How do I coax my DDR 3 from 1333MHz to the targeted speed of 1600MhZ

[Slaymate]

To be perfectly honest, if your not going to keep your PC in a cool environment (around 75F) then you would probably be best off running your PC at stock speeds with the memory at 1333 MHz. And even then you could still have issues occasionally as 88F is just to HOT.

However if you want to speed it up I would try these settings to begin with.

CPU Clock Ratio -20
BCLK Frequency - 160
Extreme Memory Profile - Disabled
System Memory Multiplier - 10 it maybe called 2:10 or even 1333
Intel Turbo Boost Tech. - Disabled

These next settings all deal with power savings and heat reduction. When enabled they will slow down your PC when it is idle or it thinks it's overheating. I always Disable these but if your running the PC under Hot conditions you may consider enabling them. But that's really the opposite of what were trying to do here.

CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) - Disabled
C3/C6/C7 State Support - Disabled
CPU Thermal Monitor - Disabled
CPU EIST Function - Disabled
Bi-Directional PROCHOT - Disabled

Memory specific settings

Extreme Memory Profile - Disabled
Performance Enhance - Standard
CAS Latency - 7
tRCD - 8
tRP - 7
tRAS - 24
Command Rate - 2

Next we'll be changing the Voltage Settings. These will be Preliminary Settings as we still may need to adjust them a little depending upon your Temperatures and any errors you may encounter.

CPU VCore - 1.2875v (I'm not sure what options you have available, pick the closest to this and let me know)
QPI/VTT - 1.3v (same as above, I'm unsure of your available options)
DRAM Voltage - 1.65v

Try these settings and let me know what happens. Start HW Monitor and leave it running whenever your using this PC, at least for a few days. And I want to see a HW Monitor Screenshot after the PC has been running for 30 minutes to an hour.

 

[logantheman]

Whenever you overclock you run a risk.. I would step it up slowly and see how it goes.

 

[soarwitheagles]

To be perfectly honest, if your not going to keep your PC in a cool environment (around 75F) then you would probably be best off running your PC at stock speeds with the memory at 1333 MHz. And even then you could still have issues occasionally as 88F is just to HOT.

However if you want to speed it up I would try these settings to begin with.

CPU Clock Ratio -20
BCLK Frequency - 160
Extreme Memory Profile - Disabled
System Memory Multiplier - 10 it maybe called 2:10 or even 1333
Intel Turbo Boost Tech. - Disabled

These next settings all deal with power savings and heat reduction. When enabled they will slow down your PC when it is idle or it thinks it's overheating. I always Disable these but if your running the PC under Hot conditions you may consider enabling them. But that's really the opposite of what were trying to do here.

CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E) - Disabled
C3/C6/C7 State Support - Disabled
CPU Thermal Monitor - Disabled
CPU EIST Function - Disabled
Bi-Directional PROCHOT - Disabled

Memory specific settings

Extreme Memory Profile - Disabled
Performance Enhance - Standard
CAS Latency - 7
tRCD - 8
tRP - 7
tRAS - 24
Command Rate - 2

Next we'll be changing the Voltage Settings. These will be Preliminary Settings as we still may need to adjust them a little depending upon your Temperatures and any errors you may encounter.

CPU VCore - 1.2875v (I'm not sure what options you have available, pick the closest to this and let me know)
QPI/VTT - 1.3v (same as above, I'm unsure of your available options)
DRAM Voltage - 1.65v

Try these settings and let me know what happens. Start HW Monitor and leave it running whenever your using this PC, at least for a few days. And I want to see a HW Monitor Screenshot after the PC has been running for 30 minutes to an hour.

Slay,

Yes, I hear you on the room temps. Well, 88 degrees is NOT our normal MO. I takes awhile to bring the temps down when I arrive home. 88 is not the computer room norm. My other system works fine in temps from 60-98 degrees with never a glitch or hiccup, Never a BSOD too, but we do not operate it on a consistent basis when it is that hot. I live south of Sacramento, CA out on a large ranch, and this place gets very hot in the summer and takes awhile to cool down when I arrive home.

The other system is this one:

CM Storm Sniper Black case
Q9550 @ 2.8-3.6 GHz
Corsair XMS DDR2 800 8 GB
Enermax Modular 720 W PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
WD 640 GB SATA II 32 Cache
SG 1.5 TB SATA II 32 Cache
Lian-Li Bezel Thermometer Gauge
ZeroTherm Zen FZ1205
Galaxy GTS 250 512 MB
HP 1260i DVD DL

I would really like to try the voltages and settings you have suggested. I will do it exactly as you have written it.

