PLEASE! This makes no sense!

[ytoledano]

System: P4 2.4C (Thermalright SLK-947U), Abit IS7-E (P3 HS with AS5 on NB), OCZ 1GB PC4200.
What I want is to get to 3.25GHZ with 267 FSB and Dual channel, and I should be able to do that with my setup, right?

I used to be able to get well over 262 FSB without Dual channel and my CPU was starting to limit me, I would have raised Vcore and saw how far I can go but it's not worth it without DC. With DC enabled (stick placement) I can't get over 258 FSB and finish a few Memory Bandwidth Benchmark tests using Sisoft Sandra, memtest also freezes at those speeds. Since every component should'nt be limiting me I though it was my NB cooling which I still had the stock fan (the old Abit NB fan, not the newer one) so I put on a P3 HS I had lying around and now I'm shocked to see that I still can't get through the memory benchmark burn in above 258 FSB. The higher the FSB, the faster it freezes, so I feel it's not a firmware problem. Note that Prime95 runs for weeks checking for primes.

What the hell is this, it makes no sense at all! What could be unstable? The memory? works fine with no DC. The processor? Prime95 runs for days. The NB? I just installed new cooling.

Just tell me what could be unstable! I so want that setting of 3.25GHZ and a very wide memory bus.

POST is way overrated, the black screen and beeps should be enough for most people.

 

[Crashman]

vDIMM for your board is 2.80v max as far as I remember. I'll assume you have it set to that and tell you...you probably need at least 2.85v to make the memory run faster. Dual Channel mode stresses the timings on memory more, and causes it to crash easier, and the easiest solution to that is to increase vDIMM.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Crashman]

BTW, I can't understand why anyone would buy a 2.4C when Intel dropped the 2.8C to their lowest P4 price bracket.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[HardWareBoss]

Didn't he buy the 2.4C before the price drop?

 

[Crashman]

pro'ly, I was thinking he was refering to a new system.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[ytoledano]

you probably need at least 2.85v to make the memory run faster.

Yes, that makes sense. But I have a feeling that when I'll set vDIMM to 2.6 it won't hurt stabillity, and if it doesn't - does it mean that increasing vDIMM won't improve stabillity?
And if OCZ sell the product as specified for Dual channel at 533MHZ with a life-long warranty, doesn't it mean that they should replace it?
Also, is there a volt mod to be done on this board?

And yes, I bought the chip before the price drop and even if I bought it after the 2.4c would still be cheaper 'cause those price drops don't happen where I live and the faster the processor the more it costs (the 2.4 and 2.6 never cost the same). But I heard that the 2.4c is better for OC because there's a chance you'd get a M0 stepping which is better than the D1 stepping and there are no 2.6c with M0 (not to mention you can usually reach the same speeds as the 2.6 with a faster bus).

POST is way overrated, the black screen and beeps should be enough for most people.

 

[Crashman]

LOL, OCZ likely garuntees the stuff will run at DDR533 at 2.85v. None of this "high speed" RAM is really high speed RAM, it's all overclocked. Real high speed RAM would run at full speed WITHOUT overvolting.

Now, your board is well known to overclock to 250MHz bus easily. But speeds in excess of that are not garunteed. So getting the 2.4C just to use a higher bus speed really doesn't make sense, especially when the RAM cost more and the board could reach it's limit before the fastest RAM does.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>