# Loosen RAM Timings



## Evolved (May 3, 2011)

Been trying to Overclock my E8400 to 4.05Ghz to make it 24/7 Stable.

I've tested in Prime95 and one of the two workers would stop running,
or my computer would just get the BSOD after a few minutes.

I've done some research and perhaps loosening my RAM timings will help.

Thing is, I don't know what are the ideal timings for loosening RAM.

My RAM default timings are 5-4-4-12


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

you could try 5-5-5-15 but youre gonna need to up your ram voltage from 1.8v to some thing like 2.2-2.2v 

Most DDR2 800mhz ram kits can reach 1066mhz ram speeds pretty easily. but you need the volts to do it standard DDR2 1066mhz kits run from 2.2-2.3v so its upto you how far you chose to go.

Im not expert on ram tweaking, but i have done a little in my time


----------



## Evolved (May 3, 2011)

I've been running Prime95 for over 10 minutes straight now.
It's gone through 8 tests so far, AND IT'S STABLE!!!!

CPU is at 4.05Ghz with a 1.3625 Vcore and 1.650 PLL.
RAM is at 2.0v

Wow, have I finally made it stable after all these months?!


----------



## Benetanegia (May 3, 2011)

Loosening RAM timings means increasing the numbers, usually one step at a time until it's stable. You can always use higher timing values, you are just making your ram less responsive. So you want the lowest combination of timing values that is stable, because that's what will get you most of your ram.

5-5-5-15 will probably work for you.

edit: lol I see I'm laaate. I had this message written half an hour ago and I didn't send it until now. I guess I should rfresh the pages more often.


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

you need a lot more then 10mins prime to be stable.

Download Intel Burn test and set it to run 50 times at maximum stress level. what prime95 takes 8-12hrs to tell you if an OC is stable, intel burn test can tell you in an hour.


----------



## Evolved (May 3, 2011)

okay, ill try the intel burn test
as for the RAM, can't get my PC to boot when increasing RAM speed.

And the timings aren't working. I think i'll leave the RAM alone and let it OC to 900Mhz from 800Mhz for now.

Thanks for all the help guys!


----------



## Evolved (May 3, 2011)

So I am running IntelBurnTest right now and RealTemp is reading my temps at 70c right now.

Ummm... should I be worried?!


EDIT: Completely Stable so far.

EDIT: Ahhh! i just got the BSOD  

Back to the drawing board... although, it could just be a overheating issue.


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

DDR2 can go up to 2.1v w/o a problem


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

Evolved said:


> So I am running IntelBurnTest right now and RealTemp is reading my temps at 70c right now.
> 
> Ummm... should I be worried?!
> 
> ...



70c for intel is normal


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

one of the problems is that your Scythe Shuriken cooler is a low profile cooler so temps might be a little higher then expected. what thermal grease are you using?


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

Tee said:


> 70c for intel is normal



70'c is not 'normal' for a 45nm Wolfdale, If 45nm wolfdale contantly runs at 70'c or over, it will seriously decrease the life of the CPU


----------



## Evolved (May 3, 2011)

My CPU will not run at 70c 24/7, I can guarantee that.
But I only got BSOD because I set the 'Stress Level' to MAXIMUM.

The thermal grease I am using was the one that came with the cooler when i bought it.

I've passed the 'Standard' stress test already. Doing 'High' now. And so far so good.
Although, my highest temp was 75c so far in general.

I definitely will invest in a Noctua NH-D14 or Corsair H70.

I think I can achieve a 24/7 stable 4.5Ghz if I can keep my temps really low (around 50c)
Would you guys agree?

EDIT: I just passed the 'High' stress test. This is making me very happy right now!


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

i had a q8400 overclocked to 3.5GHz with 1.31v... it was around 60-70c for 30+ hours of prime95, it didnt crash.. i had that system for 2 years before i sold it...i used IC diamond 7 paste for my  CM hypher TX3 cooler ( a 20 bucks cooler )


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

Evolved said:


> My CPU will not run at 70c 24/7, I can guarantee that.
> But I only got BSOD because I set the 'Stress Level' to MAXIMUM.
> 
> The thermal grease I am using was the one that came with the cooler when i bought it.
> ...



a lot of people say run prime95 for 4-8 hours..... but if your just playing game....i'd say 1 hour of prime95 without crashing then ur fine...


