Intel Core2Qad QX9650 12MB cache 1333Mhz Bus

[glojo]

My son has the latest spec computer and is having problems.

He has listed the Intel Core2 Quad with four 1Gb strips of RAM.

This is what he has stated:

I have tested kits separately and cannot get either pair to run at full speed of 1600Mhz and also cannot run all 4 @ 1333Mhz

I can only run stable at 1066Mhz (less than my CPU's recommended bus bandwidth) and with 1.60V

Basically could you ask the people on your forum what do to when you have motherboard and DDR3 which is not running at it's rated spec (1600Mhz) or even reduced spec of 1333Mhz using all 4 slots on an X38chipset

I have
ASUS P5E3 (X38) with latest BIOS 0703
Intel Core2Qad QX9650 12MB cache 1333Mhz Bus (minimum DDR3 1333Mhz recommended) 45nm
4x1024MB Patriot 1600Mhz LLK rated @ 7-7-7-18 1.80V (2x2GB kits) all exactly the same batch

 

[masqueraid]

I'd suspect the mainboard but have taken the liberty of posting the question somewhere else as well



____________________________________________
Edit: See Ian's post - this is what I got back as well

 

[Kamisuma]

My son has the latest spec computer and is having problems.

He has listed the Intel Core2 Quad with four 1Gb strips of RAM.

This is what he has stated:

I have tested kits separately and cannot get either pair to run at full speed of 1600Mhz and also cannot run all 4 @ 1333Mhz

I can only run stable at 1066Mhz (less than my CPU's recommended bus bandwidth) and with 1.60V

Basically could you ask the people on your forum what do to when you have motherboard and DDR3 which is not running at it's rated spec (1600Mhz) or even reduced spec of 1333Mhz using all 4 slots on an X38chipset

I have
ASUS P5E3 (X38) with latest BIOS 0703
Intel Core2Qad QX9650 12MB cache 1333Mhz Bus (minimum DDR3 1333Mhz recommended) 45nm
4x1024MB Patriot 1600Mhz LLK rated @ 7-7-7-18 1.80V (2x2GB kits) all exactly the same batch

If you read the spec for the motherboard, it allows for MAX 1333 Mhz bus speed so 1600Mhz is not going to be possible on this board without overclocking.

 

[glojo]

If you read the spec for the motherboard, it allows for MAX 1333 Mhz bus speed so 1600Mhz is not going to be possible on this board without overclocking.

Hi Ian,
Son has just come in and he states he has the very latest revision of this mother-board and it states on the box it goes up to 1600fsb without overclocking.

He has just shown me the box and there is a big icon stating, 'FSB 1600 supporting'

Then in the spec it states

System Bus: 1600/1333/1066/800MHz. Apologies for any confusion.

All this stuff is gobble de gook to me and I have merely copied this information from the rear of the box.

Here isd the exact link for his motherboard and it looks like it might even take 1800.

Thanks very much indeed for any advice.

Some folks are suggesting he increase the voltage for the RAM, but I'm very wary about over doing things. The specs state 1.8 voltage for two sticks and it has been suggested to increase this voltage because he has four. Is this safe? He is thinking of 0.02 volts increments, but when should we say too much?

Regards
John

 

[Kamisuma]

Hi Ian,
Son has just come in and he states he has the very latest revision of this mother-board and it states on the box it goes up to 1600fsb without overclocking.

He has just shown me the box and there is a big icon stating, 'FSB 1600 supporting'

Then in the spec it states

System Bus: 1600/1333/1066/800MHz. Apologies for any confusion.

All this stuff is gobble de gook to me and I have merely copied this information from the rear of the box.

Here isd the exact link for his motherboard and it looks like it might even take 1800.

Thanks very much indeed for any advice.

Some folks are suggesting he increase the voltage for the RAM, but I'm very wary about over doing things. The specs state 1.8 voltage for two sticks and it has been suggested to increase this voltage because he has four. Is this safe? He is thinking of 0.02 volts increments, but when should we say too much?

Regards
John

That is one way of overclocking!

 

[Kamisuma]

Hi Ian,
Son has just come in and he states he has the very latest revision of this mother-board and it states on the box it goes up to 1600fsb without overclocking.

