How do I overclock my RAM?

[Pabz0r545]

Hey guys. I am interested in overclocking my new ram I just got recently. I tried to simply change the speed from 1600 to 1866 in the bios and when it rebooted it ended up in an endless boot loop unable to even boot into the bios.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by Pabz0r545

Hey guys. I am interested in overclocking my new ram I just got recently. I tried to simply change the speed from 1600 to 1866 in the bios and when it rebooted it ended up in an endless boot loop unable to even boot into the bios.

First what memory do you have? And what is it rated at?

Second to go from 1600 to 1866 you may need to increase voltages to get it stable.. but sometimes memory just won't run there.

Any reason you want to do this?

[Pabz0r545]

I have g.skill ARES which is rated at 1600 cl 9. No particular reason. Just thought I'd see if it will run faster.

Are there any good guides out there I can read? My google fu is weak.

[enaberif]

Originally Posted by Pabz0r545

I have g.skill ARES which is rated at 1600 cl 9. No particular reason. Just thought I'd see if it will run faster.

Are there any good guides out there I can read? My google fu is weak.

Honestly you won't see much benefit at overclocking your ram.

[dandelioneater]

You can increase the memory multiplier/ratio whatever it is called up one notch. Leave timings to auto, and see if it posts. Usually it will, but whether or not it is stable is another story. Alternatively you could you can try to reduce the timings @ 1600MHz. try 8-9-9-24, then 8-9-8-24, run memtest and see if it is stable. I'm not sure that the performance boost is worth the potential instablility though.

[Pabz0r545]

way to burst my bubble guys :P

Ok well I guess I won't even bother with it. I get a 7.9 on the WEI for the memory..... not that it means anything apparently. :P

[sswilson]

Heh... overclocking memory is typically a lot more finicky than oc'ing a cpu is. There are a ton of background auto settings you don't even get to see which need to be able to slowly adjust themselves rather than one quick shot. Best case scenario (IMO) is to set loose timings at stock fsb/htt/etc..... (whatever your standard clock settings are that your multi is based off of) and then slowly ramp that up to allow the motherboard to make those background settings.

[SugarJ]

There's usually not anywhere near the OC headroom on DDR kits that there is on GPU's and CPU's. I think the chips get binned, i.e. your sticks are sold as 1600 Mhz because they wouldn't do 1866.

And as mentioned, you'll not notice any change in your day to day usage, only in benchmarking.

[Dragonstongue]

overclocking ram is very very finicky and takes very small steps. Very few kits will do one speed grade higher without really tweaking them. Generally, 1600 at tight timings will be just as good as 1866 at looser timings, the small bump in speed rarely will show a benefit in performance vs the slower but much tighter settings. Is it worthwhile, it can be, but to ask a 1600kit to do 1866 without issue may be asking to much, 100-150Mhz without killing them quite possible, beyond this, you are usually very tricked out, OR running a VERY $ kit designed to clock like crazy.

[ravenger]

I recently overclocked my cpu to 4.2 ghz and through all the changing in the fsb speeds and multipliers my memory is only running at kind of a weird number 14** (cant remember to tired and lazy) even though its 1600 ddr3 ram. I have hardly HARDLY noticed anything whatsoever (gaming, running basic programs etc.) so I havent really gone into the bios since then to change it. I might some day if i get bored and feel like messing around in the bios all day and memtesting. Personally if its only giving me a slim performance boost Im not going to change it.( ^unless im bored lol)