Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

[KinkiKowBoi]

Hi there. I want to get to the point quickly so I'll skip the specs and intro. I was oc'ing the Q8200 to 2.8ghz fine (below 400 fsb) but once it hit like 400, 410, 420 fsb, I got Stop 0x000000A error which is You receive a "Stop 0x0000000A" error message in Windows XP. I'm using DDR2 800 G.Skill I bought 4 years ago Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Desktop Memory. Is it because I can't overclock it over 800 mhz? I manually set the timings to 5-5-5-15 and DRAM Volt to 2.0V as stated by G.Skil. I ran 4 tests of Memtest V.4 and it passed on stock settings. Should I try upping the fsb and run memtest again? Let me know if you need anymore information.

Thanks!

[Salty]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

You have two sets of 2x1? Sometimes that works ok, sometimes not.
If they already have enough MCH, and you've tried 2.1v, that may be their limit - as a set of 4.

2.00B can be better than 2.00D above 400fsb

Not running excessive vtt?

Tried raising tRD a notch? (If not using Auto)

Try one set of 2x1? Usually a bit easier to oc.

If still in trouble, try posting a template with all your current settings.

[KinkiKowBoi]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

Alright, its still having problems so I just set everything back to stock and now starting over.

MB Intelligent Tweaker(M.I.T.)
Robust Graphics Booster ...............: Auto
CPU Clock Ratio ..........................: 7x
Fine CPU Clock Ratio.....................: N/A
CPU Frequency ...........................: 2.73 GHz


Clock Chip Control
Standard Clock Control
CPU Host Clock Control..................: [Enabled]
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) ............: 390 Mhz
PCI Express Frequency (Mhz) .........:100

C.I.A.2 .................................:[Disabled]


Advanced Clock Control [Press Enter]
CPU Clock Drive...........................: <<< 800
PCI Express Clock Drive.................: <<< 900
CPU Clock Skew (ps)....................: <<< 0
MCH Clock Skew (ps)...................: <<< 0


DRAM Performance Control
Performance Enhance...................: [STANDARD]
Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.).....: N/A
(G)MCH Frequency Latch...............: [Auto]
System Memory Multiplier ..............: 2.00B
Memory Frequency (Mhz) ..............: 800 780
DRAM Timing Selectable ................: [Manual]

Standard Timing Control
CAS Latency Time........................5
tRCD .........................................5
tRP'...........................................5
tRAS..........................................15

Advanced Timing Control
tRRD...........................................3 [Auto]
tWTR..........................................3 [Auto]
tWR............................................6 [Auto]
tRFC...........................................52 [Auto]
tRTP...........................................3 [Auto]
Command Rate (CMD) ....................:0 [Auto]

Driving Strength Profiles
Driving Strength ............................ [Auto]

Channel A
Static tRead Value.........................:9 [9]
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Channel B
Static tRead Value.........................:9 [9]
tRD Phase0 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase1 Adjustment...................:Auto
tRD Phase2 Adjustment .................:Auto
tRD Phase3 Adjustment..................:Auto
Trd2rd(Different Rank)....................:Auto
Twr2wr(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Twr2rd(Different Rank)...................:Auto
Trd2wr(Same/Diff Rank)..................:Auto
Dimm1 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps
Dimm2 Clock Skew Control...............:Auto ps

Motherboard Voltage Control

CPU
CPU Vcore….……….......1.2875..................:[1.3]

CPU Termination…..... 1.200V.......: [Auto]

CPU PLL…………………....1.500V.......: [Auto]

CPU Referen.…………....0.760V.......: [Auto]

MCH/ICH
MCH Core…………….....1.100V...........: [Auto]
MCH Reference….…….0.760V...........; [Auto]
MCH/DRAM Ref.…......0.900V...........: [Auto]
ICH I/O……………….....1.500V............: [Auto]
ICH Core…………...……1.100V............: [Auto]

DRAM
DRAM Voltage ……....1.800V............: [2.0]
DRAM Termination .…0.900V............: [Auto]
Channel A Reference 0.900V............: [Auto]
Channel B Reference 0.900V............: [Auto]

Advanced Settings
Limit CPUID Max. to 3.....................: [Disabled]
No-Execute Memory Protect............: [Enabled]
CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E)................: [Disabled]
C2/C2E State Support....................: [Disabled]
x C4/C4E State Support..................: [Disabled]
CPU Thermal Monitor 2(TM2) ...........: [Enabled]
CPU EIST Function.........................: [Disabled]
Virtualization Technology................: [Disabled]

Integrated Peripherals
Legacy USB Storage Detect ..............[Disabled]

[Psycho101]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

You're probably hitting the limit of your RAM's ability. If you have DDR800 rated for 5-5-5-15 it's unlikely you'll get much over ~DDR875 with it. If it were DDR800 with 4-4-4-12 timings then you could almost certainly get a minimum of DDR1000 out of it by switching to 5-5-5-15 timings.

