Latest news on Post 5 Hi. My Ram is OCZ Platinum DDR2 800Mhz [4 x 1GB] When I run a Blend test (Lots of RAM tested) in Prime95 it always fails within 10-15mins even when: When the RAM is underclocked When the RAM is set to standard speeds When the RAM is overclocked However Intel burn test run on maximum works fine (using over 3GB of RAM)...with 6 passes and I've run it on standard as well. Timings are set to 4-4-4-15 2T and Trfc of 42. Voltage 2.1v My CPU is overclocked at 3.2Ghz but doesn't give any errors in Small FFT's test for multiple hours...And once again Intel burn test ran successfully. I'm not suffering any BSODs or program crashes. Everything feels fine but P95 is giving errors on Blend no matter what I do. Any advise please people?
from what i know, prime95 stresses components more than ibt so thats probably why id lower your cpu to stock and try it again if it still fails its likely fault ram also try memtest
when running IBT, what percentage is the ram running at? ideally you need it at 75% or higher. it may be better using a custom amount of ram. have a look in task manager under the performance tab and notice how much free ram is listed. in IBT set threads to 4 (for 4 cores) and then click on custom ram and enter an amount just below the free amount. eg. i have 2520mb free ram. so i enter 2500 into the custom ram. run the test for 5 passes. this way just uses the free ram and not cached ram, so you should test the ram better, also you should get higher gflops score. a Q6700 @ 3.2ghz you should be getting 38 - 42glfops. also try running memtest. download it and create a bootable cd and run it. personally i would just run it on 1 stick of ram at a time, (so remove 1 before a test) http://www.memtest.org/ if your ram is faulty, this test will find errors.
The good news : Testing at stock settings proved fine When overclocked running small FFT's is stable for 5hrs The bad news : Blend mode always fails (but remember, small FFTs is stable for ages and the RAM is not faulty) The RAM is not overclocked (only the CPU is) Ive loosened the timings to 5-5-5-15 - No luck However... Ive added +.05volt to the Northbridge and Southbridge - Stays stable for longer but fails eventually Is it safe to run the northbridge and soutbridge with +.1v over normal? I think it will fix it but I'm not sure if its giving it abit too much?
as long as you are good for temps may as well try it. but do you mean that you dont get errors when your cpu isnt overclocked? i.e. you dont fail blend? how much performance are you actually gaining from your oc. because i know it feels good to be running a l337 oc'ed system and all, but if the oc isnt much it may be better to side with stability for the time being having said that, i am being a bit hypocritical. my previous system would blue screen at least twice a week, even at stock settings. but i wasnt going to lower my speeds BELOW stock lol.. i think it was due to my motherboard being too crappy for my components. moreover, i actually had my ram over the recommended voltage. that was my first custom pc and i was pretty retarded, so i didnt really know what parts to get. i bought low voltage ocz blade, but it turned out my motherboard voltage would not go low enough to run it. so i had to run it at 1.9 instead of 1.8 gf warranty
looking back at your first post as well. you have four 1gb sticks. this should equate to being very stable. and seeing as blend still fails when you underclock your ram, i think we can safely say it isnt the ram, but instead your cpu oc. as i say try upping the voltages slightly but you could always stick at stock speeds for the time being until you figure something out.
So ive now tried maxing everything out with power and still no luck 3.2Ghz CPU - 1.475v (Not going higher) DDR - 2.2v (Max) MCH (northbridge1.25v) - 1.35v (max) ICH - 1.55v (max) RAM timings running at stock speeds with relaxed timings of 5-5-5-18-2T STILL FAILING? This is bonkers...I cant even hit 3.2Ghz? It should be a peice of cake! ¬_¬ Heres a question. Despite setting my Vcore as 1.475 in BIOS - CPU-Z and Uguru are reporting my load voltages to be only at 1.4-1.42. Thats over .75 Vdroop??? Abnormal!
tbh im suprised u havent even killed the RAM yet with tha voltage. And doesnt using all 4 slots on a MB cause OC'ing issues?
the ram is officially allowed to run at 2.2v so all is well. As for using all 4 slots....I previously had a Core2Duo E6400 over-clocked to 3.0Ghz and a mild overclock on the RAM with perfect stability - however the only new thing ive added is the Q6700 and it seems like any overclock throws a hissyfit...so odd
What PSU are you using? Maybe the cpu is drawing too much juice from it (as you've doubled the number of cores)
It might be worth testing with only one or two sticks in perhaps? My gut instinct is that it's a motherboard issue.
this tbh, it is always harder to overclock with 4 sticks than 2. Some mobo's just dont like it. remove 2 (so try slots 1 & 3 or slots 2 & 4). then try it. Afaik, NB (or mch) can go upto 1.4v. if your ram's stock voltage is 2.2v, can you raise it to 2.3v? also what is your mobo again? did you run memtest?
I wouldn't put any more voltage through that ram, I would how ever try running 2 stick just to see if it makes any difference.
Progress. I've finally hit 3.0Ghz Stable. There seems to be an FSB wall near 315-ish and a Vdroop problem (which i never had on the E6400 earlier - its only appeared with this quad core - and both were used on same Mobo) meaning even if i raise the voltage to 1.475 on load it drops back to 1.375-1.4...just under a .1v drop which is odd - and I'm not raising it any higher. The PSU is new and has no problems. Temps on idle are 37C and load are 49C. Going to very slowly notch this one up...tricky board. Ill overclock untill i find its limit then remove 2 sticks of RAM and see if it allows me to overclock further. Then I will know if its the RAM holding me back or the motherboard.
