Advice on OC'ng Corsair XMS1600 RAM, ASUS P55, I7-860

[pathfindermolly]

Hi Guys, Iv been trying to overclock my ram on the asus P7P55D-E Pro MOBO....I have read so many articles however i cannot get them to run at the stock setting of 1600...Iv overclocked my i7-860 to 4.2GHZ with no errors after running Prime95 overnight, and i did overclock the ram to 1600 and ran MEMTES86 overnight with no errors but then after booting into windows the PC would freeze. Then i tried some other settings (Voltages, IMCC, DRAM) but i get errors almost right away after running PRIME95.

Anyway i figured id post the question here with the hopes of receiving some advice as to how the BIOS should be set from anyone with experience and advanced knowledge on the subject so I can possibly get the CPU and Ram set at the best possible settings and have this PC running nice and stable. Thanks for any help, here is what im working with....im not using any overclocking tools, im simply trying to set everything through the BIOS. Again any and all info would be greatly appreciated!

I am using 4 sticks of CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C8

Mother board is Asus P7P55D-E PRO with the latest BIOS

I7-860 with the Corsair H70 in an Obsidian 800D case

Corsair 850w PSU

I also have a GTX460 GPU ( I did have two of them in SLI mode however i took one out because i really didnt feel i needed it and figured it wouldnt cause as much heat)

 

[fullofzen]

The XMS3 memory needs 1.65v (not core voltage, but DRAM voltage) to get to 1600MHz. They seem to run 1333MHz at the default 1.5MHz.

At what voltage are you running the memory?

 

[pathfindermolly]

The XMS3 memory needs 1.65v (not core voltage, but DRAM voltage) to get to 1600MHz. They seem to run 1333MHz at the default 1.5MHz.

At what voltage are you running the memory?

Fullofzen, Thank you so much for responding, i really do appreciate your time and knowledge in helping me understand this better! So here is how iv got things set, Im going to write out how i have everything set under the DRAM Timing Control as-well as the settings in the AI Tweaker TAB in the BIOS. I figured id let you know how iv got everything set, so you can understand and see how everything is set up & Maybe you can share your experience and advise me as to how and what to set them too.

I also have some other RAM modules i could use instead if you think they would be more compatable?
4 sticks of Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model BL2KIT25664BN1608
2 sticks of CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C7

Again I really appreciate your help, Thank you.
Ed


Currently i have the DRAM Timing Controles set to

1st Information : 8-8-8-24-6-85-12-8-20-0
CAS# Latency 8 [8 DRAM Clock]
RAS# To CAS# Delay 8 [8 DRAM Clock]
RAS# PRE TIME 8 [8 DRAM Clock]
RAS# ACT Time 24 [24 DRAM Clock]
RAS# to RAS# Delay 6 [AUTO]
REF Cycle Time 85 [AUTO]
WRITE Recovery Time 12 [AUTO]
READ To PRE Time 8 [AUTO]
Four ACT WIN Time 20 [AUTO]
Back-To-Back CAS# Delay 0 [AUTO]

2nd Information : 2n-62-65
Timing Mode 2N [2N]
Round Trip Latency on CHA 62 [AUTO]
Round Trip Latency On CHB 65 [AUTO]

3rd Information : 6-6-17-9-9-9-7-6-4-7-7-4
Write To Read Delay(DD) 6 [AUTO]
Write To Read Delay(DR) 6 [AUTO]
Write To Read Delay(SR) 17 [AUTO]
Read To Write Delay(DD) 9 [AUTO]
Read To Write Delay(DR) 9 [AUTO]
Read To Write Delay(SR) 9 [AUTO]
Read To Read Delay(DD) 7 [AUTO]
Read To Read Delay(DR) 6 [AUTO]
Read To Read Delay(SD) 4 [AUTO]
Write to Write Delay (DD) 7 [AUTO]
Write to Write Delay (DR) 7 [AUTO]
Write to Write Delay (SR) 4 [AUTO]

Iv got the Ai overclocker set to Manual,
Cpu ratio is set at 20.0
intel speed step Tech - Disabled
Xtream Phase Full Power - Enabled
Blck Freq set to 191
PCIE Freq set to 100
DRAM Freq set to DDR3-1528MHz
QPI set to Auto
ASUS/3rd Party set to 3rd Party Utility ( I am running two 600GB Raptors in a RAID 0)

OC Tuner set to Turbo Profile
CPU Differential - Auto
CPU Clock Skew - Auto

CPU VOTAGE MODE - Manuel

Fixed Voltage 1.25
IMC Votage - 1.40000
DRAM - 1.6250
PCU PLL Voltage - Auto
PCH Voltage -Auto

DRAM Data REF Voltage on CHA - Auto
DRAM Data REF Voltage on CHB - Auto

Load-Line Calibration - Auto
CPU Speed Spectrum - Auto
PCIE Speed Spectrum - Auto

 

[fullofzen]

DRAM - 1.6250

What happens if you up that to 1.65v?

 

[pathfindermolly]

I bumped it up to 1.65 which turned it a purple color and now i can however the IMC voltage is in the RED at a current 1.43? Is that okay and is that a good setting...

I also have the BLCK at 193 and CPU ratio setting at 20.0

DRAM Frequency options are-
Auto
DDR3 - 1158MHz
DDR3 - 1544MHz
DDR3 - 1930MHz
DDR3 - 2316MHz

How high do you think i could get the DRAM Frequency to run stable? Should i run it at auto or pick the closest number to the stock settings? I also heard its sometimes better to just install two sticks of ram, is that true?

Thanks for the quick reply, If i dont get back to you right away its because im heading out for school in a bit...i really cant thank you enough!

 

[fullofzen]

I have to admit that I'm no P55 expert -- only OC'ing I've done is on Sandy Bridge, so the BLCK and CPU ratios are foreign to me. However, I would recommend sticking as close to the spec frequency on this memory as you can. I would vote for 1544MHz.

As for the IMC voltage, I really have no idea what kind of target you should be shooting for there.

 

[XMSYellowbeard]

1.35v - 1.45v is the max voltage I'd suggest on a Lynnfield IMC. Also, if you are more interested in a high OC than total RAM, yes, you should be able to OC better with 2 modules as opposed to 4 modules.

 

[pathfindermolly]

1.35v - 1.45v is the max voltage I'd suggest on a Lynnfield IMC. Also, if you are more interested in a high OC than total RAM, yes, you should be able to OC better with 2 modules as opposed to 4 modules.

XMSYELLOWBEQ,

Thank you for responding, So i currently have the fixed voltage set to 1.25 with is in Yellow, and the IMC voltage set to 1.30 which is in Purple, would you suggest i raise any voltages?

Also what about CPU PLL Voltage & PCH Voltage? are they best set to AUTO?

And what would happen if i set the cpu voltage modeto Offset instead of Manual.

This is all really very new to me, Im not a big gamer, however i do have several Harddrives and do some video editing and photoshop....so what do you think is best for performance, a High OC or having the total ram set right?

Do you know anything about the OV_DRAM switch located on the motherboard?

Thanks again!