He has just shown me the box and there is a big icon stating, 'FSB 1600 supporting'

Then in the spec it states

System Bus: 1600/1333/1066/800MHz. Apologies for any confusion.

All this stuff is gobble de gook to me and I have merely copied this information from the rear of the box.

Here isd the exact link for his motherboard and it looks like it might even take 1800.

Thanks very much indeed for any advice.

Some folks are suggesting he increase the voltage for the RAM, but I'm very wary about over doing things. The specs state 1.8 voltage for two sticks and it has been suggested to increase this voltage because he has four. Is this safe? He is thinking of 0.02 volts increments, but when should we say too much?

Regards
John

Different sites are showing different specs, it is obviously being refined/evolving as it is being rolled out. I should have checked a few before posting

 

[grober]

WARNING There appear to be several chipsets available for this processor/board combination. If for example you had one of the earlier chipsets P35 its only capable of addressing DDR3 1066/ DDR2/800 whereas the X38 should address DDR3 1333/ DDR2 800. Maybe you have a processor with an earlier chipset---we are only talking months here as a time scale. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_chipsets Wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer tried to" gild the lily" They all have a quoted FSB potential capability of 800/1066/1333 MHz so that's not really a guide.
edit:- if you have a date of manufacture you might be able to correlate it with the date of the chipset release??

 

[glojo]

WARNING There appear to be several chipsets available for this board. If for example you had one of the earlier chipsets P35 its only capable of addressing DDR3 1066/ DDR2/800 whereas the X38 should address DDR3 1333/ DDR2 800. Maybe you have a board with an earlier chipset---we are only talking months here as a time scale. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_chipsets Wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer tried to" gild the lily" They all have a quoted FSB potential capability of 800/1066/1333 MHz so that's not really a guide.
edit:- if you have a date of manufacture you might be able to correlate it with the date of the chipset release??

Hi Graeme,
Can't get access to the date but he had to wait for this motherboard to come from ASUS. The literature I posted is copied from the exterior packaging on the motherboard box and NOT from the site, so hopefully they have not stuffed an old motherboard into a new box?

News Flash
He has finally heard from the manufacturer of the RAM (about 30 seconds ago) and they are saying ramp up the voltage to 2 volts?? If this is 'overclocking' then that appears a bit cheeky? What they are saying is the 1.8 volts is for 2 strips of DDR3 RAM and if he is using 4, then that needs more oomphhh! (not their termology )

Regards
John

 

[grober]

Found this also. http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/29/first-inqpressions-intel-qx9650

Tread very carefully on the overclocking! Its a bit of a" black art"

 

[glojo]

Found this also. http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/29/first-inqpressions-intel-qx9650

Tread very carefully on the overclocking! Its a bit of a" black art"

Thanks very much for that link. What a great pity they were only using 2 Gigabytes.

I don't like the thought of this being viewed as over-clocking and why won't it work without raising the voltage.

At 1.8volts the computer either goes to a blue screen or it gets to the Windows Welcome screen and then reboots. Upping the voltage to 1.82 gets the Windows operating systm to activate, but as soon as you start to use any application the system hard locks. At 1.86 volts everything 'appears' to be working?

Technical support at Patriot (the RAM manufacturer) have now suggested upping this voltage to 1.9 but why do this if it is classed as overclocking?

Regards
John

 

[grober]

Sorry John the term overclocking is really a loose one. Theoretically its about changing speeds but usually also involves raising voltages to "drive" this greater load. In the article I linked to they only raised the memory voltage to 1.9 volts and left the cpu and bus and chipset at 1.4 volts. I can only suggest trying these settings with 2 gig of memory installed first. Can your son confirm the chipset version he has on the processor/board? Its really a trial and error approach which does have its risks!

 

[glojo]

Sorry John the term overclocking is really a loose one. Theoretically its about changing speeds but usually also involves raising voltages to "drive" this greater load. In the article I linked to they only raised the memory voltage to 1.9 volts and left the cpu and bus and chipset at 1.4 volts. I can only suggest trying these settings with 2 gig of memory installed first. Can your son confirm the chipset version he has on the processor/board? Its really a trial and error approach which does have its risks!

