RAM voltage

Matts1 · 11 Dec 2010

I'm not 100% sure if it does but I'm pretty sure that it doesn't (however it does support OC'ing

sygnus21 · 11 Dec 2010

Since you have a Gigabyte motherboard have a look here..... GIGABYTE

They are very knowledgable as that's where I got my start for my motherboard. See my system specs.

One thing I will say though is do a lot of reading BEFORE attempting to do any overclocks. I can tell you what to do, but unless you have a basic understanding, you could do more harm.

You can get some basics looking at this... https://www.sevenforums.com/overclock...ing-guide.html. Again, check out the Gigabyte forums since you have a Gigabyte board.

And yes, you motherboard does overclock.

TVeblen said:

If the BIOS has E-Z overclocking tools then it just makes it that much easier.

Gigabyte uses EasyTune6 - GIGABYTE - Support & Downloads - Utility - Motherboard

Matts1 · 11 Dec 2010

I can just ask my family. My dad has done OC'ing on a i7 950 to 4.11GHz stable with an asus p6t deluxe v2 and my uncle on a phenom II quad core

sygnus21 · 11 Dec 2010

You asked....

Matts1 said:

But theoretically, do you know how OC'ing works (I've only done it on CPU) on RAM? Is it basically, lower voltage, reduced stability, reduced temp., and opp. for higher voltage? And you increase bclk/multiplier back to 2000MHz?

In addition to TVeblen's posts, I replied....

sygnus21 said:

Since you have a Gigabyte motherboard have a look here..... GIGABYTE

They are very knowledgable as that's where I got my start for my motherboard. See my system specs.

One thing I will say though is do a lot of reading BEFORE attempting to do any overclocks. I can tell you what to do, but unless you have a basic understanding, you could do more harm.

You can get some basics looking at this... https://www.sevenforums.com/overclock...ing-guide.html. Again, check out the Gigabyte forums since you have a Gigabyte board.

And yes, you motherboard does overclock.

Now you say....

Matts1 said:

I can just ask my family. My dad has done OC'ing on a i7 950 to 4.11GHz stable with an asus p6t deluxe v2 and my uncle on a phenom II quad core

smarteyeball · 11 Dec 2010

Matts1 said:

They say "4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets"
I was wondering exactly what that meant.

That's just the standard specs.

4 x = 4 DIMM slots on mobo

1.5v = DDR3 standard minimum voltage required for RAM modules. 1.5v is the minimum spec for 1066/1333mhz DDR3 RAM etc

DDR3 = You've probably guessed this. Only runs DDR3 RAM

Matts1 said:

Is it basically, lower voltage, reduced stability, reduced temp.,

Lower volts are generally only needed for when running low speeds / loose timings. Lower volts doesn't always mean reduced stability.

At low speeds + low volts, stability is not really an issue because the RAM is not really being 'pushed'.

Higher volts are typically required for the higher speeds or tighter timings because the Ram is being pushed harder.

RAM temps aren't really much of an issue, or worth worrying about unless pumping some serious voltage through them ie 1.85v+ etc

Also, overall mhz isn't what's important. What's more important is CAS Latency timings.

Matts1 · 11 Dec 2010

Yes, I can ask my family. But I don't see them very often.
And I knew what they meant by all of that except the voltage. Thanks
Also, to keep the temp. down, my dad upped the multiplier and bclk but lowered voltage. I believe it is currently running at 1.25v (originally 1.35 or something).

sygnus21 · 11 Dec 2010

What is is running at 1.25? The CPU?

Hopefully smarteyeball answered some of your questions? As I said, if you want to get into overclocking with that board, check the Gigabyte forums they have outstanding support. I know

They also have templates that you can use to help you get started.

Dave76 · 12 Dec 2010

Your last post confirmed what smarteyeball posted above that, you will see better performance from tighter timings than from higher MHz and voltage.

Most people that are new to overclocking just want some numbers to plug into their BIOS that will make their system run faster. I'm afraid it's not that simple, in fact it can cause permanent damage to components.

All components, CPU, RAM, motherboard components, etc. have different capabilities.
You can buy two sets of RAM you have posted, one set might OC to 2000 MHz, 1.65v, at JEDEC timings and run trouble free. The next set may not run well without some tweaking, small setting adjustments and lots of stability testing, this is just the way it is.

The Gigabyte forum has a lot of good information on how to OC, examples and walk through for first timers.
The auto OC tuners work fairly well for small OCs, anything in the medium to extreme range will have very high voltage settings and may not even run stable. This is why if you want to push it very far you need to learn the procedures and do lots of testing.

If you want a good running system with minimal time spent on OC'ing, less than 30 hours including all the reading to understand what you will need to do, I would recommend getting 1600MHz, 1.5v, RAM with the tightest (lowest numbers) timings you can find.

For OC'ing you will need to get the more expensive models of RAM, they have better components and will take less tweaking to run stable.
Then, there is no guarantee that any high spec/price component will OC well.

sygnus21 · 12 Dec 2010

Well said dave.

One thing I want to say though is most RAM running at 1600MHz (i5/i7 processors/1366/1156 chipsets) won't run on anything less then 1.6volts, or if they run, won't run at that speed stable.

I say that because most performance RAM (above 1066/1333MHz) usually requires the higher voltages. I know Corsair's does. I have my Corsair Dominator sticks running at 1600MHz, 8-8-8-20-1 @ 1.64volts. The specs for the RAM is 8-8-8-24, 1.65v.

Anyway I agree with your sentiment about learning and starting out small. And yeah, tweak town's GIGABYTE forum is pretty good.

Matts1 · 12 Dec 2010

Yes, the CPU was running at 1.25v.
And I think everything I need to know is solved. Thanks