Needs assistance: memory performance is limited for overclocking
Needs assistance: memory performance is limited for overclocking
Hi
This is a small problem but driving me mad (just want to squeeze a bit of extra performance out of this ram
).
I have 16 GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport 1600 Mhz, 9-9-9-24, 1.5v memory.
The problem is that I don't want to up the voltage past 1.5v but, leaving dram volts at 1.5v I can't get it to run at a higher frequency without auto timings raising the timings so much it is pointless (it puts something like 11-13-13-35), and if I leave it at 1600, then I can't tighten the timings at all.
Mostly when I try to overclock the ram I get stuck in a boot loop (the power comes back on and instantly turns off, then starts again). I did manage to get it to boot at 1866 by loosening the second and fourth timing so I have 9-10-9-30 but then it instantly fails HyperPi memory test and/or Windows crashes after logging in.
I noticed from a Haswell overclock guide that raising the system agent volts from 1.15 to 1.25 might help, but on my bios settings, I only have an offset from +/- 0.0001 to 0.999v (and the volts in bios reads something like 0.87xxv so I had no idea how much to add to the offset.
Ideally I'd like to get to 1800, 1866 or 2000 (with decent timings) without adding to the dram volts of 1.5v. Is there anything else I can change ? And what would that be on my board ?
For info, this ram is paired with:
Asus Pro Gamer Z97 mobo
i5 4670k overclocked to 4.3Ghz (adaptive voltage of 1.2v)
Seasonic Platinum 760w PSU
290X Tri-X
W10 64-bit
(by the way, the ram behaves the same whether I have a CPU overclock in place or not).
I read from this review (
http://hw-db.com/memory/964/crucial-bls2...u-review/2
) that:
If you are the sort of person who doesn’t like to overvolt then the best you can do is DDR3-1866 at 9-9-9-27 or DDR3-2133 with 10-11-11-32
.
..... but as I said, that isn't working out for me like that, which is why I thought I might have overlooked something.
Or, am I being overly cautious in worrying about upping the memory voltage ? As you can see, I look a modest overclock and not paying too much in volts & heat.
Thanks in advance
I've used my Balistix 1.5 RAM at 1.57 for more than a year without any problems. The memory comes with a lifetime warranty, so you can replace them if needed, which I think they will do. Voltage stability is also crucial.
I've used my Balistix 1.5 RAM at 1.57 for more than a year without any problems. The memory comes with a lifetime warranty, so you can replace them if needed, which I think they will do. Voltage stability is also crucial.
Thanks sportsfanboy
Well, I tried bumping the voltage up (to 1.65v eventually) and I could not get 1866 or 2000 to work at 10-10-10-30 or 9-9-9-24. Just refuses to boot. I removed the CPU overclock too, just in case that was a problem.
I must be missing something or I have really poor memory. I noticed that among many options in my BIOS, I had an option for Internall PLL over voltage - maybe enabling it would help but I don't know.
As to the cache voltage, I'm not sure what I should set that too if it would help with the memory overclocking.
I feel there is something really simple I'm missing (or like I said, have been unlucky with the memory).
Your memory speed settings might not be ideal, but you can check your digital and analog input speeds. Also, experimenting with cache and CPU scaling under different clocks could improve performance.
Your memory's performance might be affected by how your system handles clocking and cache settings. Consider adjusting the cache and CPU multiplier until you find the optimal configuration. Digital and analog IO are currently set to auto, similar to other BIOS settings. I haven't changed the cache multiplier, but increased the CPU multiplier to 43 before lowering it back to stock when setting the voltage to 1.65v. You might want to try increasing the voltage on the IO voltage settings as well.
In general, crucial sticks don't typically offer much headroom for overclocking.
I've never experienced successful RAM overclocking, so I'm not bothering with it anymore. That review seems to be based only on one type of RAM they tested. It might have been a limited selection provided by Crucial. They should have included a disclaimer that not all RAM will perform this way. If they had bought several retail packs and they all worked similarly, there could be some truth to it.
Leaps-from-Shadows :
When you decide to keep pushing overclocking for that RAM, you need to figure out whether speed or timing is more crucial. In most situations, you can't have both at the same time.
Heh, I'm okay with either one, but I can't adjust timing or boost frequency.
I've seen some solid outcomes with two different sets of crucial made memory Tradesman. I haven't heard about the limits you mentioned. Micron's memory quality is quite good.
Micron is definitely capable enough for Intel to form a limited partnership with them. It doesn't mean they're overclocking, but it does indicate they understand what they're doing.