For a CPU with such a low multiplier, DDR-1066 RAM gives you that guarantee that your RAM won't be holding you back. at 2.0B/D DDR1066 is good up to 533 FSB. This is way more than the Q8200's are capable of. Mine hit 3.4GHz @ 486FSB with a lot of tweaking, meaning my RAM needed to run at DDR-972. You're not going to get that kind of OC from DDR800 5-5-5-15 sticks unfortunately.

A decent set of 2x2GB DDR1066 @5-5-5-15 will benefit you no end. For me, my Q8200 really only started to shine at 3GHz+ with the most dramatic dains coming from going from 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz. In just 400MHz my Video Game average FPS became my new minimum FPS, my max became the average and the new max was through the roof (tested with Crysis, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3).

[KinkiKowBoi]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

You're probably hitting the limit of your RAM's ability. If you have DDR800 rated for 5-5-5-15 it's unlikely you'll get much over ~DDR875 with it. If it were DDR800 with 4-4-4-12 timings then you could almost certainly get a minimum of DDR1000 out of it by switching to 5-5-5-15 timings.

For a CPU with such a low multiplier, DDR-1066 RAM gives you that guarantee that your RAM won't be holding you back. at 2.0B/D DDR1066 is good up to 533 FSB. This is way more than the Q8200's are capable of. Mine hit 3.4GHz @ 486FSB with a lot of tweaking, meaning my RAM needed to run at DDR-972. You're not going to get that kind of OC from DDR800 5-5-5-15 sticks unfortunately.

A decent set of 2x2GB DDR1066 @5-5-5-15 will benefit you no end. For me, my Q8200 really only started to shine at 3GHz+ with the most dramatic dains coming from going from 2.8GHz to 3.2GHz. In just 400MHz my Video Game average FPS became my new minimum FPS, my max became the average and the new max was through the roof (tested with Crysis, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3).

Thanks for the in-depth answer. Can you answer me another question then? What RAM is most optimal at this point in time (ie. capable of i7 and the new i3's maybe). If this question is too broad to answer, it's ok haha. I just need good, stable RAM to oc with now and the future.

[Psycho101]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

No RAM that's compatible with your board and CPU will work with an i3, i5 or i7. The board uses DDR2 and most modern boards using current CPUs run DDR3. If you buy a set of 1066 RAM for your machine that will be the only PC you'll use it in.

[Salty]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

As Psycho says, most new boards use ddr3.

If u want 4GB, 2x2 is preferable, though you may be able to overclock a little further with just 2x1. Personal choice.

I like the G.Skill SuperPi 1.9v ram, but whatever brand yr comfortable with.

[kick]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

my gskill holds 4-4-4-12 ok up to 450mhz(900mhz ddr2)

perhaps yours will hold 5-5-5-15 up to that speed with 2.1-2.15V.

I cant really say ,thats something you will have to try if you wish.
or check thru reviews/tests of the memory.

Unfortunately ddr2 memory has become expensive again.
I bought my 2 sticks for the price your memory is listed at now.

You can also experiment with 6-6-6-18 cas timings,once you get another 40 mhz ddr2 speed out of the memory the drop in performance with looser timings seems to trail off.

as said above memory that will reach 1000mhz should provide you with near maximum o/c performance (2:00) multiplier .If buying new memory you could go for 1066 memory to provide some flexibility,but really because of the multipliers you might need 1100+ rated memory and Im not sure there would be any performance gain .

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/q8400-q8200-overclock-ep-45-ud3-high-fsb-37179/

[KinkiKowBoi]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

my gskill holds 4-4-4-12 ok up to 450mhz(900mhz ddr2)

perhaps yours will hold 5-5-5-15 up to that speed with 2.1-2.15V.

