How to Maintain a stable Crucial Ballisitix PC2 8500 double sided Overclock

[rom0n]

I have a 2X1 GB double sided Crucial Ballistix. I'm able to push it over 1200mhz and pass the memtest at 2.2 V. However, in windows, it fails the Prime95 torture test. Any ideas why this might be so? My rig is a Q9300 with P5K Deluxe.

[BALISTX]

Do you have memory timings set? If so try loosening the timings. You may need to increase the vcore to 2.3

[sswilson]

Probably going to require higher Vdimm, and that's going to need cooling, and it might also fry your sticks.

I've never had my ballistix running stable much higher than 1100 with 2.2V.

[1Tanker]

Originally Posted by BALISTX

Do you have memory timings set? If so try loosening the timings. You may need to increase the vcore to 2.3

Yeah, some tweaking with Memset can really help.

[BALISTX]

If you plan on upping the vdimm then like Steve said you will need proper cooling. There is a couple of options you can do.

There is the Antec SpotCool - $19.43 @ NCIX and the Corsair Dominator Airflow Memory Cooler - $27.44 @ NCIX

[rom0n]

So, the highest voltage without cooling is 2.2V? I think I'll just try to loosen timings. There is this Transaction booster funcion in my bios. I can leave it auto, disable with options from 0 to 3 for compatibility, or enable. Anyone familiar with this?

[Babrbarossa]

I have played with three sets of ballistix in the last year and have had little luck getting them to run over stock speeds.

[MpG]

When you say "passed memtest", how many runs did it pass? Leave it running overnight for preference, get yourself a dozen passes to be certain. That aside, I don't believe memtest fully stresses the memory controller, as opposed to a program like Prime.

Are you certain that your FSB is stable? Are you certain that your CPU speed is stable? Either of those can cause Prime to fail, but you'll have to use a process of elimination in order to determine which one.

To the best of my knowledge, Asus' transaction booster is a fancy name for adjusting the memory controller's tRD timings. If you're determined to run beyond the memory's rated speed, you should probably just disable the transaction booster, and pull it down a level or two. It'll cost you memory bandwidth, but it might just make the difference. Later on, once you've got a stable OC, you can try notching it up slightly to regain as much bandwidth as you can.

Personally, I suspect that any memory speed gains you see by using the relaxed transaction booster settings will be negated by the looser MCH timings. And since you're running a quad-core, you'll run out of FSB headroom before you run out of memory speed.

And DDR2-1200? That's fast. If you don't plan on aiming a fan at those modules, you should probably slow things down a little.