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Question about memory (Read 722 times)
Jan 9th, 2009 at 7:18pm

jwenham   Offline
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My new build is up and running. I have a question about how to set up my ram.

Specs:

i7 940 / Asus P6T Deluxe / OCZ Gold 1600 8-8-8-24

My question is:
How do I go about to make sure it is running at its rated speed?
Should I leave it on AUTO till I am ready to OC the CPU?

Thanks!
 
Intel i7 940 2.93 clocked to 4.0ghz Asus P6T Deluxe 6gb OCZ 1600 8-8-8-24 EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked Edition Thermalright 120 CPU Cooler Power PC & Cooling 750w PSU 1 tb Seagate Barracuda HD 500 gb Seagate Barracude HD 22" Viewsonic Widescreen Track IR 4 XP Pro x64 www.fairtax.org
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Reply #1 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 9:35pm

SubZer0   Offline
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on the board by default settings it runs at 1066 I believe... go into the BIOS and in the AI Tweaker section you will see the DRAM speed setting.. change it to 1600 and change the timings to it's rated 8-8-8-24 settings.

you might also want to run a memtest to see if the memory works fine
 
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Reply #2 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 9:51pm

jwenham   Offline
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Thanks Subzero, what I am unsure of due to being new to setting up ram is that there are alot of areas that can be changed in the BIOS ie. 1st information then a bunch of sections below that then 2nd information with 4 or 5 sections under it and last 3rd information with several items being after that.  It looks like the sections I need to change are in the 1st info area but am unsure of exactly which ones. Go easy on me as I am in learning mode.

Thanks, Jim
 
Intel i7 940 2.93 clocked to 4.0ghz Asus P6T Deluxe 6gb OCZ 1600 8-8-8-24 EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked Edition Thermalright 120 CPU Cooler Power PC & Cooling 750w PSU 1 tb Seagate Barracuda HD 500 gb Seagate Barracude HD 22" Viewsonic Widescreen Track IR 4 XP Pro x64 www.fairtax.org
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Reply #3 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:00pm

NickN   Offline
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jwenham wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 9:51pm:
Thanks Subzero, what I am unsure of due to being new to setting up ram is that there are alot of areas that can be changed in the BIOS ie. 1st information then a bunch of sections below that then 2nd information with 4 or 5 sections under it and last 3rd information with several items being after that.  It looks like the sections I need to change are in the 1st info area but am unsure of exactly which ones. Go easy on me as I am in learning mode.

Thanks, Jim


Your memory is rated for 8-8-8-24 1600, correct?

First 4

          CPUz           -      BIOS SETTING

CAS# Latency (CL) - DRAM CAS# LATENCY = 8
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) - DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay = 8
RAS# Precharge (tRP) - DRAM RAS# PRE TIME = 8
Cycle Time (tRAS) - DRAM RAS# ACT TIME=24



...


 
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Reply #4 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:09pm

jwenham   Offline
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Yes that rating is correct. So change the 1st 4 and I assume I should also adjust the DRAM Bus Voltage as well?

By setting the settings here, when I set up mu OC on the CPU will those settings change or will they stay since they were imput manually?
 
Intel i7 940 2.93 clocked to 4.0ghz Asus P6T Deluxe 6gb OCZ 1600 8-8-8-24 EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked Edition Thermalright 120 CPU Cooler Power PC & Cooling 750w PSU 1 tb Seagate Barracuda HD 500 gb Seagate Barracude HD 22" Viewsonic Widescreen Track IR 4 XP Pro x64 www.fairtax.org
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Reply #5 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:18pm

NickN   Offline
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jwenham wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:09pm:
Yes that rating is correct. So change the 1st 4 and I assume I should also adjust the DRAM Bus Voltage as well?

By setting the settings here, when I set up mu OC on the CPU will those settings change or will they stay since they were imput manually?



