4x512mb worth it? [Archive] - XtremeSystems Forums

stealth17

08-03-2005, 09:55 AM

i have 2 gig kits of identical mushkin black lvl 2 pc3500 bh-5 and i want 2gb if possible for bf2. bad thing is i have to run 2t. is it worth it? or should i just run 1gb at 260mhz or so instead?

thanks

texuspete00

08-03-2005, 12:18 PM

Considering you mentioned BF2, without a doubt. Trying to play BF2 on my GTX with my fast gig pack wasn't working out well at all. Not with the level of detail I was looking for. Just not enough capacity. I can assure you it's like night and day with that game. Gig might be livable with the 6600GT if you're using one, but improved none the less I'd think. If you have those long pauses, well, graphics cards don't really do that. Get some ram.

stealth17

08-03-2005, 03:17 PM

wow i cant overclock 4x512mb at all! it wount even do 220mhz 2t 2-2-2-5 3.5v!

looks like im suck with 1 gig still

nugzo

08-03-2005, 03:44 PM

Your better off for bf2 to use the 4x512 2t even at 220. That will beat the crap out od 2x512 1t 260. There's a way to properly set up you 4x512 for oc'ing. You first need to check each stick seperatly for max oc. Place the BEST stick furthest away fro cpu. then 2nd best and so on. I personaly havent done it b/c i use 2x1024 1T :) but have read about it here at xs. Use the search, if i find it i will post the link.

sphish

08-03-2005, 03:54 PM

What chip are you running, stealth? I'm running a Winchester 3000+ 0447 CBBHD and I can't get 4x512mb OCZ Gold BH5 to do 2-2-2-5 2T, or even 2-3-3-5/2-3-3-6.

I'm stuck running it at 2.5-3-3-6 2T with 4 sticks, and I'm pretty sure it's the memory controller on the cpu.

Quite certain it's not the DFI NF4 UltraD.

2x512 either kit runs 2-2-2-5 1T 230fsb 3.0v.

I do notice improvements even at the slower timings with 4x512, however, both in load times and how much my system will lag after exiting games, etc.

stealth17

08-03-2005, 04:18 PM

WOWOWOWOW!!! thats all i can say!

i put 4x512mb in and loaded optimized defaults. that means EVERYTHING was running stock (except VC) and ram timings were CRAPPY! not even 2-2-2-5! with 2gb i never went below 49fps and i played a game a Strike At Karkland, i got second place by 2 points! i almost ALWAYS come in almost last at that map for some reason! i never did good! it never lagged at all! i am happy :) :)

i may look into actually overclocking this ram and making 4x512mb. i want 2x1gb but the timings would suck for records, and i cant afford to buy that and keep another 2x512mb kit around for benching.

im on a san diego 3700+. why cant these things run 1t 4x512? i thought thats the advantage the rev E chips had?

Major

08-03-2005, 04:20 PM

wow i cant overclock 4x512mb at all! it wount even do 220mhz 2t 2-2-2-5 3.5v!

looks like im suck with 1 gig still

It's trick finding just the right Dimm's for each stick !! Makes a HUGE difference in OCing.

you will need to teast each stick individually and then place them in them dimm's as described in this thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66968

stealth17

08-03-2005, 04:25 PM

It's trick finding just the right Dimm's for each stick !! Makes a HUGE difference in OCing.

you will need to teast each stick individually and then place them in them dimm's as described in this thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=66968

i gatta go mow some grass then ill come back and do come overclocking. i think part of my problem was that i had bank interleave on :rolleyes:

amrgb

08-04-2005, 03:18 AM

i think part of my problem was that i had bank interleave on :rolleyes:

And you should make everything possible to keep it that way, ON.

It's because of bank interleave that going from 2x512 1T to 4x512 2T don't hurt performance too much (if it hurts it at all).