I cant really say ,thats something you will have to try if you wish.
or check thru reviews/tests of the memory.

Unfortunately ddr2 memory has become expensive again.
I bought my 2 sticks for the price your memory is listed at now.

You can also experiment with 6-6-6-18 cas timings,once you get another 40 mhz ddr2 speed out of the memory the drop in performance with looser timings seems to trail off.

as said above memory that will reach 1000mhz should provide you with near maximum o/c performance (2:00) multiplier .If buying new memory you could go for 1066 memory to provide some flexibility,but really because of the multipliers you might need 1100+ rated memory and Im not sure there would be any performance gain .

http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69/q840...igh-fsb-37179/

Thanks for the link. I'm going to try with 6-6-6-18 timings and then see where i can go from there. Does upping the ram volt over manufacturer suggested hurt the ram that much?

[kick]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

Industry standard voltage for ddr2 ram is 1.8v.
Thats what all the "value" ram works at to for rated speed.
Like on dells/packard bell etc.

My ram is supposed to work at its performance rated speed 800mhz at 1.8-1.9 volts.It does ,but for speeds higher than that it needs 2.0, 2.1 etc.
At the timings I use:
For 1000mhz it needs(for me) 2.2v in bios,about 2.18 actual.
For 980mhz it needs(for me) 2.08V in bios,about 2.06 actual.
After that it gets a lot worse,for 1060 mhz ,you dont wanna know and that was not only with the fsb set high.

Anything above ,I would say 2.16V on ddr2 memory is kind of at the owners risk unless a higher voltage is stamped on it or specified by the manufacturer.

2.3V is kind of the do not exceed limit on ddr2 ram if you want it to last any length of time(so ive read).
Ive applied more than that on my ram and on 2 sticks of samsung 667mhz value ram i have just for testing and all the ram is still working ok,but thats a personal decision.

Its the same with my gskill ram I ran it for months with 2.22 V in bios for 1000mhz,after some tweaking I found 2.2 to be ok ,but for only a 20 mhz loss in memory speed ,i only need 2.08v.
Its my own decision to keep it at 2.2,if I needed say 2.26V,I would probably just leave it at 980mhz and 2.08v.

Since your ram is popular there should be plenty of information around on ,what voltages people run it at, what speeds it reaches and at what timings etc.

[KinkiKowBoi]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

Been reading reviews, and some people said that they could overclock 4 of these to 1000 mhz with stock timings @ 1.9v or over 1000 mhz with looser timings @ 2.0v.

[KinkiKowBoi]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

OK, another problem just arose. I was testing with 2x1 sticks again through prime and when looking at the first pair in Memset, it told me my ram was DDR3 rated instead DDR2. When I put in my second pair, it showed up as DDR2 fine. Have any of you encountered this problem before?

EDIT: I found out its 2 sticks of ram, that, no matter if I put it in slot 1/3 or 2/4, they still get the DDR3 thing. I switched one ram out of the pair out with another and did that with the second stick in the pair and it shows up as DDR2. So this one pair or ram, when paired up together, get the DDR3 thing.

[Chike]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

All ram are of the same part number? Which version of MemSet you have?
Could you post a screen capture of MeSet main(click >>) and SPD(click spd) windows for each pair?

EDIT: A3 is the chpset revision not MB. MB Revision is printed above the far PCI slot I/O panel side.

[KinkiKowBoi]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

All ram are of the same part number? Which version of MemSet you have?
Could you post a screen capture of MeSet main(click >>) and SPD(click spd) windows for each pair?

EDIT: A3 is the chpset revision not MB. MB Revision is printed above the far PCI slot I/O panel side.

All 4 have different serial number. I forget which one paired with which because I got in a car crash with my computer in the backseat not quite long ago and mixed the ram -_-

Well, for 2 sticks, the S/N is a number off and for the other pair, the number is a number off also so I would assume that those pair together. I put the "DDr3" pair because they have similar S/N and got the DDR3 thing again. Posting s/s in a sec.

Imageshack - ram2
Imageshack - ram1h
Imageshack - ramf

[KinkiKowBoi]

Re: Question concerning my RAM and Q8200

Ran 4 tests of memtest with the "DDR3" ram in, 0 errors.

Will update when more information becomes available.