Just Upgraded RAM

[Peaks]

I have just upgraded my RAM to OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz 5-5-5-15 @ 2.1v.

This gave me a windows system rating of 3.2 for the memory. This isn't that great and seems to be the bottleneck of my system. Have any of you guys got a suggestion as to why this might be low and how I could improve it. These scores aren't much to go on but it is strange that the score for memory is so much lower than the rest.

The RAM's JEDEC rating is 400MHz 5-5-5-15 @ 1.8v. I am using the EPP rate of 5-5-5-15 @ 2.1v to run it at 533MHz

 

[groo]

is it maybe not running dual channel?

 

[Peaks]

no cpuz says its dual channel....

 

[groo]

I get a vista score of 5.9 @416
I know AMD's memory contolers aren't that much better than Intel's
so the problem looks to be with windows.
is it maybe using a paging file or something? do you have too many background processes running?

there is a newer versin of CPU-z, but that isn't your problem.

 

[seboj]

WEI is useless, don't put stock in it. Does it feel like it's running slow? If not, chock it up to a bug.

Everything looks fine from what you've shown. If you're still worried, run a real bench on it.

 

[Dark Comet]

I know that as soon as I changed my CPU my WEI score increased for my RAM.

 

[Peaks]

Well i have upgraded CPUz and it still says the same....dual channel, so that is ok. I have also upgraded my paging files. I now have two, one on the same HDD as vista and one on my other physical drive. Both have a min of the RAM size (4393) and a max of 1.5 x RAM size (6139), i read that this is the optimum way of setting up your paging files.

My WEI score is still 5.3 for RAM. My CPU is a q6600 which scores 5.9. Not sure this is a problem, could I overclock it to get a better RAM score?

What benchmark tools are there for RAM?

 

[Dark Comet]

I'm not sure. I got a better score when I went from a 1.8 GHZ dual core to a 2.66 GHZ Quad core. Maybe because my 1.8 GHZ was so low is was bottlenecking the RAM. I don't think that would be the case with the Q6600 though so I doubt that increasing the clock speed would help.

 

[Peaks]

ok just got a blue screen :S

Could that be the changes I made to the paging files?

 

[merlinbadman]

I doubt that the page file would cause a BSOD, have you ran MemTest to see if you are getting any errors?

In CPUZ under CPU tab, what is your Bus Speed? 266MHz?

Would setting your FSBRAM Ratio to 1:1 not cause your Bus speed to run @333 which equates to an FSB of 1330Mhz?

Check my maths please:

FSBRAM 1:2
266:533 = 266*4= 1064MHz FSB

FSBRAM 1:1
333:333= 333*4= 1330Mhz FSB

 

[merlinbadman]

Damn smiley's^ Meant to read as:

FSB:DRAM 1:2 
266:533 = 266*4= 1064MHz FSB 

FSB:DRAM 1:1 
333:333= 333*4= 1330Mhz FSB

 

[Peaks]

Yes my bus Speed is 266.7 MHz.

my FSB : DRAM is 1:2 in CPUz but 1:1 in the BIOS??????????

if it was 1:1 wouldn't the DRAM be determined by the FSB rather than the other way around.

SO: 266:266 rather than 333:333 ?

 

[merlinbadman]

What mobo are you using?

Out of interest what is your clock multiplier and speed of your CPU?

As previously suggested try running a benchmarking program, SANDRA or Everest etc. That way you can accuratley guage the effects of any changes to your config.

 

[merlinbadman]

If I were you I would run a FSB : DRAM ratio of 5:8

FSBRAM 5:8
333:533 = 333*4= 1330Mhz FSB with you RAM running at 1066Mhz (533 X 2)

Benchmark this and see if you get an improvement over your current settings.

 

[Peaks]

here is a screen shot of CPUz with all the information on my CPU...

I am using an Nvidia Nforce 680i motherboard, but about to upgrade to a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P, I have itm just gotta back up before I go ahead and install it.

The thing is, in the BIOS it says my multiplier is x8, but CPUz says its x6 ????

I ran Sandra but am confused about the results, could you explain them?

 

[merlinbadman]

CPUZ says x6 because of Intel SpeedStep reducing CPU power when idle, thats normal.

What isnt normal is that your CPU is underclocked when using a x8 (default) multiplier.

Stock for Q6600 1:1 ratio
333:333

The default bus for your CPU is 333.

333 x 4 = 1332Mhz front side bus.
333 x 2 = 667MHz for your RAM

The bus is multiplied by your clock multiplier (x8) to give your CPU speed. so 333 x 8 = 2664 (2.66GHZ)


1:2 Ratio
266:533

266 x 4 = 1064Mhz Front side bus
533 x 2 = 1066MHz for your ram

Bus of 266 x 8 (8 being the clock multiplier your BIOS is set to) = 2128 (2.12GHz)

You would need to set your multiplier to x 10 to get back to 2.66, but you cant as its locked to x 8 or lower.


5:8 Ratio, Best settings for your RAM
333:533

333 x 4 = 1332Mhz front side bus
533 x 2 = 1066MHz for your RAM

That way 333 x 8 = 2664 (2.66GHz) <- the correct speed for both your CPU and RAM.

I hope that makes sense

 

[Dark Comet]

I think that the CPU reduces the multiplier when you have little CPU usage. If I'm correct this is a power saving method and can be turned off in the BIOS.

EDIT: Merlinbadman explains this better

 

[merlinbadman]

In SANDRA you want to benchmark memory bandwidth (under memory benchmarks). Higher values are better, for for a score in Gb/s.

Memory bandwidth will indicate the potential throughput of your RAM, and is a good measurement of the sum of frequency and timings.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I'm not sure what Merlinbadman is on about. The Q6600 is a 1066 FSB CPU (266 quad pumped) with a 9x multiplier (266 x 9 = 2.4GHz). At a 1:1 ratio without overclocking anything, your RAM is only running at half speed (266 x 2 = 533).

 

[merlinbadman]

I'm not sure what Merlinbadman is on about. The Q6600 is a 1066 FSB CPU (266 quad pumped) with a 9x multiplier (266 x 9 = 2.4GHz). At a 1:1 ratio without overclocking anything, your RAM is only running at half speed (266 x 2 = 533).

Yeah I just realised that myself, I was thinking it was 1333 Doh!

Dis-regard all what I previously wrote.

 

[merlinbadman]

Sorry for the caused confusion, my help = fail.

 

[Peaks]

only running at half speed???

Ok so do i just up the FSB : DRAM ratio to get it to run faster?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

only running at half speed???

Ok so do i just up the FSB : DRAM ratio to get it to run faster?

Yes

I'm at work and they block your images, but it sounds like the RAM is running at half speed to me. I'd set the FSB : DRAM ratio to 1:2 in the BIOS which should show up as 1:4 in CPUZ and run your RAM at full speed.

 

[Peaks]

haha I was just about ot post this:

if i run it at 1:2 that gives me 532 * 2 = 1064 ??

Why does CPUz show it up as 1:4?? This must be why it is currently 1:1 in my BIOS but 1:2 in CPUz.

 

[Peaks]

Im not sure my RAM is running half speed. I mean it says in CPUz that it is running 533. But is that for 1 stick? in the BIOS i changed the FSB : DRAM ratio to auto and CPUz then displayed the RAM Freq as 400 MHz and the BIOS said it was 800 MHZ.