Low Ram Frequency

C

corruptblitz

n00b
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Jan 4, 2007
Messages
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I recently got an Asus P5B Deluxe, 512x4 Kingston HyperX PC2-8500 DDR-1066, and an E6400 and I just realized after running CPU-Z that the ram is only running at 533Mhz. In the documentation for the P5B Deluxe it says the board only goes up to 800Mhz RAM, with the exception of HyperX 1066 sticks. I looked around in the BIOS and there was only one setting to control RAM speed and I tried setting it to 1066, but I still get 533 when running CPU-Z. Or is it effectively running at 1066 because it says 1:2 ratio?

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It is running at 1066Mhz, but it has nothing to do with the 1:2 ratio. The Asus manual states DDR speeds. DDR stands for double data rate. Therefore, when the memory is running at 400Mhz, for example, it is effectively running at 800Mhz because of the double data rate (two bits are passed per cycle, not one). CPU-Z, however, states RAM speeds as true clockspeed. That means that your RAM, running at 533Mhz, is really running at DDR 1066Mhz, which is the speed that it is rated for.

You really shouldn't be using that 1:2 divider, however. This is the ratio of FSB speed to RAM speed (true, non DDR speed), and it works best when you set it to 1:1. To do this, set the "RAM Speed" (which is misleading, as it really only controls the divider) down to DDR 400Mhz, and increase your CPU multiplier to 8x. After doing that, set the FSB as high as it will go while still stable. This will not only make your RAM work better but also make your processor go faster, as it can really go much higher than the current 1600Mhz. Notice that it is rated at 2130Mhz, and it can probably go up to 3400Mhz.

After that, try switching from 2T to 1T and see if you're still stable. Running in 2T is another performance hit.
 
excellent advice, I dont have an Asus so I could be wrong but with that Intel chipset board I dont think you are going to find a 1T vs 2T setting, I am under the impression Intels run 2T and thats is that. I think HOCP4ME ( def wins cool name of the month) has been brainwashed buy his AMD system. :eek: Could be wrong, it happens.
 
Ah. Turns out it's showing a core speed of 1600 because of SpeedStep or whatever. When I run Super Pi, the multiplier changes to 8x, and the core shows 2133. Now, I'm not completely sure how to get it down to a 1:1 ratio. I've been looking through the BIOS and it seems anything that would change a multiplier is unchangeable, even after settings things to manual. The only thing I can change in there is the Ram Frequency, and it will go as long as 533. I'd use the AI Toools software that comes with the mobo, but it it doesn't work in Vista yet.
 
good catch, yep, but its gotta be in there somewhere EIST and TM2 are both power saving things but I dont have your board so dont know how they would be listed, damn this came up the other day and someone, I think, had a list of setting for OC that board. Maybe I can find.
 
Bill, you rock. Thanks for taking the time to dig that up. I figured out how to change the fields in the BIOS. The multiplier was already at 8. I changed the RAM to 899 and the FSB to 320. This certainly doesn't fix the ratio, but there is no option for 400, lowest is 533. Maybe one of the other ram speeds will get me the 1:1. This OC lowered my Super Pi 1M score from 26 to 22, which is exactly what I estimated. Temps have gone up just about 5 degrees C. Just BSOD'd while typing this post the first time. What can I expect from stock HSF. This stuff is addictive. I foresee me buying a new HSF in the near future.

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BillParrish said:
excellent advice, I dont have an Asus so I could be wrong but with that Intel chipset board I dont think you are going to find a 1T vs 2T setting, I am under the impression Intels run 2T and thats is that. I think HOCP4ME ( def wins cool name of the month) has been brainwashed buy his AMD system. :eek: Could be wrong, it happens.
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Lol, okay, I didn't realize that Intel doesn't have 1T/2T.

To the OP: sorry, I was thinking of DDR (as opposed to DDR2). The correct speed setting is either 533Mhz or the next one up. One of those will give you a 1:1 divider.

You see, back in the old days of DDR, we had to decide how much slower to run the ram than the FSB. Finding RAM that could do 1:1 with a full OC was a great accomplishment.

It appears that you are having heat problems, however, so I would recommend you fix that before you change anything at this point. With that CPU and good cooling you should be able to at least hit 3.0Ghz.
 
533mhz is right. it is the same as ddr2-1066 ;)


please please please never ever call it 1066mhz. it's not 1066mhz, because those are the speeds ddr3 will be running at, and there is nothing on ddr2 that is running that fast, it's only the "effective" bus speed because it sends a signal twice per clock :p
 
Oh yeah, makes sense that 533 would be the one to get me the 1:1. But then wouldn't I have to push the FSB waaaay up to get the RAM back to 1066, resulting in the CPU being way over 3.0? I'm a little surprised that I was having heating issues last night at 2.5ghz. I've read that alot of people OC the 6400's quite a bit with stock HSF and do just fine. I also have a pretty decent cooling case, the Antec Nine Hundred. Speedfan was saying the cores were at 45C idle, and like 55C under Super Pi load. Back to stock now, it's around 38C idle, and 46C load. Thanks for the responses guys, I really appreciate the help.
 
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But is it stable? Who knows? I'm not stress testing, I'm just gonna try to play some games I normally play. If it doesn't crash during that, I couldn't care less if it can compute some prime numbers. I found it interesting that the timings automaticcaly changed from 5-5-5-16 to 4-4-4-11 when it's underclocked. I guess that makes me happy since I'll never get the 1066 effective speed on the RAM that I paid a little extra for while keeping 1:1.

Mad props to Bill for that sweet guide, I used the voltage I found in that for a C2D, 1.325.

EDIT: I'm getting a 5839 in 3Dmark06, doesn't that seem a little low?
 
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