Your DRAM voltage will be 1.66

Your QPI/DRAM voltage will be 1.35 to 1.37

To start off at normal CPU speed..    BCLOCK (AUTO) and normal Vcore (AUTO) the MANUAL setting of memory speed 1600 should be available automatically without making any changes in memory multiplier.

As you increase BCLOCK the memory speed will change based on the memory multiplier in use You want to be set to as close to 1600 as possible on the highest BCLOCK to hit your target CPU speed

If you are going for the full 4GHz you will need to check the memory speed as you increase BCLOCK and you can work the memory multiplier to get it in line with the memory

Sometimes you must accept a lower memory speed than 1600 or over 1600 but you can not go too high over or it may be unstable.




Now I do wish to warn about something... do not overclock until Windows is completely installed and stable with drivers. Overclocking is the last thing you do after everything is installed, set up and checked and the system is defragged and clean.


 
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Reply #6 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:30pm

jwenham   Offline
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NickN wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:18pm:
jwenham wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:09pm:
Yes that rating is correct. So change the 1st 4 and I assume I should also adjust the DRAM Bus Voltage as well?

By setting the settings here, when I set up mu OC on the CPU will those settings change or will they stay since they were imput manually?



Your DRAM voltage will be 1.66

Your QPI/DRAM voltage will be 1.35 to 1.37

To start off at normal CPU speed..    BCLOCK (AUTO) and normal Vcore (AUTO) the MANUAL setting of memory speed 1600 should be available automatically without making any changes in memory multiplier.

As you increase BCLOCK the memory speed will change based on the memory multiplier in use You want to be set to as close to 1600 as possible on the highest BCLOCK to hit your target CPU speed

If you are going for the full 4GHz you will need to check the memory speed as you increase BCLOCK and you can work the memory multiplier to get it in line with the memory

Sometimes you must accept a lower memory speed than 1600 or over 1600 but you can not go too high over or it may be unstable.




Now I do wish to warn about something... do not overclock until Windows is completely installed and stable with drivers. Overclocking is the last thing you do after everything is installed, set up and checked and the system is defragged and clean.



Got it except for the memory speed part. Will it change even though I have it set to 1600 or does it need to be on auto for that to happen and when it changes do I need to change the timings again?
 
Intel i7 940 2.93 clocked to 4.0ghz Asus P6T Deluxe 6gb OCZ 1600 8-8-8-24 EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked Edition Thermalright 120 CPU Cooler Power PC & Cooling 750w PSU 1 tb Seagate Barracuda HD 500 gb Seagate Barracude HD 22" Viewsonic Widescreen Track IR 4 XP Pro x64 www.fairtax.org
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Reply #7 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:56pm

NickN   Offline
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The timings will always remain a constant becuase you set them manually. If you set the speed to 1600, then you are ready to rock


If you wish to verify, after Windows is installed.. download and run CPUz 1.49

the memory tab will show you the memory speed and timing

memory speed will be displayed as 800 (2x800=1600)

This is not a i7 readout... but you see what 1600 looks like @ 7-7-7-20 and  1T

...



yours should read the same except 800  8-8-8-24   1T
 
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Reply #8 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 11:01pm

jwenham   Offline
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Thank you! I appreciate your help. One last question, should I hold off on the OC till AFTER fsx is installed as well. I assume you meant that due to the fact that you said not to after the os and the watching grass grow proceedure we all know as the DEFRAG.
 
Intel i7 940 2.93 clocked to 4.0ghz Asus P6T Deluxe 6gb OCZ 1600 8-8-8-24 EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked Edition Thermalright 120 CPU Cooler Power PC & Cooling 750w PSU 1 tb Seagate Barracuda HD 500 gb Seagate Barracude HD 22" Viewsonic Widescreen Track IR 4 XP Pro x64 www.fairtax.org
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Reply #9 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 11:04pm

NickN   Offline
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FSX runs fine... the problem
is you or your system

Posts: 6317
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jwenham wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 11:01pm:
Thank you! I appreciate your help. One last question, should I hold off on the OC till AFTER fsx is installed as well. I assume you meant that due to the fact that you said not to after the os and the watching grass grow proceedure we all know as the DEFRAG.