You should follow the advice to try the sticks in different slots. But spare yourself from trying each stick individually to put the best in the slot furthest away from the cpu and the worst in the slot closer to the cpu. This method appears to work well with two sticks, but not with four (from my own experience). The problem is that (with the DFI NF4) some memories don't like yellow slots and others don't like orange slots. This is another factor that adds to the fact that generally sltos closer to the cpu are stronger.

For instance, for TCCD memory that like orange slots, the 3rd slot from the cpu (2nd orange) may be stronger than the 2nd slot (1st yellow).

Besides that you may have one or more bad slots in random positions (not necessarilly further away from the cpu) due to problems in the manufacturing process.

It's boring, but to make sure you have the sticks in the optimum place, you have to try all the 24 combinations (I've tried 16 I believe, before quiting). Good luck.

Der_KHAN

08-04-2005, 04:18 AM

wow i cant overclock 4x512mb at all! it wount even do 220mhz 2t 2-2-2-5 3.5v!i had big problems getting my 4x512mb stable. but i think it works now:

255MHz 3.4v (vx4k)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7383/stable9lp.jpg

WiD26

08-04-2005, 04:57 AM

i had big problems getting my 4x512mb stable. but i think it works now:

255MHz 3.4v (vx4k)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7383/stable9lp.jpg

Do you have the jumper on the 5V line?
Isn't the pwm-ic hotte(r with 4sticks?
I have 4sticks of utt to,bid I was scrared to use the 5v line.

Der_KHAN

08-04-2005, 05:05 AM

Do you have the jumper on the 5V line?
Isn't the pwm-ic hotte(r with 4sticks?
I have 4sticks of utt to,bid I was scrared to use the 5v line.of course i run it off the 5v line. dunno if the pwm is hotter - i have a fan cooling it and as long its below 110°C its fine

stealth17

08-04-2005, 10:11 AM

i had big problems getting my 4x512mb stable. but i think it works now:

255MHz 3.4v (vx4k)

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7383/stable9lp.jpg

max async 9
read preamble 7.5x

did those worth better with 4x512mb than 2x512mb?

what drive strenghts you using?

dmo580

08-04-2005, 10:58 AM

wow i cant overclock 4x512mb at all! it wount even do 220mhz 2t 2-2-2-5 3.5v!

looks like im suck with 1 gig still

Ive seen someone with Gskills (2) and Redlines (2) running 250 @ 2-2-2 easily.... The only loss you get is 2T timing.

Der_KHAN

08-04-2005, 11:27 AM

max async 9
read preamble 7.5x

did those worth better with 4x512mb than 2x512mb?

what drive strenghts you using?a64tweaker doesnt read them correctly. heres a pic from the bios:

http://img326.imageshack.us/img326/7832/stable8xx.jpg

(as mentioned at 255MHz/3.4V)
i think some of these values can be tightened but i havent found the time to tweak em all, cuz im playing bf2 all the time. :D
i had occasional crashes at first but with these settings they seem to be gone

i can run wow and bf2 stable for hours and i get 30.4s in SuperPI 1.4, with 2x512 and 1T it was 28.7s i believe

dnottis

08-04-2005, 01:03 PM

Ive got no problem with 2 kits of redline HP3200 doing 4 x 512 253Mhz 2-2-2-5 @ 3.1v, memtest, games, 3dmark stable!

dnottis

08-04-2005, 01:31 PM

Working on a new review - here are some results so far showing 4 sticks vs 2 and 1T vs 2T - not much to see in real world results....the slight loss in performance is worth the smoothness you pick up in game.

