DDR 500 Memory, won't clock to 250mhz?

E

Eshelon

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
100
I've been trying to OC this machine, following the stickied guide I lowered my multiplier so I could find out the limit of my RAM. I purchased this OCZ memory for my new build, which should clock to 250mhz without any issue right? Well when I do Prime95 starts giving me the rounding error, you know 0.5, when less than 0.4 was expected.

System specs:
AMD Athlon 4400+
2x OCZ Platinum Edition 1GB DDR500
HIS X1800XT 512

Temps
CPU - 28C Load - 22C Idle
PWM IC - 34C
Chipset - 42C

Voltage:
CPU 1.32v
LDT Bus 1.19 (what is this?)
DRAM 2.65v
 
Just because your RAM can do 250MHz, doesn't mean your CPU can. Especially at such low voltages, I'm surprised you're able to boot into Windows at all. Raise the CPU voltage to 1.45V and make sure your RAM timings/voltage are correct. It should work then.
 
Bona Fide said:
Just because your RAM can do 250MHz, doesn't mean your CPU can. Especially at such low voltages, I'm surprised you're able to boot into Windows at all. Raise the CPU voltage to 1.45V and make sure your RAM timings/voltage are correct. It should work then.
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Okay. For some reason I thought as long as you lowered the multiplier the CPU wasn't being pushed any harder than it was before. Thanks.
 
Eshelon said:
Okay. For some reason I thought as long as you lowered the multiplier the CPU wasn't being pushed any harder than it was before. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Wait...this is interesting. Are you running it at 9x250? That should be fine, but 10x250 is too high for the 4400+ with stock voltage.
 
No dice. I pumped the CPU up to 1.45v and dropped the Multiplier to 9, from 11. Raised the FSB back up to 250 and I still get the rounding error. Think I need to go lower on the FSB?
 
Bona Fide said:
Wait...this is interesting. Are you running it at 9x250? That should be fine, but 10x250 is too high for the 4400+ with stock voltage.
Click to expand...
Right, I was going by the sticky help guide that says you should find the limit of your RAM first by lowering the Multiplier on your CPU, which is what I was doing.
 
Looks like I just needed to loosen timings some. I went from 3-3-2-7 to 3-3-3-8 and it's not gotten an error yet where it was getting the rounding error in about the first 45 seconds. Gonna let it run a bit and see if it stay stable.
 
Eshelon said:
Looks like I just needed to loosen timings some. I went from 3-3-2-7 to 3-3-3-8 and it's not gotten an error yet where it was getting the rounding error in about the first 45 seconds. Gonna let it run a bit and see if it stay stable.
Click to expand...

If you don't mind the hassle, I'd talk to OCZ about it. Their customer support is EXCELLENT, as is their RMA process. Can't hurt to talk to the people who made your RAM, rather than people on a forum. ;)
 
first things first, we don't know the mobo. it could be an asus, which hates 1gb sticks. try changing command rate to 2T... or bumping up vdimm a notch or two :D
 
Quick Update

I was able to get the memory stable at 260mhz FSB with the Ram Voltage @ 2.8v

I then started upping my Multiplier, Got to X10 before I started getting the rounding error again. So I dropped the FSB to 255, it was stable there. Tried to up the Multiplier to 11 (Max) and it's been unstable since then. I've got my RAM @ 2.88v and my CPU @ 1.7v

my CPU is at 29 - 31C idle and 38/39 Load. Still getting the rounding error.

Not sure if I should boost Voltages anymore? Advice please? I'm on air cooling.. I don't think I'm too hot but is it safe to increase voltage anyway, even if you're not too hot?

EDIT Scratch that, I've hit 44C Load. I think that's my limit. I reduced the FSB down to 250. with cpu still at 1.7v and mem at 2.88v. Currently testing, no errors yet but only 4 minutes into the test :p

EDIT v2.0 - Also Smartguardian is showing my DRAM voltage in red. 2.86 shows white and 2.87 shows red, it sits at 2.87 most of the time. Is this a problem?

EDIT v3.0 *sigh* rounding error 5 minutes into the test. Do I need to back off?
 
smart guardian likes to freak people out. ignore the red if you understand the risks of giving stuff lots of voltage ;)

also.. an expert. have you update the bios lately? :p
new dfi boards tend to suck until they've been out for a month or two
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
smart guardian likes to freak people out. ignore the red if you understand the risks of giving stuff lots of voltage ;)

also.. an expert. have you update the bios lately? :p
new dfi boards tend to suck until they've been out for a month or two
Click to expand...
Actually I completely forgot to apply the bios I downloaded yesterday, and it says in the update "better memory support" lol, probably a good idea. Thanks for the tip :p
 
Well, no dice. I'm still unstable @ 250mhz x11 with the CPU at 1.66v and the memory @ 2.88v

if the OC is stable with mem at 2.80v and 250mhz with the CPU at x10 and 1.45v does it sound like upping to x11 is asking for more voltage to the CPU? I'll try it @1.7 again. If that doesn't work I'll try with the multiplier set at 10.5. Is there any disadvantage to setting the multiplier to a decimal value like 10.5 instead of 10?
 
Well, I may have messed something up good. I tried to go to a multiplier of 10.5 and it wouldn't reboot. I've tried the clear-CMOS jumper and the Safe-boot jumper and I'm not getting a system startup. looking at the LEDs I get 3 of 4 lights. VGA Found, RAM Found, CPU Found, but the last LED for system startup isn't lighting up and I'm not getting a boot. Not sure what's up.
 
i thought it started with 4 lights on and moved it's way down? try holding down insert as you turn the comp on.. or take out one of the sticks of ram
 
I did the clear-CMOS jumper again and let it remain for a couple minutes instead of just a few seconds (the manual says a few seconds is ok but who knows!) and that worked. It's running fine at 250 x10. I may just keep it here. I'm gonna let it do a long term Prime95 test. It's about 10 minutes in right now and no errors. 32C load and 22C idle. Pretty low temps which make me want to try for x11 multiplier but it might just be out of reach.
 
not bad at all.. and yeah, 250x11 might be tough with an X2, but it's worth a shot anyway. can you boot at slower mhz and work your way up in windows with clockgen? ;)
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
i thought it started with 4 lights on and moved it's way down? try holding down insert as you turn the comp on.. or take out one of the sticks of ram
Click to expand...
After re-reading the manual you're correct there. The lights go out as the system boots. So I wasn't as far along in the sequence as I thought. Good to know.
 
if it stopped on the 3rd one.. i'm pretty sure that means it's hanging on memory detection ;)

i guess something in how the bios was cleared set some funky values and the ram didn't like it
 
I realise this is getting more off-topic as I go but since it could be related to what I've been doing all day I'll ask here.

Suddenly, my MSN messenger doesn't work anymore. I think it happened either after I installed ATI Tool Beta 11 or after I downloaded and ran clockgen (didn't mess with any settings though, just looked around). Whatever happened also caused my OneCare firewall / virus protection to stop working. In fact I couldn't get OneCare to run at all. I uninstalled OneCare and MSN Messenger, rebooted and reinstalled messenger but it's still dead.

Edit: I ran the "troubleshoot" part of the msn deal and it shows checkmarks beside everything except "Wireless...". When I go to "repair" it tells me to check my firewalls etc.
 
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