Understanding ram spd settings

[Xarick]

I have two sticks right now of wintec ampo 512
According to newegg they are rated for 5-5-5-12
the spd reads them as 6-5-5-18
intel runs them at 5-5-5-18

Would it benefit me at all to run them at 5-5-5-12?
The manufacture doesn't seem to have any documentation as to its actual spd.

 

[WildHorse]

How I'd probably address that if it were me:

1) For the moment, leave the RAM at default settings.

2) download the free cpu-z tool

3) look at cpu-z's memory timing tab to see what RAM timings are actually being used by your computer.

Just in passing you can notice the different SPD tab, for interest only, otherwise ignore it.


Of course, this will change whenever you adjust anything like voltages, cpu speed, etc.

 

[ribbon13]

the answer you probably want to know:

faster is better. lower is faster. latency == how many cycles to do this == less waiting is good

think of it like an assembly line though.... like a relay... imagine your family got back from costco... set that latency too low.... i.e. someone tosses that watermelon just a bit too soon...

crash!

 

[Xarick]

the memory tab is completely blank for me ...
Okay.. how do I determine what is just right.. should I just leave it alone then?

 

[WildHorse]

Originally posted by: Xarick
the memory tab is completely blank for me ...
Okay.. how do I determine what is just right.. should I just leave it alone then?

No, something's not right.
Your "memory " tab in cpu-z should have a display similar to this: cpu-z my memory tab tonight

You may not have cpu-z properly installed?

I wonder if it'd help to restart your computer after installing cpu-z?

Why don't you try that, a restart, then check it again.

 

[Xarick]

I restarted and it is still blank. my cpu-z memory tab is unpopulated. Everything else is populated just not that.

I went to the cpu-z forums. I am not the only one with this issue.
So I am not sure what the prob is. It might be just 965 mobos. I am gonna try 5-5-5-12 and see what happens since that is what the ram is suppose to be rated for.

 

[Xarick]

I ran prime95 toture test for 18minutes with zero errors. Does this mean I am okay to run 5-5-5-12?

OKay I am thoroughly confused now. I just read an article that stated the lowest I should set this ram to is 5-5-5-15 because the last should not be less than the first 3 added in order to maintain performance. It said even better add 2 to it. So maybe I should leave it at 5-5-5-18? Or I should set it to 5-5-5-15? Newegg says it is rated for 5-5-5-12. But is 5-5-5-12 possible or am I just frying my memory here?

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Xarick
I ran prime95 toture test for 18minutes with zero errors. Does this mean I am okay to run 5-5-5-12?

OKay I am thoroughly confused now. I just read an article that stated the lowest I should set this ram to is 5-5-5-15 because the last should not be less than the first 3 added in order to maintain performance. It said even better add 2 to it. So maybe I should leave it at 5-5-5-18? Or I should set it to 5-5-5-15? Newegg says it is rated for 5-5-5-12. But is 5-5-5-12 possible or am I just frying my memory here?

You cannot fry your memory by reducing its timing. You can lose (corrupt) data or stability though.

Before running Prime, you should run memtest. Run it overnight. There should be no errors. Even one error means it is not stable.

You should run Prime overnight. More updated version of Prime is Orthos, which makes stressing a dual core much easier in case you have one. http://sp2004.fre3.com/index.htm
You need to run it much longer than just 18 minutes. Run it for at least a few hours.

You can fry your RAM if you overvolt it too much.

Edit:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1901991&enterthread=y

 

[Xarick]

Okay I havent overvolted it or anything. I was just changing the tras setting from 18 to 12 because that is what the spec on newegg said. Also I misread the article it infact says the two timings cas and something else added + 2 is optimal.. I guess that fits cause that would be 5+5 = 10 + 2 = 12

I dont exactly know how to run memtest.

 

[Xarick]

Okay I figured out how to run ramtest and it has now been running for nearly 2 hours. So far 750% coverage no errors. I will let it run all night and see what happens.

 

[Xarick]

Okay.. over 12 hours now running memtest and no errors at 5-5-5-12
I am assuming that means it is okay to keep that setting.

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Xarick
Okay.. over 12 hours now running memtest and no errors at 5-5-5-12
I am assuming that means it is okay to keep that setting.

Yeah, it should be OK.

If you want to overclock, you need to check for stability again. If you then relax the timings, you may be able to overclock more. That is what some do who prefer to increase the frequency, specially if that allows them to raise the CPU overclock as well.

But, if you are not into overclocking, what you have done is best.