Oh, one more strange tidbit: I reset the CMOS and the BIOS to default settings. Then I ran Memtest86+ on the RAM sticks, one at a time. Now there are no errors at all, even though I ran Memtest86+ more than 15 passes.

I also hooked up the tiny speaker to the Mobo. I hear two beeps immediately after pushing the power button [this is upon initial power up], then after another 10 seconds, I hear one beep [just prior to the post]. I am not sure which beep to believe.

The factory manual states that 1 beep signals all is fine. Two beeps signals the CMOS setting error.

Have you any thoughts on this before I alter the voltages?

Thanks,

Soar

 

[Slaymate]

When you reset the bios and then run Memtest your testing the memory at a slower speed, so it's not a valid test as they could still fail at your faster normal speed.

The Double Beep probably means a setting is incorrect, the bios then sets itself up with a pre-defined configuration and starts with 1 Beep (but I'm just guessing).

I live in Florida and deal with heat everyday, it even gets HOT in the winter. It takes more power to cool a home in the 90's down to 75-80 than it does to just leave the AC on all day.

Edit: I was looking at your HWMonitor Screeshot and a couple of the Voltages are pretty low. You should double check them with the values listed in your Bios (PC Health Status) and you can also double check them with SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

 

[soarwitheagles]

When you reset the bios and then run Memtest your testing the memory at a slower speed, so it's not a valid test as they could still fail at your faster normal speed.

The Double Beep probably means a setting is incorrect, the bios then sets itself up with a pre-defined configuration and starts with 1 Beep (but I'm just guessing).

I live in Florida and deal with heat everyday, it even gets HOT in the winter. It takes more power to cool a home in the 90's down to 75-80 than it does to just leave the AC on all day.

Edit: I was looking at your HWMonitor Screeshot and a couple of the Voltages are pretty low. You should double check them with the values listed in your Bios (PC Health Status) and you can also double check them with SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

Ok, I went into BIOS and checked the PC Health Status. It shows +5volt as 5.107. It shows +12 volt as 12.429.

Is this ok and why would HW give such a discrepancy?

Soar

 

[Slaymate]

There's hundred of different mobo's so sometimes they don't get all the sensors coded perfectly for all the different possible sensor locations and configurations. You should also check them with Speedfan.

 

[soarwitheagles]

There's hundred of different mobo's so sometimes they don't get all the sensors coded perfectly for all the different possible sensor locations and configurations. You should also check them with Speedfan.

Slay, before we start changing the voltages and timings, I discovered a couple of other oddities:

Motherboard gives two short beeps, then after a 10 second delay, it gives one short beep. Gigabyte manual states that two short beeps at start up indicate a "CMOS setting error". I have cleared the CMOS and still getting the same error message.

The other issue I discovered was this: Gigabyte does not list the specific RAM I am using on their compatibility list, whereas G.skil does list it as compatible with this MOBO.

Have you any suggestions in light of these new discoveries?

Soar

 

[Slaymate]

The double beep means a setting in your bios is incompatible with something. It could be any one (or more) of a variety of settings. Hopefully it's a setting we plan on changing already.

Gigabyte only lists memory that they have tested as compatible. If they don't test it they don't list it. This does not mean it's incompatible, it only means that they haven't tested it. Personally I don't like Gigabyte and I wouldn't consider being on "their" list as a plus. Right now I'm of the opinion that if we don't get your system setup quickly the problem is probably your mobo and a RMA maybe needed.

 

[soarwitheagles]

The double beep means a setting in your bios is incompatible with something. It could be any one (or more) of a variety of settings. Hopefully it's a setting we plan on changing already.

Gigabyte only lists memory that they have tested as compatible. If they don't test it they don't list it. This does not mean it's incompatible, it only means that they haven't tested it. Personally I don't like Gigabyte and I wouldn't consider being on "their" list as a plus. Right now I'm of the opinion that if we don't get your system setup quickly the problem is probably your mobo and a RMA maybe needed.

Ok. Here's the HW Monitor settings. Yes, I was able to get all voltages and settings as you requested.

 

[Slaymate]

It looks like every component is running slightly hotter than it should be, what is the room temperature? Go back into the bios then go to the PC Health Status section and Disable the CPU Smart Fan Control (this will cause the cpu fan to run at 100% all the time).

Have you encountered any BSOD's, error messages or instabilities?