Tomorrow 1GB dual pack of OCZ EL Platinum Rev2 PC3200 (2x512MB) showing up

[i_m_weasel]

My System:

Asus P4C800E- Deluxe (1014 BIOS)
3GHz/800 P4
1GB Mushkin PC 3500 Level 2 Dual Pack (2x512MB) @ 2-2-2-5
Antec Tru550W P/S
BFG 6800GT OC (Forceware 66.81)
On board CSA Gigabit LAN
SB Audigy 2
XP Pro SP2

Tomorrow I should have a 1GB dual pack of OCZ EL Platinum Rev2 PC-3200 (2x512MB) showing up . As noted above I currently have 1GB Mushkin PC 3500 Level 2 Dual Pack (2x512MB) (although I have cheated on my sig and already incorporated the OCZ!).

I have read many posts in this (and other) forums about going from 2 to 4 sticks of RAM. I know that my mobo does not correctly read the SPD so I have the Configure DRAM Timing by SPD set to disabled and have set the timings to 2-2-2-5 8. I have the voltages and cpu/fsb timings set to auto (so I am at 200MHz fsb) and the default voltages.

I was wondering if I should manually set the DRAM Frequency to 400 and manually set the DDR Reference Voltage in the BIOS? Also, the OCZ memory has the same timings at PC3200 as does the Mushkin (2-2-2-5) and I was hoping to keep those timings the same. Is that possible with 4 sticks or RAM? Or should I manually set the DDR Reference Voltage to something?

I have Spread Spectrum disabled but have ICH Delayed Transaction enabled. I have seen some posts on here recommending disabling the ICH Delayed Transaction setting. I would "assume" it would be best to keep it enabled?

Sorry for the long post - but I wanted to try to be complete with the background for my question.

[diablo2 addict]

?? y are u going from pc 3500 to pc 3200 ram ? if o/cing would pc 3500 be a better o/cer ?

[i_m_weasel]

I'm not O/C'ing - I bought the PC3500 when I thought I might. Since I am running at stock speeds - PC3200 should be fine!

I O/C'ed on my AMD systems - but MAN was there a lot of heat and VERY loud fans. I have decided that my current stock speeds are fine and MUCH quieter!

[Ghostrider]

Originally Posted by i_m_weasel

I'm not O/C'ing - I bought the PC3500 when I thought I might. Since I am running at stock speeds - PC3200 should be fine!

I O/C'ed on my AMD systems - but MAN was there a lot of heat and VERY loud fans. I have decided that my current stock speeds are fine and MUCH quieter!

Nice decision.
Try the sticks with stock settings at first. Run memtest86 for several hours and Prime95 as well to check if the modules are 100% compatible to your current Mushkin modules. This will also be some kind of burn-in. IF you recognize any errors in memtest86 you may have to upp the voltage. Four memory modules lower the clock signal more than just two modules. Some mainboards have problems running four sticks with tight timings without any problems. But try it first. You have the "luck" that you don't stress your system by OCing so it should be easier to run the sticks without problems.

little bit off-topic: If you would have and need registered memory modules (that won't function with your board) it would be no problem to add even more modules. But this is just of interest for servers.

P.S.: Run memtest86 also BEFOR you add the new memory just to be sure that everything is OK with your current config. If there is something odd befor your start and if you know it already you won't blame the new sticks for the "old" problems.

[i_m_weasel]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider

Nice decision.
... Four memory modules lower the clock signal more than just two modules. Some mainboards have problems running four sticks with tight timings without any problems. But try it first. You have the "luck" that you don't stress your system by OCing so it should be easier to run the sticks without problems.

Ya know - that is always something that has confused me (something that is very easy to do unfortunately! ) - why a mobo will have 4 (or 6 on some) DIMM slots but it apparently is not so good to actually use all 4. I believe you are talking about the actual S/N of the clock signal - and that 4 would naturally "degrade" it due to greater impedance (or some other EE thing that is pushes my envelope - S/W engineer here!). I probably would have rather bought 2 1GB modules - but then I would have to try to sell this $300 Mushkin RAM to someone (well, they do have the older BH5 chips on them!).

Originally Posted by Ghostrider

little bit off-topic: If you would have and need registered memory modules (that won't function with your board) it would be no problem to add even more modules. But this is just of interest for servers.

I knew it would be better if I had a server board that would accept ECC/registered/whatever memory modules - but I am a gamer and just wanted to build a system (10 months ago) that would have plenty of headroom and I could get "standard" parts for. This mobo really kicks butt.

Originally Posted by Ghostrider

P.S.: Run memtest86 also BEFOR you add the new memory just to be sure that everything is OK with your current config. If there is something odd befor your start and if you know it already you won't blame the new sticks for the "old" problems.

Great tip! Thats a good idea to baseline my system so at least I know where I am starting from. I will then swap memory DIMMS and test the new stuff, then try both and stand back and watch the smoke and fire!