Btw the OCZ PC4800 results the CPU was 312 1:1 so 2.808 Ghz. The Mushkin results are at 2.75 Ghz (275 x 10). I'll try and get the PC4800 updated at 305 1:1 to get comparison results at 2.75 Ghz.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/ontap/2gb/1tvs2t.jpg

Crazykooter

08-04-2005, 02:34 PM

Im not using bh-5 but with the ballistix I am using I am able to run 260 fsb 1:1 without issues and low volts. I do know if I push it higher my memory controller doesnt care for it. But as for bf2 ya 2 gigs makes night and day results. I place top 3 with 2 gigs and near last with 1 gig.

stealth17

08-04-2005, 08:50 PM

having a hell of a time with this 4x512mb nonsense. i think what i will do is sell the extra 2x512mb and get 2x1gb for 24/7 then just run the 2x512mb for benching. in 3dmark03, is there a big difference in 512mb vs 1gb? if not, i may sell all 512mb sticks and save some more money and get 2x256mb for benching. it usually overclocks higher too :)

plz help. i almost smashed every peice of computer equiptment when this keep crashing at stock 4x512mb in bf2 :(

thanks

drcrawn

08-04-2005, 09:09 PM

Is it a fact that you must run 2T with 4x512? Cause I just literally popped in two more stick like an hour ago and even when I select 2T in the BIOS, it boots 1T no matter what.

I've confirmed that i'm running 1T cause I can easily switch back and forth wth A64 Tweaker and see my SuperPi results. I'm actually getting .4 faster in 1Million now with 4x512 with all the exact same timings including 1T.

I ran 2 separate instances of Memtest (windows version) for about 30 minutes with no errors....this is weirding me out.

Aren't I supposed to be running 2T? Setup is sk8v, opteron 252 (E4), and 4x512 of corsair cmx512re-3500llpt doing 13x217 2-3-2-6 1T @ 2.7v.

dnottis

08-04-2005, 09:55 PM

drcrawn

08-04-2005, 10:23 PM

Mine wont even post with 4 sticks and 1T enabled.

Maybe the opterons can? not sure...
run sandra memory bandwidth tests and see what you get...

Will do, but im off a fairly fresh install so I gotta download everything. I did just play Halo for just over an hour, totally stable :cool: . I'll check back with screens. Would this be a first? Can anyone else get 4x512 1T stable on a new E revision?

stealth17

08-04-2005, 10:37 PM

mine is E rev....cant do 1t 4x512mb.

having a hell of a time with this 4x512mb nonsense. i think what i will do is sell the extra 2x512mb and get 2x1gb for 24/7 then just run the 2x512mb for benching. in 3dmark03, is there a big difference in 512mb vs 1gb? if not, i may sell all 512mb sticks and save some more money and get 2x256mb for benching. it usually overclocks higher too

plz help. i almost smashed every peice of computer equiptment when this keep crashing at stock 4x512mb in bf2

thanks

bump

drcrawn

08-04-2005, 11:13 PM

Call me a lucky son of a &^*%!.

Sandra reports everything at 2T :stick: . I'm using A64T to switch, but the board will not boot @2T no matter what, lol. BTW, this would not run @2.6v, so I went to 2.7vdimm and manually changed 2T timing to "enable" in bios, and thats when I realized it was booting 1T instead. Went back and tried 2T setting in bios to "auto" and still I get 1T. Pretty funny actually. Best memory controller ever? lmao
http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/1917/1t3rm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/1001/2t8ab.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

SPI 1M test 1T, 2T with a all those things open so take with grain of salt...
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/5681/pi1t4ey.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2060/pi2t6lm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Don't know what to say really i'm shocked, but I'm not complaining :banana: .

Der_KHAN

08-05-2005, 02:51 AM

plz help. i almost smashed every peice of computer equiptment when this keep crashing at stock 4x512mb in bf2 :(

thankstry the settings i posted above and increase your vdimm 0.1v over the value u run with 2x512mb.

if this doesnt work try max async 9.0ns and read preamble 7.0ns

Dumo

08-05-2005, 02:58 AM

Ive seen someone with Gskills (2) and Redlines (2) running 250 @ 2-2-2 easily.... The only loss you get is 2T timing.Heres..http://img172.echo.cx/img172/7566/fx55bn16k4mw.jpg

Gogar

08-05-2005, 05:25 AM

4 dimms, 4 dimm slots.. that's 24 different combinations iirc
That's a lot of testing lol I wonder if the dimm slots can even take that many inserts ;)

drcrawn

08-05-2005, 11:18 AM

Well i ran 32M SPI with 1T and 2T just to make sure, and yes I can run 4x512 with 1T no problem :cool: . Not sure how to prove it any better, but I'm up to show anything, screen shots, pics, whatever.

