Utility to show DRAM timing

  • Thread starter Thread starter milleron
  • Start date Start date
M

milleron

I've recently had difficulty with stability on my A8N-SLI Premium
after I was forced to restore the Windows installation from an old
Ghost image. There were several different kinds of BSODs in XP-SP2,
that suggested hardware or driver problems, but after ten days of
troubleshooting, the only thing that seems to stabilize the computer
is setting the DRAM timing back to "Auto." My Corsair RAM is rated
2-2-2-5. The default timing indicated in BIOS was 2.5-3-3-5 at 2T.
I'd originally set this to manual just to enable a 1T command rate.
I'd always left the other timing values at their original defaults.

Now that it's back to "Auto," I'd love to know just what command rate
and FSB frequency it's actually using. Are the grayed-out numbers in
BIOS indicative of the real values or do they simply show (as I
believe to be the case) the last values that were set manually before
timing was returned to "Auto?" If these grayed-out values are
meaningless, does anyone know of a utility that would give these
figures? I know of several that will read the SPD values of the RAM
and others that will monitor CPU speed, but I can't find anything that
tells me what's actually going on with my RAM.

Thanks


Ron
 
milleron said:
I've recently had difficulty with stability on my A8N-SLI Premium
after I was forced to restore the Windows installation from an old
Ghost image. There were several different kinds of BSODs in XP-SP2,
that suggested hardware or driver problems, but after ten days of
troubleshooting, the only thing that seems to stabilize the computer
is setting the DRAM timing back to "Auto." My Corsair RAM is rated
2-2-2-5. The default timing indicated in BIOS was 2.5-3-3-5 at 2T.
I'd originally set this to manual just to enable a 1T command rate.
I'd always left the other timing values at their original defaults.

Now that it's back to "Auto," I'd love to know just what command rate
and FSB frequency it's actually using. Are the grayed-out numbers in
BIOS indicative of the real values or do they simply show (as I
believe to be the case) the last values that were set manually before
timing was returned to "Auto?" If these grayed-out values are
meaningless, does anyone know of a utility that would give these
figures? I know of several that will read the SPD values of the RAM
and others that will monitor CPU speed, but I can't find anything that
tells me what's actually going on with my RAM.

Thanks


Ron
Click to expand...


Ron
Try Everest Home edition at http://www.lavalys.com/.
It should show you what you want.
Ken'
 
Ron
Try Everest Home edition at http://www.lavalys.com/.
It should show you what you want.
Ken'
Click to expand...
Ken,
Thanks for the reply. I already have Everest installed. It tells me
nothing but the SPD information. I can't see that it can report any
actual frequencies of any of the buses. Perhaps I'm looking in the
wrong place.

Ron
 
Same board her but with OCZ memory rated at 2.2.2.5.

My default bios memory setting is 2.5.3.3.8

In order to run mine at 2.2.2.5 the memory voltage has to be increased to
3.0 volts.

Runs perfect at that voltage but had errors at default voltage.

OCZ web page states that the voltage must be increases to 3.0 to 3.2 volts.
Check with Corsair for voltage settings.

Ron
 
Ken' said:
Ron
Try Everest Home edition at http://www.lavalys.com/.
It should show you what you want.
Ken'
Click to expand...


Hi Ken!




Yes, it´s a nice program. But it shows a ? with my Computer, instead of
the timing. 2-2-2-? - Like this. :-(

But with CPU-Z you can see also the ?, going with Everest. So, both
proggies will help you to see RAM-Caache-Cache-CPU latencies etc....





Best Regards,

Daniel Mandic
 
I've recently had difficulty with stability on my A8N-SLI Premium
after I was forced to restore the Windows installation from an old
Ghost image. There were several different kinds of BSODs in XP-SP2,
that suggested hardware or driver problems, but after ten days of
troubleshooting, the only thing that seems to stabilize the computer
is setting the DRAM timing back to "Auto." My Corsair RAM is rated
2-2-2-5. The default timing indicated in BIOS was 2.5-3-3-5 at 2T.
I'd originally set this to manual just to enable a 1T command rate.
I'd always left the other timing values at their original defaults.

Now that it's back to "Auto," I'd love to know just what command rate
and FSB frequency it's actually using. Are the grayed-out numbers in
BIOS indicative of the real values or do they simply show (as I
believe to be the case) the last values that were set manually before
timing was returned to "Auto?" If these grayed-out values are
meaningless, does anyone know of a utility that would give these
figures? I know of several that will read the SPD values of the RAM
and others that will monitor CPU speed, but I can't find anything that
tells me what's actually going on with my RAM.

Thanks


Ron
Click to expand...

I used cpu-z for exactly that purpose:

http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php

This will show you both the SPD timings and the actual timings your
motherboard is using.

I also have a A8N-SLI Premium, with 1GB of Corsar XMS 2-2-2-5 memory
(specifically, a TWINX1024-3200XL kit, which is a pair of
CMX512-3200XL DIMMs matched to run in dual channel motherboards).

I currently have the RAM timings set on "auto" and CPU-Z shows it as
running at 2.5-3-3-5. My system runs completely stable at this
setting.

I had gone into the BIOS and manually set it for 2.0-2-2-5 1T, but
when I did this I got a BSOD in the memory speed benchmark in SiSoft
Sandra (another excellent program which I highly recommend, BTW). So
I set it back to Auto.

