ram overclocking/tighting timings?

[jelly]

i have a set of corsair vengeance 4gig x 2 running at 9-9-9-24 t1 @ 1600mhz. i have never really overclocked/ tightend times of ram before. I am look more at tighting the times then overclocking the ram as i have a black edition cpu with and unlocked multi! How do I go about trying to tighten the timings? any help/input would really help me!

[sack_patrol]

ram timings don't really give you any real speed, or at least not as noticeable as a CPU overclock. You might want want to do both at the same time.

 

If you really insist tho, what you wanna do is download memtest 86+ for DOS and you should try to lower your ram timings one at a time, by one value and test after each change with memtest. If you pass for about 30mins, overclock more and repeat until you can't overclock any more. For the final test run memtest for like 5-10 hours and see if it holds. Also remember that you need to increase the RAM voltage too, but don't go crazy with it. Increase by one value when needed, then test. Don't go higher than 2.0V. (and that's if you are confident that your cooling can handle the heat. Otherwsie just go to a max of 1.8-1.9V max) You should also know that CL+tRCD+tRP ≈ tRAS. For your fist try of tightening the timings you might wanna try 8-8-8-24 t1 with the same voltage.

[Boinker]

First thing I would do is run geek bench or any other memory benchmarking system to get a good base line for the before overclock.

 

I would first see if its stable at 1866 with the factory timings and go from there. If it will pass memtest86 as Sack_patrol said I'd go and run OCCT linpak to further test the memory. Also if you have one get an active memory cooler to help support the greater temps they are about to put out.

 

If you do get into stability issues then I would first move the timings to 10-10-10-30 1T. if not try it on CR 2T and after that move the voltage up. (I'm going to leave that at your discretion) But overclock as much as you can with the factory timings and command rate.

 

After you have found the highest stable overclock then run your memory benchmarking program to verify An improvement. If there is not a decent improvement then I would put it back to stock and go with that.

 

Good luck. My record memory overclock is about 533 mhz and lets see if you can beat that.

[jelly]

thank you guys for the tips, im going to start playing with my ram this week. is there any way to watch my temps on my memory? also should i not go above a certain temp?

Edited January 12, 2011 by jelly

[wevsspot]

No way to monitor your DRAM temperatures unless you have a digital IR thermometer. Most folks just use the good old fashioned "how hot is it when you touch the spreaders" method. AMD based systems like low latencies, so in addition to finding the max operating frequency of your memory you should also play around with lowest timings achievable. For example, even on an Intel socket 1366 setup my memory bandwidth and latency is almost equal if I run my memory at DDR3 1800Mhz with 8-8-8-24 1T timings, as it is if I run my memory at DDR3 2000 speeds with 9-9-9-27 2T timings.

 

Even though benchmarks may show improved performance at higher memory bandwidths, usually your system will "feel" snappier with tighter timings. If I were you I'd skip right to the chase and just lower your first three primary memory timings to 8-8-8 and run Memtest and see if it will pass a 6-8 hour run. If so go ahead and boot the rig and run some windows based testing as recommended by some of the other posters.

 

If it fails Memtest at the tighter timings go ahead and add .5v to your DRAM Voltage and retest.

[battery]

i got one of those laser thermal sensors. pretty handy.

[jelly]

No way to monitor your DRAM temperatures unless you have a digital IR thermometer. Most folks just use the good old fashioned "how hot is it when you touch the spreaders" method. AMD based systems like low latencies, so in addition to finding the max operating frequency of your memory you should also play around with lowest timings achievable. For example, even on an Intel socket 1366 setup my memory bandwidth and latency is almost equal if I run my memory at DDR3 1800Mhz with 8-8-8-24 1T timings, as it is if I run my memory at DDR3 2000 speeds with 9-9-9-27 2T timings.

 

Even though benchmarks may show improved performance at higher memory bandwidths, usually your system will "feel" snappier with tighter timings. If I were you I'd skip right to the chase and just lower your first three primary memory timings to 8-8-8 and run Memtest and see if it will pass a 6-8 hour run. If so go ahead and boot the rig and run some windows based testing as recommended by some of the other posters.

 

If it fails Memtest at the tighter timings go ahead and add .5v to your DRAM Voltage and retest.

 

Well my fan controller came with a thermal sensers that i can tap on to them if its worth my time? Also how high do you think i can take the voltage up on my ram? At stock its 9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v 1600mhz. Should I get some kind of active cooling on my ram? Sorry I have alot of qustions but I want to get the most out of my system but have it last me a few years. Thanks for all the info!

[wevsspot]

Most RAM mfgs. give you a +/- .5V tolerance on the DRAM voltage without voiding your warranty. The truth is though that many 1.5v DRAM modules will easily do 1.6v 24/7 extended without damage. At DDR3 1600Mhz (even with tighter timings and slightly higher voltage) your memory shouldn't require any active cooling.

[jelly]

what are some good windows programs to benchmark my memory to see what kind of speed gains/losses are?

[jelly]

Well I just ran one pass of memtest with my timings at 8-8-8-24-t1 and it passed! should i be running any test in windows to test the stabilaty? if i run memtest overnight and get no errors will i be good to go? im happy with my ram running at 1600mhz but i would like to have the tightest timings that i can. any info you guys need let me know! thanks for all the help/feed back!