I've always assumed 4x512 on AMD64 meant 2T, but apparently not always but I have no idea why it's working on my board. Maybe a bios issue, not sure. Anyone have any idea what's going on here, lol?
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/2760/32m1t1fc.th.jpg (http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=32m1t1fc.jpg)http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/9325/32m2t5yo.th.jpg (http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=32m2t5yo.jpg)

CPU-Z Verified shot.
http://img305.imageshack.us/img305/1827/verified6ey.th.jpg (http://img305.imageshack.us/my.php?image=verified6ey.jpg)

stealth17

08-05-2005, 04:43 PM

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=917314&page=1&pp=20

a very nice thread.

For gaming, you'll probably want to go with 4x512 of memory that is known to hit good speeds (240MHz or so) and keep decent 2.5-2-2 or 2-2-2 timings. As you can see, you don't have to worry about the 2T performance hit because the memory speed will more than compensate that. Crucial Ballistix fits this bill and is much cheaper than the alternative of GSkill TCCD. Or, you could try your luck with 2 gigs of TwinMOS SP or Mushkin Redline.

drcrawn, are your stick single or double sided?

drcrawn

08-05-2005, 05:19 PM

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=917314&page=1&pp=20

a very nice thread.

drcrawn, are your stick single or double sided?

edit: definitely double sided

They're all double sided CMX512re-3500llpt. It's old CH5 from early '04. I have a twinx set from each of these lot numbers, both winbond ch5.

CMX512RE-3500LLPT Rev 1.1 0404056 = Winbond -5 Rev C

*CMX512RE-3500LLPT Rev 1.1 0404058-1 = Winbond -5 Rev C

* This set I bought first and does 2-2-2-6 easy, the second set I haven't tested individually yet.

So anyone else try or get 4x512 sticks @ 1T? I have a hard time believing I'm alone here, but nobody uses my board here anymore so...I dunno.

BTW gaming with 2 gigs is like night and day. No more stuttering at all, period. :toast:

nugzo

08-05-2005, 05:59 PM

drcrawn

08-05-2005, 06:56 PM

4 dimms, 4 dimm slots.. that's 24 different combinations iirc
That's a lot of testing lol I wonder if the dimm slots can even take that many inserts ;)

It's only 4 ;) because you can test each stick in slot 1. Youre not trying to figure out which memory+dimm slot combination is fastest (4x3x2x1=24), you just want to figure out which memory combination is fastest. Then you put them in the slots accordingly. The thing that I think of though is with dual channel youd probably want the worst two sticks in the first "channel" like color wise, and then the best two sticks in the secondary dimm channel...right? It'd be different with a FSB, Intel systems...

But yeah I know my slots couldnt handly too many inserts, especially one of them is really hard to get the memory in and my whole board is bending, lol :wasntme: .

On DFI if u remove the Post Graphics so u can see whats goin on it shows mem timings and 1 or 2T. Does your board show that during boot? This is very interesting.

