Confused with 2Gig kits!!

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Update, passed 100 passes of test 5, but wont boot into windows...damn this infernal fussy board. For some reason, it really doesn't like CAS3. It even boots @ 250mhz 2.5-4-4-10 but once again, jams up at the verifying dmi pool data screen. So this morning I have been testing tight timings. Went for 219mhz 2-3-2-5 1T @ 2.8v and it froze before reaching memtest, dropped the Vdimm to 2.7 and now it's happily memtesting away 5 passes so far of test 5. This could take a while to find the right medium for this RAM. Hopefully it will hit 225mhz, in which case I will run 250x10 on a 9/10 divider giving me 225mhz on the RAM i.e. 225 2-3-2-5 1T which wouldn't be bad at all.... :D Orange slots are a complete no POST with 208mhz 2-3-2-5 1T which I know it about 16hours memtest stable, including gaming, so I put the RAM back into the yellow slots and hey presto, we have POST. DFI really did the number with these boards, they are just so fussy!!!! :rolleyes: Oh well...

Report back when I have more info.
 
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smids said:
Update, passed 100 passes of test 5, but wont boot into windows...damn this infernal fussy board. For some reason, it really doesn't like CAS3. It even boots @ 250mhz 2.5-4-4-10 but once again, jams up at the verifying dmi pool data screen. So this morning I have been testing tight timings. Went for 219mhz 2-3-2-5 1T @ 2.8v and it froze before reaching memtest, dropped the Vdimm to 2.7 and now it's happily memtesting away 5 passes so far of test 5. This could take a while to find the right medium for this RAM. Hopefully it will hit 225mhz, in which case I will run 250x10 on a 9/10 divider giving me 225mhz on the RAM i.e. 225 2-3-2-5 1T which wouldn't be bad at all.... :D Orange slots are a complete no POST with 208mhz 2-3-2-5 1T which I know it about 16hours memtest stable, including gaming, so I put the RAM back into the yellow slots and hey presto, we have POST. DFI really did the number with these boards, they are just so fussy!!!! :rolleyes: Oh well...


Report back when I have more info.

So I should use the yellow slots then? Interesting that less voltage makes it more stable.

Thanks for the info. My memory should be here tomorrow.
 
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Wow, you're getting some very decent speeds with those tight timings. Keep em coming. I'll try to stretch my XMS3500s a bit and see what I come up with. I have to say, lowering the voltage would never have occurred to me.
 
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man_from_uncle said:
Wow, you're getting some very decent speeds with those tight timings. Keep em coming. I'll try to stretch my XMS3500s a bit and see what I come up with. I have to say, lowering the voltage would never have occurred to me.
Yup, but although memtest stable, mobo is playing up badly. I think I need new BIOS as the one I'm running (623-2) is designed for BH5/CH5/UTT RAM and has those RAM tables accordingly. If the RAM was so unstable, it wouldn't POST, but it does indeed POST however fails at the DMI check. Other times, it passes memtest but won't boot windows. I'm thinking almost certainly a BIOS issue and I need to address that soon.
 
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smids said:
Yup, but although memtest stable, mobo is playing up badly. I think I need new BIOS as the one I'm running (623-2) is designed for BH5/CH5/UTT RAM and has those RAM tables accordingly. If the RAM was so unstable, it wouldn't POST, but it does indeed POST however fails at the DMI check. Other times, it passes memtest but won't boot windows. I'm thinking almost certainly a BIOS issue and I need to address that soon.

Thought about using the same bios as me? (704-2 BTA)

Very popular bios, that has had a lot of work done to it.

It's ment to work well with all types of ram (apparently)
 
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So for my Opty 144 and DFI Infinity Mobo, you'd recommend going with the ZX rather than the HZ?

I was going to try and keep it at a 1:1 simply because it seems an easier way to overclock (never OCed before) but if the ZX performs better and isn't particularly harder to do, then I should go for it? :)
 
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Jameslee said:
So for my Opty 144 and DFI Infinity Mobo, you'd recommend going with the ZX rather than the HZ?

I was going to try and keep it at a 1:1 simply because it seems an easier way to overclock (never OCed before) but if the ZX performs better and isn't particularly harder to do, then I should go for it? :)
Well, there is proven evidence of tight timings being equal to, or better than high frequency at looser timings. It all depends on application though. Gamers and benchers I think should go ZX - it's up to you in the end though :).
 
