Resolved Bootup does not finish anymore

So, Luke, you are saying that if I bump up from 1gb PC3200 sticks to PC6400, there would be a noticable difference? Is my memory bus capable of utilizing it? Is PC6400 184-pin, too? Is my naivete' showing??

Thanks

 

Yes ... From my point it works well...

 

Right now, my VM is set at 2046/4092. Does it need to be adjusted?

 

No Larry your Motherboard is specked out for DDR 3200 or PC400 same thing or lower. Lukeno1 has a Socket AM2 board that will take DDR2 Ram, check your Manual and it will tell you.
You can add more ram but you might find that it might not be compatible with the high speed ram that you have unless you get the same. You have to remember that you are overclocking and you are already compensating your ram speed from DDR3200 to DDR 2700or 333.
Step cautiously.

 

Hi Hawk, that's what I thought (RAM specs). If I added more RAM, I would search out the same as I currently have. But, at this point, it appears that doing so may not provide much benefit. Someone mentioned earlier that I should try to slowly step up the voltage on the RAM in order to get it back to 400MHz but in going slowly from 2.75v to 2.9v, even at the more relaxed timings, there were no benefits.

I noticed that new RAM specs are often CAS 4, 5 or higher! Do the CAS numbers generally go up as the DDR numbers go up?

Step cautioulsy? Mr. Cautious, I yam.

Thanks for your valued input.

 

Atta Boy Hawk - setting the record straight. Lar, you have to stick with DDR as Hawk has so clearly pointed out. DDR2 isn't going to work on your board.

I believe you have Corsair XMS PC 3200 with 2-3-2-6 or 2-3-2-5 timings. Corsair made some 2-2-2-5 matched pairs but its doubtful that you are going to find this available in 2009. While the timing difference isn't that spectacular in and of itself at stock speeds, the 2-2-2-5 was manufactured and tested to a tighter spec which usually indicated it would clock higher. In other words, one could run the better memory faster while still maintaining stability. The order of magnitude might be running the 2-2-2-5 at 435MHz while the 2-3-2-6 would start to throw errors at 218MHz (arbitrary numbers for example only).

The only true test is just that - test the actual sticks. On balence, I have found the really good stuff to be OCZ, Patriot, Mushkin and Corsair but I tend to favor OCZ's top of the line DDR and have had the most consistant success with it. (pair to pair to pair)

You have a little different sitiuation with your ASUS board in that you can set your memory speed independent of your system bus - a lot of older boards didn't permit this asynchronous adjustment. You will also find that your memory voltage can be critical to squeezing every last bit of performance (MHz or frequency) that your memory has to offer. This is also true with your processor as it relates to processor or core voltage but this is where one must be very cautious. Its not as easy to burn things up as some might lead one to believe but it can be done if one approaches overclocking with reckless abandon.

The best advice I can offer is to go slow and make marginal or incremental adjustments and thouroughly test each subsequent setting. Remember, heat is your worst enemy. You also want to test your settings using some type of torture test or benchmarking program which will tax your machine.

Lastly, I'm in total agreement - don't knock it until you've tried it. There is a lot of satisfaction that comes from oveclocking if you're the type that likes pushing the envelope. It also an invaluable learning experience but it can be argued that with the speed of today's equipment, its not worth the effort or the risk. That's OK too - everybody is entitled to an opinion.

Hawk - I used to use two part silver epoxy applied with the tip of a straight pin to bridge those laser cut L2 bridges. Palamino's were the biggest challenge because one had to fill a couple of PCB layers with crazy glue before re-bridging the cut L2's on top. PIA but, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.



edit: Lar - just saw your 2-3-3-6 at the top of this page. See if you can find some 2-2-2-5 OCZ or Patriot if you really want to push it and have a little pocket change left over from your birthday.

 

Well thanks Rock, I have always sort of compared Overclocking with customizing hotting up your Car. There are many similarities for one you can hot up your car and scream down the main road with pistons tumbling down the road behind you.
Or you can hot up your car and have it purring down the main road with a bit of growl when you change gears just to let them now that there is a Tiger in your Tank and have the girls stop and turn their heads around and that is satisfaction.
I’m still licking my chops.
Now Larry the lower the CAS the faster the Ram is CL 3 is the most common 2.5 is better and 2 is better again.

 

So, adding more of what I have would be of little benefit. If anything, I should upgrade to a top quality RAM so that it can be operated at a higher clock rate with my CPU overclocked as it is.

Also, can you confirm that there might be a benefit to playing with the timings on my current RAM a little more in order to get it to run at 400MHz? I am now running 2.5-3-3-6. Should I try a dozen different timings like 2.5-2-3-8, or 2.5-5-4-6, etc? Lastly, now important is the 1T/2T setting? Or is this just a waste of time and I will likely never get this RAM to fly at 400MHz?

Thanks again for defending the "fun while computing" mantra!

 

Hi Larry, sorry but when it comes to timings I can not advice Rock is the man for that, but you can try to increase the voltage very little by little for your ram and this could bring it up to 400MHz, but to be honest I can't say that you would see a noticeable performance increase from 333 to 400.

 

Hi Hawk, I have pretty much closed the case on getting this particular RAM up to 400MHz due to my happily humming Opteron 165. I have tried (cautiously) to nudge the voltage, but to no benefit. Timings are certainly an enigma. It makes me think of spinning wheels on a slot machine.

Oddly, with all that has happened, with everthing set back to where it was B.C. (Before Crash) and having a new, zoomier video card, the computer seems more hesitant than before. Pages load slower and programs start up slower the first time that they are used during that particular bootup.

BTW and OT- How is your winter wrapping up downunder? Melbourne is one of the few places on the planet (along with my L.A.) that has the Mediterranean climate (albeit maybe with a little stronger marine influence).

Thanks a lot for writing.

 

Hi, just wanted to say THANKS to the dream team.... in ALL hemispheres!!!

Eternally grateful,

Lar


BTW- #1 son was having trouble with a new game and the crash spoke CPU or RAM to me. Backed off on the CPU bus speed OC by only 10MHz and she is as happy as a clam. Me, too..... son, too. A happy-fest.

 

Thanks Larry, but you are the one who had to do the hard Yakka. We just tried to confuse you.
cheers and good health
hawk