From the bios I can disable quick boot which might help, as it is now, the screen flashes too quickly. This bios is .008 and dated 6/17/05 and is the latest beta from asus. Only one other bios for my board works with rev. E opterons, and officially none of them work. The .007 bios worked also, but didnt allow dynamic changing of fid/vid via software and no muti options from the bios level. So to play, I have to use the latest .008. Unfortunately asus removed fine adjustments of memory timings from the bios level, and when I boot with lower 12 multi, it will only boot with like 1.3vcore :stick: But it does allow fid/vid adjustments via software as well as memory adjustments. Trade-offs... But I have three options in bios for command rate with .008, disabled, enabled, and auto. Doesn't matter which one I pick, they all boot to 1T. Then I can change the cmd to 2T in the desktop and watch stability increase and performance slightly decrease. MAybe all you need is a "fix" from the bios level to allow these rev. E chips to use 1T command with lots of memory (edit: I should say >2 double sided modules). It would make sense that asus would take advantage of this, were it available, on the sk8v because it is a s940 board and many use it for single opteron workstations/servers that fill the dimms completely ;) . That's just a total guess on my part.

nugzo

08-05-2005, 08:07 PM

Friend told me opterons had different mem controller and your using ecc registered memory. thats why 1t

BB mods's

08-05-2005, 08:38 PM

BUY ME! (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=70994)

Yes...do buy this ram for some one's abusive testing :)

drcrawn

08-05-2005, 08:58 PM

shameless! lol

drcrawn

08-05-2005, 09:05 PM

Friend told me opterons had different mem controller and your using ecc registered memory. thats why 1t

Whatever's happening, I'll take it. If it's true that all E4 opterons can do this, then it would surely be news to most people I think. btw, I can turn off ecc and it doesnt affect the command rate...or performance for that matter.

Ender17

08-05-2005, 09:14 PM

I've heard BF2 runs a lot better with 2GB

Vapor

08-05-2005, 09:20 PM

:lastweek: * 3

stealth17

08-05-2005, 09:35 PM

^^^ lol

I've heard BF2 runs a lot better with 2GB

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6304/1ghey28rn.jpg

had to post that pic. just kidding though. and yes, 2gb is night and day difference in bf2. the only reason im running 2gig now....

drcrawn

08-06-2005, 12:06 AM

4x512 registered 2-3-2-6 1T
DDR450
2.8vdimm
:D

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2382/ddr450stable6yw.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ddr450stable6yw.jpg)http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5332/ddr4504aw.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ddr4504aw.jpg)

dnottis

08-06-2005, 06:42 AM

Updated - all results at 2.75 Ghz now - just waiting for the 2 x 1GB of OCZ to arrive.

http://xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=988232#post988232

Dumo

08-06-2005, 06:57 AM

2 GB....4X512 Gskill GH and Redline 4000...

http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/6012/screenshot0012iq.jpg

stealth17

08-06-2005, 08:27 AM

2 GB....4X512 Gskill GH and Redline 4000...

http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/6012/screenshot0012iq.jpg

damn! nice! i cant get my fuking 4x512mb to do jack :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:!!!!

drcrawn

08-06-2005, 12:15 PM

Dumo, that's your # 3 place FX right :slobber: ? <------we know :slobber: When you gonna get the 4ghz shot?

So,
full dimms DDR460 @ 1T, 2-4-3-7 :banana: with an Opteron, heh.
http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/3866/ddr460stable2yt.th.jpg (http://img331.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ddr460stable2yt.jpg)
My bandwith is better, but still can't reach the cpu speeds i want...

http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/5467/ddr460sandra8qh.th.jpg (http://img319.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ddr460sandra8qh.jpg)

THunDA

08-07-2005, 08:04 PM

stealth17.. I tried to get my 4 sticks of 3500lev2 to run but it was very unstable no matter what I did.. I gave up.. :(

stealth17

08-07-2005, 08:50 PM

stealth17.. I tried to get my 4 sticks of 3500lev2 to run but it was very unstable no matter what I did.. I gave up.. :(

yeh i think its the memcontroller that is what makes or breaks 4x512mb....its not working out all that well for me either :(

drcrawn

08-08-2005, 08:46 PM

Friend told me opterons had different mem controller and your using ecc registered memory. thats why 1t

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/26094.PDF

specifically page 109, states 2T command "should only be set with unbuffered dimms" so not registered :cool: .

solves that mystery