Just hold off on clocking till everything... EVERYTHING (including addons) is installed and properly defragged

Dont forget ALL the Windows updates too!


I know.. its a pain

but you only have to do it once the long way

After you have everything installed, cleaned up and running and you have confirmed everything is running in FSX good..

then you start the clocking adventure

if you clock before and anything in that clock is unstable at all, you risk the entire install to corruption.

 
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Reply #10 - Jan 9th, 2009 at 11:18pm

NickN   Offline
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One other tip

Turn off hyperthreading in the BIOS

FSX has no use for it and the processer will run cooler in a clock

If you use the system for A/V Editing work, turn HT back on in the BIOS becuase those programs will take advantage of HT



 
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Reply #11 - Jan 10th, 2009 at 12:13am

SubZer0   Offline
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NickN wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:18pm:
[quote author=wenham link=1231546726/0#4 date=1231556958]

Sometimes you must accept a lower memory speed than 1600 or over 1600 but you can not go too high over or it may be unstable.


what I did in this case is find the highest stable CPU clock speed and then set the memory speeds as fast as it would be stable. I have 1600 memory rated at 7-7-7-4 and I had to accept 1480 instead of 1600 because the next highest setting after 1480 as like 1860 and that was unstable

that's how to do it, right Nick? or would we get better performance with a bit lower clock but higher mem speed?
 
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Reply #12 - Jan 10th, 2009 at 10:25am

NickN   Offline
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With i7 its about both but CPU speed comes first.

you must buy 1600 memory to clock so you have room to clock but that does not mean you will be running it at 1600
 
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Reply #13 - Jan 10th, 2009 at 1:53pm

jwenham   Offline
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NickN wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:18pm:
jwenham wrote on Jan 9th, 2009 at 10:09pm:
Yes that rating is correct. So change the 1st 4 and I assume I should also adjust the DRAM Bus Voltage as well?

By setting the settings here, when I set up mu OC on the CPU will those settings change or will they stay since they were imput manually?



Your DRAM voltage will be 1.66

Your QPI/DRAM voltage will be 1.35 to 1.37

To start off at normal CPU speed..    BCLOCK (AUTO) and normal Vcore (AUTO) the MANUAL setting of memory speed 1600 should be available automatically without making any changes in memory multiplier.

As you increase BCLOCK the memory speed will change based on the memory multiplier in use You want to be set to as close to 1600 as possible on the highest BCLOCK to hit your target CPU speed

If you are going for the full 4GHz you will need to check the memory speed as you increase BCLOCK and you can work the memory multiplier to get it in line with the memory

Sometimes you must accept a lower memory speed than 1600 or over 1600 but you can not go too high over or it may be unstable.




Now I do wish to warn about something... do not overclock until Windows is completely installed and stable with drivers. Overclocking is the last thing you do after everything is installed, set up and checked and the system is defragged and clean.





Nick, Not that I doubt you but its OK to set the DRAM voltage to 1.66? I just want to make sure before I change it, dont want to break my 2000.00 investment. 1.64 agrees with the BIOS and the funny thing is that 1.65 which is what my RAM is rated for is'nt even an option? Can you elaborate on this for me?

