Why is my OCZ EL 2-3-2-6 rated RAM running @ 2.5-3-3-6 ??

[PRELUDiCON]

Hi all,

CPU: P4 2.6c
MOBO: ASUS P4P800 Deluxe
RAM: 512MB Kit PN- OCZ400512ELDC-K [2x256] rated @ 2-3-2-6

I recently attempted to 'just try' the overclocking feature in the BIOS... wanted to simiply test it out... in turn I got quite concerned about my PC stability out of my own parranoia, meaning I didn't get any signs telling me something isn't right...all worked very well I thought.

I then downloaded a bunch of utilities to help me monitor my PC's performance.

Long story short...@ 10% OverClock, using MBM, I saw that my RAM was only @ 146.xxMHz [x2 = 292.xxMHx]...and latencies @ 2-4-4-8...

I figured, @ that clockspeed, inorder to keep the CAS down to 2, it had to run @ a lower frequency???

Ok ... so I changed the OverCLock back to normal [meaning no overclocking]...booted up, started MBM, and saw that my RAM was now @ about 200MHz [x2 = 400MHz]...and latencies @ 2.5-3-3-6 !!! ???

I never did check these readings before overclocking so I don't know if it was always like this or I messed something up??

Another thing to note:

I then rebooted, entered BIOS setup, and under the OverClocking option there is another option for some sort of 'performance'... I changed it from STANDARD to TURBO... rebooted... got no video signal ... no response.. some beeps... hit the reset button ... again no video ... and that creepy voice came through my left speaker channel saying "system failure due to cpu overclocking"... I freaked, shut the PC off ... let it chill for a few minutes, started up ... got video, wouldn't detect harddrives [sata] ...

entered BIOS, set performance from TURBO to AUTO, set IDE configuration to NORMAL detection... reboot... read harddrives... etc... all is well now ... but those RAM readings are bothering me...

Should I manually, using MBM or similar, change the latencies for the RAM? or would that just be asking for trouble ?

 

[PreservedSwine]

Each time you choose one of the standard settings, ie "Standard," "Perforance," etc, etc, it auto,auto matically sets RAM timings to pre-determined settings. Unless you have uber fast RAM, turbo almost always screws things up.

Best bet is to set it to expert, and manually adjust them yourself (If you're comfortable with that, you might have to re-set your BIOS once or twice if you push it too far)

Also, if you're going to overclock your RAM, it will need a bit more voltage, might want to kick up the RAM DDR voltage a bit in your BIOS.

Do your research, don't want to hurt anything. Make sure you run some memory intensive benchmarks to test system stability and a safe limit.
Enjoy

~Swine

 

[PRELUDiCON]

Each time you choose one of the standard settings, ie "Standard," "Perforance," etc, etc, it auto,auto matically sets RAM timings to pre-determined settings. Unless you have uber fast RAM, turbo almost always screws things up.

Best bet is to set it to expert, and manually adjust them yourself (If you're comfortable with that, you might have to re-set your BIOS once or twice if you push it too far)

Also, if you're going to overclock your RAM, it will need a bit more voltage, might want to kick up the RAM DDR voltage a bit in your BIOS.

Do your research, don't want to hurt anything. Make sure you run some memory intensive benchmarks to test system stability and a safe limit.
Enjoy

~Swine

Thanks for reply.

Just got word back from OCZ and manually changed the timings in the BIOS to 2-2-3-8. They said that for my MOBO the 8 works much better, stability-wise, than the 6.

All seems well now.
Have couple questions though...

1. What does the SPD option mean? I am able to manually configure timings only when this option is disabled...is it some sort of AUTO setting? If yes, I'm curious where it would get its' 'AUTO' settings from and why they differ from the 'rated' settings.

2. There is also some RAM ACCELERATION option, should I leave this alone or enable it ? :angel:

3. Can I just use a program such as MBM 5 to change my RAM timings? [as opposed to rebooting and entering BIOS setup...is there any difference]



Cheers!