DDR overclocking...

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Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (More info?)

Hi,

I own Abit BD7II-RAID motherboard, Pentium 4 3,06GHz and 1024MB PC2100 DDR
RAM running on standard 266MHz.

I have read that i can simply overclock my RAM to 356 MHz (i mean from 133
to 178MHz). I have two modules of Kingston Vaule Ram PC2100, every one
512MB. When i want to overclock the ram (CPURAM) ratio in BIOS when both
modules are installed i get bluescreen before "loading windows xp" screen.

But when i leave only one module in the mobo (512MB) i can overclock the RAM
to 178MHz instead of 133MHz and everything runs well. - so it runs a little
slower then PC3200 actually, cause it is 356.
I have the newest bios for this MoBo.

Every time i install both ram modules i gret this error and windows will not
start. I can only overclock it when 1 module installed.

But well, i wanted to check why the faster ram is better. I benchmarked the
512MB RAM module in SiSoft Sandra (the newest), Everest Home Edition and
Doom III in 2 speeds.

Sandra as well as Everest gave me better memory bandwidth, a noticeable
difference can be seen on the graphs. But theese are just benchmarks. I run
doom 3 timedemo (with usecache command). The results were exactly the same.
Why? Arent games interested in ram speed at all?

so, the final questions are:
1. can i overclock both modules at the same time?
2. why there is no difference in games between 133MHz DDR and 178MHz DDR
(266 and 356)?

If you have any solutions, please let me know.
Best regards
Byru

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (More info?)

"byru" <mbyrczek@pf.pl> wrote in message...
> I own Abit BD7II-RAID motherboard, Pentium 4 3,06GHz and
> 1024MB PC2100 DDR RAM running on standard 266MHz.
>
> I have read that i can simply overclock my RAM to 356 MHz
> (i mean from 133 to 178MHz).

Well, it's probably more accurate to say that you *might*, if you are lucky,
be able to overclock your memory to these sorts of speeds. It's not a fait
accompli, which is the way you appear to be approaching it. Some high
quality PC2100 will overclock to these sorts of speeds, but plenty won't.

> When i want to overclock the ram (CPURAM) ratio in BIOS
> when both modules are installed i get bluescreen before "loading
> windows xp" screen.

In other words, the system isn't stable - your overclock hasn't been
successful.

> But when i leave only one module in the mobo (512MB) i can overclock
> the RAM to 178MHz instead of 133MHz and everything runs well.

It's quite common for the system to be less overclockable with two sticks of
memory than it is with one.

> Every time i install both ram modules i gret this error and windows will
> not start. I can only overclock it when 1 module installed.

It's ages since I've used one of those boards, so I don't remember. Does it
have adjustable memory voltage? If it does, try raising it a couple of
points if you're still at 2.5 volts. If that doesn't work, you could try
relaxing the memory timings some more if you haven't yet done so.

> Sandra as well as Everest gave me better memory bandwidth, a
> noticeable difference can be seen on the graphs. But theese are just
> benchmarks. I run doom 3 timedemo (with usecache command).
> The results were exactly the same. Why? Arent games interested
> in ram speed at all?

Games are "interested" in memory speed, but in this application it's
probably the third most significant factor behind graphics and CPU
performance.

> so, the final questions are:
> 1. can i overclock both modules at the same time?

You already know the answer to that, and it appears to be no.

> 2. why there is no difference in games between 133MHz DDR and
> 178MHz DDR (266 and 356)?

Presumably because there's another bottleneck that's limiting the
performance. Do you have a slow graphics card? Do you have VSync enabled,
have you ruled out any other similar explanations?
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace nospam with pipex in reply address)

The UK's leading technology reseller www.dabs.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (More info?)

> It's ages since I've used one of those boards, so I don't remember. Does
it
> have adjustable memory voltage? If it does, try raising it a couple of
> points if you're still at 2.5 volts. If that doesn't work, you could try
> relaxing the memory timings some more if you haven't yet done so.
>
I set memory timings to 2-2-2-5 (quite good compared to standard: 2.5-3-3-6)
and i get some better results actually but only in Sandra and in Everest. I
hope the overal system performs better as well. A also set special option to
enchence memory performance in BIOS.

> Presumably because there's another bottleneck that's limiting the
> performance. Do you have a slow graphics card? Do you have VSync enabled,
> have you ruled out any other similar explanations?

Well this could actually be the case.
I have GeForce 3Ti as for now but i am thinking of new ASUS GF6800GT
(V9999GT), 128MB, with worse DDR modules.
It seems to be the best card for my config and isnt that expensive as well.

It may be that GF3 cant perform more fps in Doom3. (VSync of course
disabled).
Thanks for help!

Best regards
Byru