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What voltage should I use for my RAM?

M

MrBurns

Member
First I have to say, that I am from austria (Europe) and so my English maybe isnt perfect.


I have 2 Infineon 512MB PC3200 (DDR400) Cl 3 modules (model number: 35146581 W18875 <-Edited because of wrong model number). My problem is, that they run at very bad timings over 180MHz (i.E. 3-3-3-8 at 200Mhz). I dont have any heatspreaders, but I would buy them, if it would make any difference.

I have set the voltage (Vdimm) to Auto in my BIOS, which is 2.77V on my Mainboard. My question: what voltage can I use for a longer time w/o risking to damage my RAM (I want my RAM to last for at least 3 years)? The settings I have in the BIOS: 2.5V, 2.63V, 2.77V, 2.9V. If you think, that I could even use a higher voltage than 2.9 w/o risking to damage my memory I could maybe make a volt-mod.
 
Most maunfacturers recommend no more than 2.7-2.75V max for DDR RAM. Some RAM seems to be able to take more Vdimm than that and people will run at 2.9V+ without worrying about it. It's hard to say what voltage your RAM may safely take but to be on the safe side you shouldn't go over the manufacturers recommended voltage. Apparently your RAM is rated at CAS3 so if they're running at "3-3-3", they're running right at spec so you really shouldn't have any complaint about them.
 
I have jsut found out, that the model number on the module isnt listed from Infineon, but the model number of my chips (HYB25D256800BT-5) is listed. I have found out, that they normally recommend 2.5-2.7V (is 2.77 too much?), but they have a absolute maximum rating of -0.5 to 3.6V, and in the Datasheet it says this about the absolute maximum rating:

Note: Stresses greater than those listed under ?Absolute Maximum Ratings? may cause permanent damage to the device. This is a stress rating only, and functional operation of the device at these or any other conditions above those indicated in the operational sections of this specification is not implied. Exposure to absolute maximum rating conditions for extended periods may affect reliability.
Click to expand...

Do you think, that the absolute max. rating (3.6V) is dangerous for my RAM?

Here is the link to the datasheet: http://www.infineon.com/cgi/ecrm.dll/ecrm/scripts/public_download.jsp?oid=49610 (Edited because old link doesnt work anymore)
 
I now use 2.77V for my RAM, because of the replies in all the 17 forums where I posted this: 32 people gave replies, which answered the question: 16 (50%) said, that I should use 2.9V or more, 13 (40.6%) said I should use 2.77V and 3 (9.4%) said I should use 2.63V. I will test, if 2.63V is also stable at the best setting I can get w/ 2.77V.

About heatspreaders: After hours of prime95 I touched the DIMMs. I tried this w/ long and short FFT lenghts, but they were max. lukewarm, althought they get a lot warm air from the CPU-cooler. When In used short FFT lenghts I touched all chips, because short FFTs only stress a small memory area. Because i.e. the chips on my GPU get very hot I dont think, that I need any heatspreaders for my main memory. Also strange is that my memory gets hotter at 179MHz than at 203MHz, just because I have lower timings at 179MHz. I didnt note any difference between 2.63V abnd 2.77V in heat (but 2.63V isnt tested for stability yet).

Another strange thing is that I get better 3DMarks at 179x13 = 2327MHz than at 203x11.5 = 2335MHz, just because the timings are a little better at 179MHz (see here for details).
 
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