My first attempt at overclocking my 2500k failed (which always seems to be the way for me ). I followed the guide in Custom PC and matched all the settings they suggested (apart from 1) and as soon as my pc started to boot into windows I was was met with a BSOD and then windows had to repair itself. I didn't go over board and stick it straight to 4.5ghz like the mag said was theoretically possible I stuck to 4.2ghz. The one setting I didn't match was the suggested 1.65v on the ram as my ram is 1.5v and I was unsure if I could crank the voltage up that much. Also my ram is rated at 1866 but refuses to run at that speed so therefore I have it on 1600ghz. Any pointers would be gratefully recieved. Thanks
just got a bad cpu they are all different start in smaller increments 4ghz 1.3vcore or sumit. If it boots run prime 95 or intel burn test. if its stable for 1hr reduce the vcore by 0.1 to 1.29 retest again and again till you hit the minimum voltage for 4ghz overclock. After you have found the minimum increase the clock speed to 4.2ghz and repeat the process from before but instead of going down go up till you find the minimum it will be stable boot and full load using intel burn test. Overclocking is not a fast process its a trial and error process, 2500k didnt change that it just changed what you needed to edit get ram as close to stock settings as possible 1600mhz is a huge downclock on 1866 mhz ram. finding a stable overclock on a cpu can take a good few hrs if not longer if its your 1st time doing it on that brand of cpu. I7900 series you needed a few days to get a stable overclock.
Easiest way I find to test stability is to run Intel Burn Test at maximum for 10~20 runs. # of runs depends how long you can be bothered hanging around lol
I was planning to use prime 95, that's my usual goto prog for testing. Also I forgot to mention that I'm using the same mobo as the mag in the overclocking guide. I know YMMV but I didn't expect it to screw windows quite that quickly, looks like I'm going to have to tweak it all more slowly.
Have you run MemTest86+ on the RAM? It could be faulty which is why you're having problems with an overclock.
I recall running memtest when I found I had this issue and was also told I may need to increase the voltage on the memory controller (or something along those lines) which I thought to be strange as I would of thought you should just be able to insert new memory and have it run at stated specs without having to fiddle (other than dialing in the voltage and maybe the timings). Anyways. I have just run memtest again at 1866mhz for an hour and there was around 50 errors, I am now running at 1600mhz with no errors yet. So should I be lookng to RMA these?
It's worth setting up your memory manually as configuration by SPD/XMP/SLI profile can be unreliable. Probably, I take it you don't have other DIMMs to try?
Both my kids pc's use DDR3 and I also have a spare set of crucial 1600mhz DDR3 but seeing as this set run happily at 1600mhz I don't think swapping them in would prove much, I would still be up n running if I do need to rma though which is a good thing. Oh forgot to add I have set the timings manually. This is the ram I have
SB will be okay with RAM voltage up to 1.65v, it is still within limits. It wouldn't surprise me if the RAM needed that voltage to run at 1866. Try memtest with the it set at 1.65v and 1866 with the manufacturers timings for 1866 (they will probably be different at 1600). Edit: just seen your RAM link, do Corsair say it will run at 1866 at 1.5v? Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2
No sooner said than done. 1.65v and manufacturers timings set and memtest running, found I was one out, ie it was set to 9,9,9,27 and it should have been 9,10,9,27. Annoying if it needs to be 1.65v as it is advertised as 1.5v 1866mhz ram
BSOD and windows "had to" repair itself? Very unusual for file corruption on overclock with windows 7. Are you sure the message didn't say something like "windows failed to boot, do you want to repair?" It always says that in the event of a crash. Your sig doesn't specify what mobo or ram you have.
Well it was a blue screen that symobilised death (BSOD) he he, yeh I think it said it a particular file was corrupted and then when I rebooted it went through the whole disc checking palarva. In part I have mentioned mobo and ram. Anyway here is what I run Asus sabretooth p67 mobo 2500K cpu Corsair Vengeance 1866mhz 1.5v ram (8GB) Crucial C300 128gb SSD 1TB Samsung F3 MSI 560TI Twin Frozr Titan Fenrir CM 690II ZR24W Monitor G15 Keyboard G5 Mouse Z10 Speakers Plantronics 377 Headset Thats about everything I have Oh and 1866mhz with stock timings but 1.65v passed an hour of memtest and is now being scrutinsed by Prime 95. (still don't get why 1.5v ram should need 1.65 but I'll take that up with corsair) Tried a 4ghz overclock as well but prime wasn't having any of it but that's another story.
The scan link clearly says 1.5v doesn't it so I can't see why that would be running at 1.65. Sounds like the mobo is screwy or maybe they sent you the wrong modules but I doubt it. Have you updated the motherboard bios?
Have a browse on the Corsair forum and post a question if you can't find anything, they really are good at after sales service. Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2
Well I thought I was on the latest bios but seem to have dropped the ball on that one, theres two newer ones including one thats states better memory compatibility so I'll update asap and see if that helps.
Odd, I'm running the same DIMMs as you in a 16Gb kit at 1.5 -- maybe a VTT tweak is required? It's that long since I've tweaked this thing I forget the nuances -- on my original non B3 board I needed to tweak VTT to keep the overclock stable, IIRC.
Not going to count my chickens but its starting to look like it was a bios issue. I've updated to the latest bios, put all my settings back to what they should be (including the ram @ 1.5v) and so far prime 95 has been running for half an hour with my ram set at 1866mhz, prime instantly stopped before with it @ 1866 and 1.5v. I also set my cpu voltage to 1.2v like I did before but it's actually running at 1.14v even though its turbo'd upto 3.7ghz, I don't know why it seems to be ignoring the 1.2v manual setting I put in though.