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As smids says, timings are much more crucial now than they were before the AMD64 revolution. Having said that it's always been about getting the best combination of timings and speed. The balance has merely been tipped a lot toward timings now. 250 at 3-3-3-8 will still out perform 200 at 3-3-3-8, but it'll only be on a par if that 200 is running at something like 2-3-2-5. The trick is to find the best sweet spot.
 
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I've been cranking out what i can with these XMS3500s
So far: 236@2-3-2-6 that's the best I can do with stock timings so far
[email protected] this is probably the sweet spot but I can't use it to get to a good stable overclock with my Opty 144.
275@3-3-3-7
280@ 3-4-4-8 and I am running it like this as I write. It's Superpi 2m stable but i'll try again at 285 and post back if it works.
 
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Scoobie Dave said:
Thought about using the same bios as me? (704-2 BTA)

Very popular bios, that has had a lot of work done to it.

It's ment to work well with all types of ram (apparently)

Would that bios be ok for the ram im using? Or is it best to stick with the 623?

Cant seem to find a 704-1 version:(

Do the -1, -2, -3 etc make much difference... for example im using the 623-3, which has the tables for all RAM, but the 623-1 is specially for TCCD.. would I notice any difference if i changed to the 623-1?

Cheers:)
 
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Street said:
Would that bios be ok for the ram im using? Or is it best to stick with the 623?

Cant seem to find a 704-1 version:(

Do the -1, -2, -3 etc make much difference... for example im using the 623-3, which has the tables for all RAM, but the 623-1 is specially for TCCD.. would I notice any difference if i changed to the 623-1?

Cheers:)

The bios you want to use is 704-2 BTA. It's had a load of tweaking done to it and is highly recommended with the DFI board. Very good bios and stable with many types of ram.

Download and burn this image to CD (it's a lot safer than Winflash) comes with some very handy tools also.

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22031&highlight=704-2+BTA

:)
 
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Umm I think I found the reason my sticks won't settle on anything properly and is something I no doubt missed in my test 5 only loops :(. I reset everything to stock, CPU RAM, vid card and ran stock for a bit (doing some work) and to my surprise, my computer locked up for the first time (not including during OC sessions) in about a year. Complete freeze - this happened twice so I decided to run a full memtest tonight but this happened :

Click me
RMA? Notice that memtest has lost all commands from the base bar. :( 2.74V going through that at the moment.

Given the infrequency of this, especially when I was clocking and playing games, it might just be one small bit of 1 chip gone fuzzy, but enough to cause this. I liked these sticks...
 
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You are right of course Scooby Dave. I am well aware there's stability and then there's stability. I don't actually keep a set of settings unless they can prime for 3 or 4 hours and even then, if i think it's a steep overclock i'll test it for 8 to 12. As it is I just wanted to find my limits before I spend a half day testing something that it bound to be rock solid.

As it is I got up to 285 at 3-4-4-8 but failed at 290. It was superpi 2m stable, but I decided to push in the other direction after that and started playing with tight timings at lower speeds. When I tried 2-2-2-5 at 200 it forced me to manually reset the cmos for the first time ever. It did manange 2-3-2-5 though and that seemed solid as a rock though i didn't do extensive testing at that speed either.

Anyway, it's curry night tonight so i won't get to fiddle around further till tomorrow eve.

Sorry to hear about your problems smids, keep us posted.
 
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smids said:
Umm I think I found the reason my sticks won't settle on anything properly and is something I no doubt missed in my test 5 only loops :(. I reset everything to stock, CPU RAM, vid card and ran stock for a bit (doing some work) and to my surprise, my computer locked up for the first time (not including during OC sessions) in about a year. Complete freeze - this happened twice so I decided to run a full memtest tonight but this happened :




RMA? Notice that memtest has lost all commands from the base bar. :( 2.74V going through that at the moment.

Imageshack having problems, so here is the link for my webspace

Click me

Given the infrequency of this, especially when I was clocking and playing games, it might just be one small bit of 1 chip gone fuzzy, but enough to cause this. I liked these sticks...

I would just RMA them back m8.

My ZX arrived this morning, have not had a chance to play with them yet but I will later when I have finished work.

I'll let you know how I get on.

:)
 
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You must have got a good set... mine wont loadat anything over 230MHz at 2-3-2-6... prefers to be run at 2.6V as well, as soon as I hit the voltage up, ive found its more stable!
 
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Well, i couldn't get it superpi 32m stable at those settings on anything less that 2.9v. I also found that i get pretty much identical stability results at 2-3-2-5 as i do at 2-3-2-6. So you might have the same luck.
 
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