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

Evolved said:


> My CPU will not run at 70c 24/7, I can guarantee that.
> But I only got BSOD because I set the 'Stress Level' to MAXIMUM.
> 
> The thermal grease I am using was the one that came with the cooler when i bought it.
> ...




you need to stress at maximum if you want to test CPU stability. any less and your just lying to yourself thinking your OC is stable.

Thats how everyone rolls if your CPU can even pass 10 runs of intel burn on maximum, that would make it fairly stable but not rock solid.

a H70 is a good idea if you got cash to spare otherwise a D14 or something cheaper like a thermaltake Frio is a seriously awesome cooler and a cheaper alternative that offers major bang for buck




Tee said:


> a lot of people say run prime95 for 4-8 hours..... but if your just playing game....i'd say 1 hour of prime95 without crashing then ur fine...



1hr of prime doesnt even scratch the surface of if your OC is stable.

unless you want a system that BSODs every few hours or what not. it would be a very good idea to put in the time to make sure your OC is 99.9% stable to avoid hassle and frustration


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> you need to stress at maximum if you want to test CPU stability. any less and your just lying to yourself thinking your OC is stable.
> 
> Thats how everyone rolls if your CPU can even pass 10 runs of intel burn on maximum, that would make it fairly stable but not rock solid.
> 
> ...


 i know whats ur saying... but there was something about the 775 socket... i ran it from 1 hours to 30+ hours.... same temps never crashed on cheap 20 bucks cpu cooler.


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

in that case your OC is stable. but that doesnt mean that everyones CPUs will handle the same way.

70'c is hot, and it wont break your CPU straight away but it will accelerate the deterioration process of the silicon used in the CPU. you might be running with no problems now but a few years at 70'c and it might not be the same story.


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

true, but gaming alone wont put ur cpu to 70c... you cant run ur cpu up to 70c all the time for a few years by  gaming or just some apps. 
Ur cpu just cant get t0 70c on start up


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

Tee said:


> true, but gaming alone wont put ur cpu to 70c... you cant run ur cpu @ 70c all the time for a few years



Depends what game you play. there are a lot of CPU driven games out there


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

i have 1090t right now over clocled to 4.1 ghz ( 1.4500v ).. i play game crysis 2 with my 2 6950s and my cpu temp is 36c after 2 hours of game... gaming taking up more on GPU not CPU.
just gaming dual or quad core do just as good or better than 6 cores.. hardly any games outhere is/are programed to run up to 4 or  6 cores


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

youre missing the point :shadedshu


----------



## Tee (May 3, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> youre missing the point :shadedshu



prolly too much to drink ,, its getting here lol


----------



## PaulieG (May 3, 2011)

FreedomEclipse said:


> you need a lot more then 10mins prime to be stable.
> 
> Download Intel Burn test and set it to run 50 times at maximum stress level. what prime95 takes 8-12hrs to tell you if an OC is stable, intel burn test can tell you in an hour.



50 cycles is serious overkill. I've never had a system crash, ever, if it passes 20 cycles on Max. That holds true with 50+ chips I've owned over the last 3-4 years. No reason to stress your chip beyond that. You'll just shorten it's life. 



Tee said:


> true, but gaming alone wont put ur cpu to 70c... you cant run ur cpu up to 70c all the time for a few years by  gaming or just some apps.
> Ur cpu just cant get t0 70c on start up





FreedomEclipse said:


> Depends what game you play. there are a lot of CPU driven games out there



I can't think of a game that would stress that chip over 50-55c, let alone 70c. Stress tests are designed to stress far beyond what 99% of us will ever do with our processors.


----------



## JrRacinFan (May 3, 2011)

I don't mind overkill but wow. 50?! OCCT's Linpack test set to 90% for an hour is good enough.  Also, too much stress testing is a bad thing.


----------



## FreedomEclipse (May 3, 2011)

50 runs of intel burn takes about 1hr or 2.

also if you google. 50 runs of intel burn isnt actually uncommon.


----------

