I can further benefit from this hardisk while I'm also being told that RAM is not the major factor in my rendering process because it is choosing not to use it all, not unless I get a better CPU, right?
 

bart1975

Senior member
Apr 12, 2011
294
1
0
I think what he is suggesting is that you make a ram disk and use that as the scratch file for your render. If you do that it should shave off a bit of disk read/write time.
 

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
I think what he is suggesting is that you make a ram disk and use that as the scratch file for your render. If you do that it should shave off a bit of disk read/write time.

So let me get this straight, a RAM disk is software, not hardware? If this is true, give me a summery of what I will need to do once I get this RAM Disk. Does it require a lot to set up and are you willing to bet money that it will provide me the additional power I need to shorten render times? Is this a recommended method over my other alternatives? Do I need a second CPU to allow my stsem to use more RAM? Is this a solution or a workaround to my problem? My linked site supplys basic instructions to what I need to render a movie quality scene, 18 GBS of RAM and 8 cores. After I do get this RAM Disk, who's to know what else I will need to get this functioning correctly? As you probably know, I'm feeling a bit overwhelemed by all of this, and I find it weird that I've never heard it mentioned before in complex 3D rendering.

In 3DS Max we're given an option called "Dynamic Memory Limit" If you glance over the options in this section, it might help to show you how memory use is managed for the Vray Plugin that I use.
http://www.vray.us/vray_documentation/vray_system.shtml
Adjusting this can sometimes increase render time, but I'm finding it hard to blend this in with my over-all RAM use and other third party programs. How do I find an expert in both 3D and PC Hardware and Software?
 

bart1975

Senior member
Apr 12, 2011
294
1
0
First of all how big is the finished product usually in gigabytes?
You can try this ramdisk software for free at http://memory.dataram.com/products-and-services/software/ramdisk
Try it out with a test render to see if it decreases the times at all for you.

I am currently using this ram drive as a scratch file for photo editing, for my web browser cache, and for my page file.
You should be able to configure 3DS Max to use the ram drive for storing and editing files.
The only other things I can think of that would improve performance would to be either get a faster cpu, overclock the one you already have, or go the render farm route.
 
Last edited:

Viscte

Junior Member
May 8, 2011
21
0
0
First of all how big is the finished product usually in gigabytes?
You can try this ramdisk software for free at http://memory.dataram.com/products-and-services/software/ramdisk
Try it out with a test render to see if it decreases the times at all for you.

I am currently using this ram drive as a scratch file for photo editing, for my web browser cache, and for my page file.
You should be able to configure 3DS Max to use the ram drive for storing and editing files.
The only other things I can think of that would improve performance would to be either get a faster cpu, overclock the one you already have, or go the render farm route.
Finished product, You mean my finished CGI Film? It can be huge depending on its quality and resolution. As of right now I'm a long way away from a finished product, so far I'm only running test images. Would I need to install 3DS Max on the Ram drive or what?
 

bart1975

Senior member
Apr 12, 2011
294
1
0
You can keep 3DS Max where it is currently installed. Just configure the program to put the temp folder on the ram drive. Are you using the GPU rendering feature of Vray?
 
Last edited: