GA-965p-DS3P + Geil 2x1GB-> worse performance with lower mem settings

Diddly

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Hi,

I have the following setup:

Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P (Rev 3.3, BIOS F5)
Geil 2x1GB PC2-6400 (4-4-4-12 @2.1V), but SPD rating 5-5-5-18 @1.8V.
I've tried running the RAM at 4-4-4-12 @2.1V, but I got 4% worse performance in SuperPI and bandwidth benchmark in Sisoft Sandra.

here are some screenshots from the BIOS and CPU-Z: In the BIOS screen the left hand timings are the SPD and the right hand ones are what I tried. My system is currently running @SPD timings.




can anyone advise me on whether I should try and lower some of the other mem settings in the BIOS or just give up?!
 

GSTe

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Oct 6, 2006
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Very odd, is that the Geil ultra (orange heatspreaders)? If so, I really hate that ram. Have some myself here that I used to use and it did all kinds of bizarre things, even though there was nothing wrong with the modules.... +0.1v made it unstable, didn't like lower frequencies, etc....

Have you run memtest or similar to make sure its not damaged?
 

GSTe

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Oct 6, 2006
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Think there's only an iso file that you download, burn to cd, then boot from. There's a Microsoft one as well that tends to find errors faster, but it's the same setup:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Memory-Tweak/Microsoft-Windows-Memo ry-Diagnostic.shtml

Theoretically it shouldn't, but memory performance in relation to cas latency seems to fluctuate depending on the mobo chipset and brand of cpu. On my old ABit AW9D cas 3 was fast at certain frequencies/ using certain dividers, but on my Asus P5B deluxe, cas4 is faster at all speeds. And cas5 seems to be better on my brother's P5K especially with higher frequencies:)
 

GSTe

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Oct 6, 2006
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Link isn't posting properly. Just google 'Microsoft ram test' and look for the softpaedia result if you want the program.
 

GSTe

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Hmmm, dunno, I think it could be something to do with the CPU personally..... AMD chips perform better with lower latency ram don't they..... probably due to the different memory controllers amd and intel processors use, but mobo chipset does seem to have an effect as well. And that Geil ram is just strange, or at least the kit I got is.... not sure which chips it uses, but doesn't seem like anything I've encountered before.
 

Diddly

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cheers guys sounds like I've got more investigating to do on the mem timings. Can some of you post your BIOS settings for the RAM timings so I can compare. It might shed some light on the other settings meanings too.