Achieving 1:1 FSB:DRAM on ASUS P5B-E

[ST Dragon]

Good day.

I was wondering what settings I have to apply in my Mother Board in order to achieve a 1:1 FSB : DRAM ratio without damaging my PC components.

I’m currently using 4 x 2GB (8GB Total in Dual Channel) DRR-2 Kingston KHX6400D2/2G memory modules (99U5316-068.A00LF) 1.85V,
2.4GHZ Core 2 Duo E6600 Intel CPU (4MB Cache) and an ASUS P5B-E (Intel945 chipset) Mother Board with the latest BIOS.

All mother board settings are set to Auto and configure DRAM timing by SPD is Enabled.
Memory Remap feature in Enabled (Allow remapping of overlapped PCI memory above the total physical memory)
My mother board memory voltage can be set up to 2.10V
CPU Frequency when AI tuning is set to manual is at 266 and can range from 100 – 650
DRAM Frequency is set to auto but can reach up to 1066
PCI Express Frequency is Auto but can reach up to 104
CPU VCORE voltage can reach up to 1.5250V
FSB Termination Voltage can reach up to 1.450V
PCI Clock Synchronization mode can be set to 33.33MHZ
The CPU FSB is 1066
CPU Ratio setting is Auto
Ratio Status is unlocked and can range Max 09.0 – Min 06.0
Ratio Actual Value: 9

This is what CPU-Z is currently showing:

CPU when idle:


CPU in full load when playing RAGE.


My mother board:


My memory:



Thanks in advance.

[trap15]

Uhh, you don't want 1:1 FSB:DRAM. That would make your memory quite a deal slower.... (400MHz down to 266MHz)

[beatsgo]

For the Kingston, make sure you set your timings to 5-5-5-15.

If the Front Bus Speed is 266, you have to set the DRAM Frequen to 266 as well.

Uhh, you don't want 1:1 FSB:DRAM. That would make your memory quite a deal slower.... (400MHz down to 266MHz)

But wasn't this a way to have a more stable system?

[shmuppyLove]

The memory is only running at 200MHz right now (800MHz effective). You'd need to up to it 266MHz (1066MHz effective) so that it's synchronous with the FSB.

Your RAM is only rated to 800MHz, so I wouldn't attempt it unless you're prepared to seriously tinker with voltages and timings to ensure that it's stable.

But honestly, whatever tiny tiny tiny performance gain you might acheive isn't worth the effort required to do it. I wouldn't even bother buying 1066MHz DDR2, since DDR2 was obsolete a long time ago. You'd get far more benefit from overclocking your processor even just a little bit. Upping the FSB will also increase the memory clock, so you'd also get a bit more memory bandwidth, which is always good.

As always with overclocking though, make sure you test the fuck out of the system. Any additional speed you gain is worthless if the system isn't stable.

[Ed Oscuro]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2427/4 and
http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=195
possibly this one too: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/show ... p?t=608559

Other than that, I'd just like to point out that (memory aside) this is almost the exact same setup I had in 2006 (same CPU, motherboard was the Deluxe version instead of the E model) and I'm thinking about replacing its replacement. The system did have a good reputation for overclockability, but I don't like OCing much and you ought to get much better performance for little money out of a newer system. Still, your question would still apply. I think I'll have a look at this on my own system, too.

Edit: Also, you're running a 64-bit version of Windows, right? Get the 64-bit version of CPU-Z. If you're not running a 32-bit OS, I believe memory remap should be off.

[beatsgo]

As always with overclocking though, make sure you test the fuck out of the system. Any additional speed you gain is worthless if the system isn't stable.

Amen to this. MemTest+, prime95, hyperpi, and OCCT are my tools of the trade for stability testing.

[Ed Oscuro]

BTW, my current FSB:DRAM ratio is 2:8 Ain't no thang. The new QPI is somewhat different from the FSB found in the Core 2 Duo and earlier CPUs, though. I'm just using one of the default timing profiles (these are included in many new RAM sticks and motherboards can typically find them). I don't recall if the P5B had the ability to read suggested timing profiles off RAM sticks, but it might have.

Something else to look at:
http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=160

Note what the author says about the light green boxes in the graph:

...best described as the 'ram and jam' settings (one box to the left). Sure DDR-1000 will do CL3....if you want to kill it in a week of 24/7 use.

Bottom line for me - trying to squeeze a few percentage points of performance out of the RAM is only really advisable if you aren't committed to keeping all your system's parts functioning for the long haul. Obviously, a ~2006 spec system might not need to hold on all that much longer, but why not just leave it be and spend the money on a select few new parts, instead of inviting the possibility you'll end up looking for replacements to the old system when you blow out the RAM or something?