GeIL DDR2 667Mz memory - only at 5-5-5-15 timings?

[=assassin=]

Well, I've checked settings and the RAM I bought advertised as 4-4-4-12 is running only at 5-5-5-15, and according to CPU-Z, that's the default SPD reading anyway. I just checked on GeIL's site, and it's now looking like it's 5-5-5-15 afterall, which means I'm now down on the performance I wanted. Is the 4-4-4 value advertised given because the RAM can do that anyway, even though it officially says on GeIL's site that all their PC5300 RAM is only 5-5-5-15? Just wondering what the story is, cheers for any info guys!

 

[Cob]

Did you try it at 4-4-4-12?

 

[=assassin=]

Thanks for replying. That's part of the problem, as I'm not sure where to go in the BIOS (my board is MSI K9N Neo-F 550 MCP). Also, I'm worried about wrecking my RAM by forcing it to do timings it might not be meant to do?

[EDIT] I'll add that the reason I'm asking is because I started checking settings because since installing with a new PC, the startup and shutdown times are slower than they should be - it's taking much longer than my Dad's PC (which is 1GB DDR 3200 @3-3-3-8, A64 3200), while mine should be at least as fast (2GB DDR2 667MHz@600MHz though because of silly AM2 memory divider, and A64 3800+).

 

[Heed]

That RAM will do 4-4-4-12 in that board no problem, but you must up the voltage to 2.1 and the v1.2 BIOS on that board has some bugs in the memory timings settings: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17632460

The ram defaults to 667 speed from SPD either becuase the SPD is wrong or for compatibility reasons. But once you manually set the timings and speed it runs fine at those values.

 

[stoofa]

The SPD uses a "Safe Mode" with lose timings and lower than DDR800 speeds.
The idea being any PC should boot at those settings and once you're booting you can get into the BIOS and manually tighten things up to what the memory is rated to.

 

[=assassin=]

That RAM will do 4-4-4-12 in that board no problem, but you must up the voltage to 2.1 and the v1.2 BIOS on that board has some bugs in the memory timings settings: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17632460

The ram defaults to 667 speed from SPD either becuase the SPD is wrong or for compatibility reasons. But once you manually set the timings and speed it runs fine at those values.

Cheers, could you tell me the exact section in the BIOS to go to as I'm useless at finding these things!? The RAM is 667MHz PC5300 anyway, btw, and running at 600MHz (due to AM2 memory divider with my 3800+ single core), so I'll have to OC to get the full MHz.

 

[Heed]

The SPD uses a "Safe Mode" with lose timings and lower than DDR800 speeds.
The idea being any PC should boot at those settings and once you're booting you can get into the BIOS and manually tighten things up to what the memory is rated to.

Yeah, that's what I meant by "compatibility reasons". Seems a lot of motherboards will default to less than 2.0 for the mem voltage, so the SPD sets the memory to a lower spec to ensure it boots at the lower voltage. Then you can manually bump the voltage to where it should be for its full rated speed.

Cheers, could you tell me the exact section in the BIOS to go to as I'm useless at finding these things!? The RAM is 667MHz PC5300 anyway, btw, and running at 600MHz (due to AM2 memory divider with my 3800+ single core), so I'll have to OC to get the full MHz.

I think it's under advanced chipset features. Then to Memory timings or something like that. Set manual and you will then see the full list of settings available. They'll all be set to "Auto", so just select the paramater you want to adjust and hit enter -- the full list of options for that parameter will appear from there. I would need to reboot to get the exact menu names, but I can't do that right now. Sorry.

Ah, I thought you were talking about the PC6400 kits.

EDIT: I've had a chance to do a reboot:

Advanced Chipset Features --> Memory Configuration --> MCT Timing Mode

Set MCT Timing mode to manual.

First four values below it should read:

4.0
15
6
4

That's if you have the v1.2 BIOS with the timing errors, that actually sets it to:

4.0
12
4
4

I left all the other values at auto for now.

 

[Nami]

^^ Yep, what they said about safe values Most RAM manufacturers do this to ensure the greatest compatibility out of the box without any messing about in the BIOS.