[Ghostrider]

Originally Posted by i_m_weasel

[...]
Great tip! Thats a good idea to baseline my system so at least I know where I am starting from. I will then swap memory DIMMS and test the new stuff, then try both and stand back and watch the smoke and fire!

Good luck and keep us up to date!

[traveler]

I'm interested in hearing about the outcome here. Not sure if I will ever add to my 2 x 512 Mushkin PC3500 Black Level II RAM but it would be nice to know.




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[i_m_weasel]

I am sitting at my desk, looking out the window, waiting for the FedEx truck like a little boy.

I have read other articles last night (at anandtech and such) that said having 4 DIMMS is not bad on a 875 board as long as they are all dual-channel and matched pairs (I assume that means the same capacity and timings). In fact, the article showed that 4 DIMMs are best on an 875 board as long as those criterium are met. We shall see.

Thanx for the input, BTW!

[i_m_weasel]

Update: everything works great. Man, those platinum DIMMS are HEAVY - and real shiny too!

I did forget to up the VDIMM - but everything is stable. I have VDIMM on auto but am not sure what the default voltage is (I thought I remembered it being 2.65 or 2.75). I also set the DRAM Refresh Mode to 7.5us - which both the old and new RAM have as their refresh. It had been on auto - but again I didn't know what that was. Guess I could have used ctiaw and checked it - but I was in too much of a hurry to see 2GB of RAM.

BTW - I am sure most of you already know about this article at Anantech. It did give me hope that I could have 4 DIMMS on my mobo. Hopefully because the 4 DIMMS I have are so similar everything seems very stable.

[wallijonn]

i_m_weasel,

Congratulations.

I take it that all the mem modules are Double Sided?

Now if you had had a i865... I would have suggested that you buy 2x1G modules.

And tell us if you see Far Cry or Doom3 run smoother or faster.

[Columbo_abx]

i bet he gets at least 5% performance increase

and OCZ is known to produce the heaviest ram modules available, because of their massive copper heatspreader

[Ghostrider]

Originally Posted by Columbo

i bet he gets at least 5% performance increase

and OCZ is known to produce the heaviest ram modules available, because of their massive copper heatspreader

I don't think that he will recognize any speed increase (except an imaginary one). I upgraded from 1GB in my old computer to 4GB in my dual Opteron. I don't think that there is any improvement because of the mass of memory I have intalled as long as I don't do heavy multitasking. But when I am playing games I often do just run ONE game at once and no other demanding tasks in the background...
OK, it happened already that I forgot that C&C Generals was still running in the background (ALT-Tab ... did something else, forgot the minimized game) when I started a new game... but this is not the usual way of playing games

[i_m_weasel]

Yes - all this RAM is double-sided/dual-channel. I did notice from that article at anantech that an 865 chipset would be MUCH happier with 2 DIMMS. I built my wife (for last Christmas) a P4P800 setup and used my 4 256MB Corsair PC3200 LLXMS chips. Those were NOT happy in my current system - I would get random reboots and times where it just would not boot and then give me a memory error and reboot and have reset everything. That is why I was worried about the 4 DIMMS - but then that article at anantech talked about how 256MB DIMMS are SS - and the 865 would be okay with that.

Doom3 looks nicer because I replaced my 9800 Pro with the BFG 6800GT OC a few days ago. Don't know if the memory upgrade has really made any difference there - but maybe since I turned everything up it and now that I have 2GB it may no longer need to hit the pagefile anymore. I usually play PlanetSide and that can take 700+ MB by itself - and that's before I turn up the textures. So I am hoping for little or no access to the pagefile which will hopefully stop the video stuttering I have had in game (as I watched the HD be accessed constantly).

I ran the SiSoft Sandra mem tests (was lazy - buffered only). It still comes out to be about 75% efficiency (as it did before). My scores were 4799 (Int) and 4818 (float). Thats about where they were before. I have manually set (as I did before since my BIOS incorrectly reads the SPD) the memory timings to 2-2-2-5 8, with the refresh at 7.8us (which both chips report as their refresh). I have all my mobo voltages at auto and cpu/fsb timings to auto (so it should be 200 fsb with 1:1 ratio I think). Not sure what I could do to increase the efficiency - but then I will go with stable over getting 5% more efficiency anytime! Being cautious is why I have not upgraded my BIOS since I put the 1014 version on - didn't see any posts about performance increases - only compatibility fixes and such.

Guess this system will hold me over until next year when I finally go PCI-X when hopefully DDR2 prices drop (and all the new "stuff") and the performance of those systems will be much better than my current one. Thanx for all the input, BTW!

[Ghostrider]

Originally Posted by i_m_weasel

Guess this system will hold me over until next year when I finally go PCI-X when hopefully DDR2 prices drop (and all the new "stuff") and the performance of those systems will be much better than my current one. Thanx for all the input, BTW!

Please don't mix up PCI-X and "PCIe" = PCI-Express.

[i_m_weasel]

Oops! I sure did!