I went onto the Corsair forums, and from reading the replies of
Corsair employees to questions posted by owners of Asus A8N-SLI
motherboards, it seems that getting this RAM to run stable at
2.0-2-2-2-5-1t requires upping the voltage to 2.8. The motherboard
apparently runs the RAM at 2.6 volts, which is not enough to run
stable at those timings.

Phil
 
I assume that the 21875 lines you uploaded was a binary ?
I did not wait to find out but killed the download instead....

Please, please do NOT do that on a non-binary newsgroup.
There are binary newsgroups for this purpose.

How about a URL to a download site instead ?

John Lewis
- Technology early-birds are flying guinea-pigs.
 
Same board her but with OCZ memory rated at 2.2.2.5.

My default bios memory setting is 2.5.3.3.8

In order to run mine at 2.2.2.5 the memory voltage has to be increased to
3.0 volts.

Runs perfect at that voltage but had errors at default voltage.

OCZ web page states that the voltage must be increases to 3.0 to 3.2 volts.
Check with Corsair for voltage settings.

Ron
Click to expand...

Wow! 3.2 volts! I think this info might really help me. Corsair
will certify their RAM only up to 2.9, but the fact is that I tried
upping the voltage only to 2.75. I was sort of afraid to go higher,
but your experience suggests that maybe I just didn't give this RAM
enough juice to do its thing. I'll try taking it to 2.8 and perhaps
even to 2.9.

Now, I'm dying to know what kind of errors you got at default voltage.
Were they BSODs? If so, do you recall what the errors were and if
there was anything funny in the Event Viewer/System??


Ron
 
I used cpu-z for exactly that purpose:

http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php

This will show you both the SPD timings and the actual timings your
motherboard is using.

I also have a A8N-SLI Premium, with 1GB of Corsar XMS 2-2-2-5 memory
(specifically, a TWINX1024-3200XL kit, which is a pair of
CMX512-3200XL DIMMs matched to run in dual channel motherboards).

I currently have the RAM timings set on "auto" and CPU-Z shows it as
running at 2.5-3-3-5. My system runs completely stable at this
setting.

I had gone into the BIOS and manually set it for 2.0-2-2-5 1T, but
when I did this I got a BSOD in the memory speed benchmark in SiSoft
Sandra (another excellent program which I highly recommend, BTW). So
I set it back to Auto.

I went onto the Corsair forums, and from reading the replies of
Corsair employees to questions posted by owners of Asus A8N-SLI
motherboards, it seems that getting this RAM to run stable at
2.0-2-2-2-5-1t requires upping the voltage to 2.8. The motherboard
apparently runs the RAM at 2.6 volts, which is not enough to run
stable at those timings.

Phil
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. Your experience is especially important to me
because my memory is EXACTLY the same as yours, and I'm seeing EXACTLY
the same defaults you're describing. I wonder why the BIOS cannot
read the SPD information from the RAM. I, too, returned to the
default settings, where everything is stable. I'd be happy with these
default settings except for the command rate. Did you notice that the
default Command Rate is 2T?

I think I'm going to give it one more try at 1T, this time with a
voltage setting of 2.8 -- the one Memory Guy on the Corsair forums
always recommends. I'll leave the latency and other settings at
default while changing the command rate to 1T and post my results.

Does anyone know what kind of performance hit one takes from a command
rate of 2T vs. 1T ?


Ron
 
Thanks for the info. Your experience is especially important to me
because my memory is EXACTLY the same as yours, and I'm seeing EXACTLY
the same defaults you're describing. I wonder why the BIOS cannot
read the SPD information from the RAM. I, too, returned to the
default settings, where everything is stable. I'd be happy with these
default settings except for the command rate. Did you notice that the
default Command Rate is 2T?

I think I'm going to give it one more try at 1T, this time with a
voltage setting of 2.8 -- the one Memory Guy on the Corsair forums
always recommends. I'll leave the latency and other settings at
default while changing the command rate to 1T and post my results.

Does anyone know what kind of performance hit one takes from a command
rate of 2T vs. 1T ?


Ron
Click to expand...

I just put together my A8N-SLi two days ago with a matched pair of OCz
Platinum 1GB modules. They are supposed to run at 2-3-2-5. Auto set
them at 2.5-3-3-5 2T. SiSoft memory bandwidth benchmark yielded
Int/Float numbers of 4422/4458 at the original auto setting. Changing
just the 2T to 1T caused a jump to 5144/5083. Changing the other
settings to 2-3-2-5 only yielded a furthur increase to 5191/5137. I
have read elsewhere 1T makes a much greater difference than the other
settings. My limited experience seems to confirm this.

-=( Lon )=-
 
Hi Ron,

I was getting assorted bsod's. Most were happening during boot. With my
ram voltage at 3 volts I get no errors at all. I don't recall what the
errors were but all that is in the past .

Ron
 
I assume that the 21875 lines you uploaded was a binary ?
I did not wait to find out but killed the download instead....

Please, please do NOT do that on a non-binary newsgroup.
There are binary newsgroups for this purpose.

How about a URL to a download site instead ?

John Lewis
- Technology early-birds are flying guinea-pigs.
Click to expand...


John
My apologies, a screen shot I saved and posted was a saved as a bmp in error
and not the jpg I thought it was.
It will not happen again.
Ken
 
Back
Top