Hi Graeme,
I appreciate all your excellent advice and the voltage he is raising is 1.88 to the RAM (not gone to 1.9 yet) and the Northbridge voltage is 1.29 an increase of 0.04volts.

The chipset is an X38 but we don't quite understand your question. My son has kept the RAM at 1333 and has not increased it to 1600 because he is trying to get it stable at the lower setting.

If the mother board or RAM was defective then we could send the relevant item back, but we are still trying to see what is happening. It might even need a BIOS update although he is using the very latest version.

Thanks again for the much appreciated support (in every sense of the word)

Yours very sincerely
both John's (My son's name is also John)

 

[glojo]

Sorry John the term overclocking is really a loose one. Theoretically its about changing speeds but usually also involves raising voltages to "drive" this greater load. In the article I linked to they only raised the memory voltage to 1.9 volts and left the cpu and bus and chipset at 1.4 volts. I can only suggest trying these settings with 2 gig of memory installed first. Can your son confirm the chipset version he has on the processor/board? Its really a trial and error approach which does have its risks!

Your termology is spot on and this is the latest advice that arrived this morning.

For reaching 1600MHz at 7-7-7-20, you need to raise the Northbridge Voltage up to 1.55V and the VDimm to 1.9V. This is the overclocking standard voltage for 1600MHz…. as for the 1333MHz, I would bump up the Northbridge voltage to at least 1.4V and the VDimm to 1.8V (you might need a little more VDimm). As for the SPD setting in CPU-Z, it is only reading the JEDEC Standard for the module, which is what it would boot up if you left everything on auto in the bios.

Thanks again for your extremely constructive advice

Regards
John

 

[HughJarse]

I think Im stating whats already been said , but youre not really overclocking. Overclocking is increasing passed recomended manufacturer settings. What your doing is simply twaeking settings to run at desired speed. I get the idea your son knows what he's doing just needed confirmation he wasn't going to toast some expensive piece of kit.
He may need to look into some Ram cooler too as put volts up will increase the temperature

Can Iask whats he doing with it? Or is it simply a hobby to try and get best speed possible ( I used to love doing this but did fry a few boards)

 

[glojo]

Can Iask whats he doing with it? Or is it simply a hobby to try and get best speed possible ( I used to love doing this but did fry a few boards)

Just home use.

We tend to upgrade or replkace our systems every couple of years and it was 'that time of year'.

As a lay person it looks to me like he has bought the latest technology and it is released without being thoroughly tested?

My son is now corresponding with the technical support department for the RAM and they are telling him to carry out the voltage increases, but they have not got a similar configuration to do the testing first.

The computer case has more fans than the cross channel hovercraft and I think the PSU is something like 750watt. Whenever we switch off the main fuse for our house there is a power spike throughout South Devon.

On a serious note he is very aware of the tempe5rature issues and has set all the different warning alerts, but thanks very much for pointing it out. ANY and all advice is much appreciated.

Regards
John

 

[MikeL]

Intel Core2Quad QX9650

What is son going to do with this system redesign the space shuttle?!

That is one meaty CPU.

Mike

 

[glojo]

Intel Core2Quad QX9650

What is son going to do with this system redesign the space shuttle?!

That is one meaty CPU.

Mike

Drain the National Grid. I tried asking but he talks a differentg language to me.

RegaRDS
John

 

[masqueraid]

What is son going to do with this system redesign the space shuttle?!

I am hoping it's going to be a 64bit games machine - I can't wait to hear what graphics card(s) are going in there!

 

[glojo]

I am hoping it's going to be a 64bit games machine - I can't wait to hear what graphics card(s) are going in there!

The graphics card is not top of the range but I'm sure it is pretty quick, he will be in soon and I'll ask him. At present he is using it for 64bit stuff and has both Vista and XP.

John

 

[glojo]

I am hoping it's going to be a 64bit games machine - I can't wait to hear what graphics card(s) are going in there!

He has just arrived home and it's a 8800GTS 512MB (G92)

He has several 64 bit games, plus a number of multi-core (all gobble-de-gook to me)

Regards
John