Q6600 3.2GHz / 1600 RAM

Alright, I'm having some trouble getting my system to boot with my CPU at 3.2GHz. I'm trying to use a multiplier of 8 and 400FSB to get to 3.2GHz. This is because I want my RAM to operate at 1600. My CPUs voltage is 1.3 and I think my RAM is set to ~1.5.

When I try to put at 8x400 / 1600 the computer will just reset a few times without getting passed POST. Then it finally comes up and I re-enter the BIOS to see that everything has been reset. I tried 8x375 to get 1500 once and I got to the windows loading screen but it crashed a few seconds later. Could upping the RAM voltage help any or am I just stuck at 9x333 / 1333?


Hardware:

Q6600
OCZ Reaper DDR3 1600 2x1 GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227319)
Gigabyte X48T-DQ6

Why did u buy 1600 RAM??
Even at 3.2Ghz a Q6600 will only run the ram @ 711Mhz @1:1 (9x multi)

Q6600 @ 3.2 = 8x400QDR = 200Mhz FSB
Ram @ 1600DDR = 800Mhz
In other words, your ram is 4x faster than you need based on 8x@3.2
800mhz ram would give you a max 1:1 oc of (9x)3.6Ghz or (8x)3.2Ghz. U can always OC the ram a little too.
1600Mhz would give a 1:1 of 800x9=7.2Ghz
...just fyi

Check ur ram voltage as stated. Normally it needs ~1.8-2.2.
Bump it up a notch at a time. Read ur ram stick or newegg they may have a max/suggested voltage.

What on Earth are you talking about?

An 800 MHz FSB is crazy, I don't think I've seen anyone pull that off. You do not need an 800 MHz FSB to use the 1600 MHz RAM. FSB needs to be set to 400 MHz to use RAM at 1600 MHz for a 1:1 ratio. He is using DDR3 RAM, which means double data rate three.

If he was using DDR (double data rate) his effective memory clock would be double the FSB so 800 MHz
If he was using DDR2 (double data rate 2) his effective memory clock would be 1200 MHz
He is using DDR3, so you double the FSB three times (plus the original FSB value) to get the effective memory clock for a 1:1 ratio, so 1600 MHz for a 1:1 ratio at a FSB of 400 MHz.

Correction: An FSB of 400 MHz with DDR3 RAM at 1600 MHz is a 1:2 ratio

Newegg says the voltages should be at 1.9V.

Are you insane? What you said is complete gibberish. Mrmez is right although his explanation is a little confusing. Let me explain it to you.

DDR, DDR2 and DDR3 all run twice as fast ast the base FSB clock, hence the term DDR, which means Double Data Rate.The difference is that the internal memory clock drops by half for each revision, allowing it to run at a higher base FSB clock.

DDR2 and DDR3 at the same base FSB clock would both run at 800Mhz. DDR3 1600 is designed to run at a base clock of 800Mhz not 400mhz. The difference between the base clock of 400Mhz and the memory bus clock of 800Mhz can be adjusted by setting the memory multiplier to 4 instead of 2.

I don't know what you corrected, but you post is still complete BS. "Correction: An FSB of 400 MHz with DDR3 RAM at 1600 MHz is a 1:2 ratio" is correct, but it doesn't tell the OP anything and certainly doesn't clear up the previous gibberish.

Unrelated to your post, to clear up any misconceptions I was referring to the Gigabyte mobos when I said you could set the multiplier to 4 instead of 2, which would result in a memory ratio of 1:2 1600Mhz and not not 1:1 800Mhz respectively.

Read these before you post about RAM, especially if you are going to start your post with "What on Earth are you talking about?".

SDRAM - Wikipedia
DDR2 SDRAM - Wikipedia
DDR3 SDRAM - Wikipedia

Excuse me for making an honest mistake. My post was BS, but then I appended to the end of it as you pointed out. The correction clearly debunks everything I previously said. For the sake of being honest about my mistake I left the rest of what I posted up. I already read those articles, hence the correction I made to my post.

While I was at 8x375 / 1500 my system crashed when I tried playing COD4 and then crashed again when windows started to come up (after I typed in my password). Before that it was running fine, but now I'm back at 9x333 / 1333 still reading and trying to tweak it to the max.

I need to know one thing though. What's the maximum voltage I should use for the RAM without damaging it?

You should not need to increase the RAM voltage past the stock 1.9V. even at a base FSB of 400 it is only running at 800Mhz, which is significantly under clocked. You have another problem. Did you lock the PCIe to 100 Mhz? Did you lock the memory multiplier to 2? Run CPU-Z and post pics all of the tabs. If you don't have a pic host you can use TinyPic .

1.5 volts seems pretty low. Try bumping it up by .1 volts (but not more than 1.9) to get it stable.

Currently your RAM is running at 1333. The information in the SPD tab is the factory loaded specs. The SPD is 1.5V but on their site they are saying 1.9V. Also on the SPD the max speed is 1333 (667 external memory clock). Sometimes RAM is sold at higher speeds than the data that is loaded into the SPD, so I don't know that this is a major problem, but it would be nice to see it in the SPD.

My guess is that your PCIe is locked to 100 or you probably wouldn't be stable with a FSB increase to 1333.

To rule out the RAM set the multiplier for a 1:1 ratio, so the RAM will be running at 800 and the CPU will be running at 400 x 8.

Also, good point from kyeana about measuring the core temps. Use Real Temp after you have a bootable OC. You can use Prime95 to load the CPU after you determine that the idle temps are in line.

I've been looking all over the BIOS and I cannot find a place to change the ratio to 1:1. Is it called something different in the BIOS other than FSBRAM ratio?

Running the CPU at 1.98V? That would be very bad. You need to say what voltage you are talking about. You need to do some research before you continue or you are liable to fry your components.

Read this HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - Guide v1.6.1

hes talking about the DDR3 Voltage...

I tried that and it crashed at windows. I started to think it was the CPU so I used a multiplier of 7 and FSB of 400 (2.8GHz CPU) and 800MHz RAM. Rated FSB was 1600.

I got to windows and started COD4, ran fine. Quit the game, opened up FireFox and the computer crashed.