Jim
 
Intel i7 940 2.93 clocked to 4.0ghz Asus P6T Deluxe 6gb OCZ 1600 8-8-8-24 EVGA GTX 260 Superclocked Edition Thermalright 120 CPU Cooler Power PC & Cooling 750w PSU 1 tb Seagate Barracuda HD 500 gb Seagate Barracude HD 22" Viewsonic Widescreen Track IR 4 XP Pro x64 www.fairtax.org
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Reply #14 - Jan 10th, 2009 at 2:00pm

NickN   Offline
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No worries

you wont go into any danger zone till you hit 1.69-1.70


If the memory (with and without) the CPU overclocked will run 1.64-1.65, leave it there. Many SPD's (the memory chip programming on the sticks) are setting this to 1.66 which is not a problem and why I suggested it

if its stable at 1.64, its fine. Lower is always better

Now with QPI/DRAM voltage lower is always better is not quite true.. It must be within .5v of the DRAM voltage and during a clock 1.35 seems to be the sweetspot for that, which again most SPD's are setting that value to


 
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Reply #15 - Jan 10th, 2009 at 2:04pm

NickN   Offline
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NickN wrote on Jan 10th, 2009 at 2:00pm:
No worries

you wont go into any danger zone till you hit 1.69-1.70


If the memory (with and without) the CPU overclocked will run 1.64-1.65, leave it there. Many SPD's (the memory chip programming on the sticks) are setting this to 1.66 which is not a problem and why I suggested it

if its stable at 1.64, its fine. Lower is always better

Now with QPI/DRAM voltage lower is always better is not quite true.. It must be within .5v of the DRAM voltage and during a clock 1.35 seems to be the sweetspot for that, which again most SPD's are setting that value to





follow up...



just so you understand.. DDR3 memory itself will run up to 2.0v DRAM without a problem.. with i7 though the DRAM voltage is not only seen by the memory, its seen by the CPU and therefore the danger in raising it past 1.69-1.70 is to the CPU, not the memory
 
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Reply #16 - Jan 10th, 2009 at 7:35pm

JimBrown   Offline
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More great information.

If I may jump in on this thread (and if I mayn't, let me know and I'll go start another. Smiley )

I've been playing with my brand new i7 920 system all day, getting to know it as intimately as I can. (So far, I think all we are doing is kissing.)

Like jwenham, my RAM appears to be running at less than it's rated speed and timings. I have the Mushkin XP3-12800 3x2gb kit. It is rated for 1600 at 7-8-7-20. When I fired up cpu-z (1.49), it showed the memory running at 1066 (533 x 2) at 8-8-8-20.

Since I do not want to OC the rig at this time, whilst I install and tweak the OS and software (including FSX) but I still want to take advantage of the faster RAM speed, I went into the ASUS P6T Deluxe BIOS and changed the following:

DRAM Frequency                  1600
UCLK Frequency                        3200
DRAM CAS# Latency                  7
DRAM RAS# to CAS# Delay      8
DRAM RAS# PRE Time            7
DRAM RAS# ACT Time            20

Have I made the changes correctly? Cpu-z now shows the RAM correctly.

I am aware that when I do OC the system, the two Frequency settings will need to be adjusted.

And, if I may, and while I have your attention, I also made the following changes in the BIOS:

Intel SpeedStep Tech                  Disabled
Intel Turbo Mode Tech            Disabled
CPU Spread Spectrum            Disabled
PCI Spread Spectrum                  Disabled
C1E Support                        Disabled
Intel Virtualization Tech            Disabled
CPU TM Function                  Disabled
Intel HT Technology                  Disabled
Intel C-STATE Tech                  Enabled
ACPI 2.0 Support                  Enabled

Have I changed anything I shouldn't have? Have I missed anything?

Much thanks!
...jim
 
Intel i7 920 2.67 OC'd to 4.0ghz&&Asus P6T Deluxe&&6gb Mushkin 1600 7-8-7-20&&BFG 260 Maxcore OC'd 20%&&Thermalright Ultimate Extreme 120&&Power PC & Cooling 750w&&650gb Western Digital 32mb&&TripleHead2Go at 3840x1024&&A wife who doesn't give me any grief about this silliness.&&&&Radio Control Aircraft Gallery
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Reply #17 - Jan 10th, 2009 at 7:57pm

NickN   Offline
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Looks good Jim

you can disable ACPI 2.0 Support unless you have very old PCI cards in the system                  
 
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