ixtapalapaquetl
03-08-2006, 07:44 AM
Hi all. Got my Venus in yesterday. Eventually, this will turn in to a Venus vs. Ultra-d Comparison thread, and I thus decided not to hijack OPB's thread. I am going to compare it to the Ultra-D rather than the Expert for two reasons. First, my experiences showed me that overall the Ultra-D was a better overclocker than the Expert. Since the biggest question is whether or not the Venus will clock better, this seems appropriate. The second reason is a pragmatic one. I ruined my XP-90 and thus can only make comparisons with my chiller. I had problems with my Expert and my chiller, so I have no results for now. Maybe somewhere down the line...
Anyways, for now all I can say is this: I have been getting my butt kicked with RAM timings. I eventually discovered a few things using TCCD (G.Skill FF's):
1) The yellow slots are far superior with my current configuration. This was quite a surprise, and took me a long time to realize.
2) Voltages, while spot on, are very different. Using the Ultra-D/Expert, I needed 2.84V Vdimm for maximum performance. I have found now that I can only use 2.74 or so.
3) I have a long way to go with Data/Drive Strength (currently looking at 5/? and 6/? as the most promising).
4) These sticks have achieved 320MHz+ in memtest with the Ultra-D. Thus far I have not been able to get past 302MHz. But it's only been one night...
This evening, I will reinstall Windows (it puked on my previous installation). Hopefully I will be able to get a few screenshots up at that time. But please be patient, because I won't be able to achieve too much overclock-wise until I get the RAM down.
ix
Anyways, for now all I can say is this: I have been getting my butt kicked with RAM timings. I eventually discovered a few things using TCCD (G.Skill FF's):
1) The yellow slots are far superior with my current configuration. This was quite a surprise, and took me a long time to realize.
2) Voltages, while spot on, are very different. Using the Ultra-D/Expert, I needed 2.84V Vdimm for maximum performance. I have found now that I can only use 2.74 or so.
3) I have a long way to go with Data/Drive Strength (currently looking at 5/? and 6/? as the most promising).
4) These sticks have achieved 320MHz+ in memtest with the Ultra-D. Thus far I have not been able to get past 302MHz. But it's only been one night...
This evening, I will reinstall Windows (it puked on my previous installation). Hopefully I will be able to get a few screenshots up at that time. But please be patient, because I won't be able to achieve too much overclock-wise until I get the RAM down.
ix