320MHz:DDR640 - What Now?

[DFI-Guy]

I got my FSB up to 320 last night. To me this proves that both my CPU and RAM can handle that speed. When I try to up the Multiplier and lower the FSB the best I can get at a stable condition is 272x10.5. Ideally, I would like to be able to run the multiplier at 12 and then bump the FSB up to 275MHz-DDR550 but it ain't gonna happen. Now that I know my CPU and RAM kick butt, how can I get the motherboard to join them in overclocking heaven?

[Hippey]

Never use a half multiplier. go either 10 or 11. that should help

[DFI-Guy]

OK, I'll do that. Thanks. Is it better to up the FSB and lower the Mx or up the Mx and lower the FSB? I'm a gamer.

[sniper007]

OK, I'll do that. Thanks. Is it better to up the FSB and lower the Mx or up the Mx and lower the FSB? I'm a gamer.

 

You want the max cpu Mhz you can get. Thats always what you should be primarily aiming for, then compromise. Lowering multipliers to achieve the same overclock but with a higher FSB used to be more significant especially with Intel systems (particularly with regard to stability), but with a system like yourself you just want to be running max cpu mhz that you can which ever way possible, preferably at 1:1 FSB/RAM ratio, but this is not imperative. Running ram on a divider is fine.

 

By the sounds of your fist post oyu are confused. Explain exactly how you went about finding the max your CPU and ram could do. If you really knew they could do over 300 FSB/HTT then this shows your mobo is fine.

[DFI-Guy]

What I meant was, the CPU and RAM can only run at those speeds when the Mx is lowered and the memory's timing increased. I guess what I was hinting at was I would like to have my cake(320MHZ) and eat it(bandwidth) too!

 

To get the RAM up to 320MHz @ 1:1, I had to increase the timing/latency to 2.5-4-8-4. However, at my current stable speed of 272MHz, I'm running the timings @ the recommended DDR550:2.5-3-7-3. The RAM voltage is 2.90V.

 

To get the CPU up to 320MHz, which the RAM happily follows, like a lost little puppy, I had to lower the Mx to 4x. Yeah, 4x! This isn't about the multiplier, it's about getting the FSB to MAX speed, at all cost.

 

The CPU Voltages are:

Auto

1.550V

Auto

 

I'll take your advice and lower the Mx and increase the FSB. Thanks again.

[DFI-Guy]

If you really knew they could do over 300 FSB/HTT then this shows your mobo is fine.

 

I disagree. I'm referring to bandwidth not FSB. I was asking how I could get the max bandwidth(multiplier) while maintaining the higher(275MHz+) FSB speeds. I'm sorry if what I said was confusing.

[DFI-Guy]

Well, I did what you said. I tried 10x and 11x to get away from the 10.5x272=2856. When running the HT at the same speeds(2840MHz-2856MHz) but with multiples of 10x284MHz and 11x260MHz there was lockup in Super Pi. Also there was no significant increase in performance according to my Aquamark3 scores. In fact, the score went down a bit.

 

I'm going to stick with 10.5x270MHz-272MHz. As I mentioned in my initial post, I just wish there was a way to squeeze a little more bandwidth(Mx) while keeping the FSB.