RAM Performance

rap33042 said:

@seekermeister:

If I remember right, and it has been a long time, the automatic tuning feature of AMD Overdrive inches the settings upwards until a crash. I believe this is normal. During the process it keeps checking system stability until those tests fail. At this point it should have retained the highest stable settings for your computer.

As long as you have it set to retain those parameters, it will "remember" between re-boots of the system.

I have been looking for a setting for it to retain parameters, and haven't found it. Do you know where to look?

There is a setting somewhere that will let you revert to the default system settings so you can always backtrack.

This I have found.

I personally don't like the automated option as it took way too long and didn't noticeably improve performance; I prefer to handle that manually.

I may come to the same conclusion as you have, but still want to try the Auto Clock, because it would be simpler.

Since your RAM speeds seem to be the issue, I would focus on them. Even though overclocking is not your goal, there are many very good articles on the subject that will give you the information you seek. Try Googling "RAM overclocking", for instance. There are even some videos at the AMD site where you got the program.

A good place to start to get a grip on this subject is here: Overclocking Guide - Overclockers Forums
This particular post has a section on "RAM and what it has to do with Overclocking"; just scroll down a bit and you'll see it.
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I'm not yet ready to tackle the task of manually setting all of this, manual or not. One needs to understand what all of those settings mean, before messing around with them.

Regarding the SPD tab in CPU-Z being grayed out:
That page is informative in nature.
It shows what the timings/voltages are for your RAM sticks as reported by the chips themselves.
FYI: SPD= Serial Presence Detect

Not exactly sure what that means, because it appears that the CPU controls the RAM, rather than the motherboard chip...if I understand.

Regarding Core vs CPU Temps:
I always look at the core temps. I think they more accurately reflect the temperatures of the CPU. By the way, 62C seems to me very low for an upper limit- I'd check that information again.

I wish your were right, but according to this and a number of other places I Googled, that is the max:

AMD Processors for Desktops: AMD Phenom

Regarding your dump file:
I can be of no help whatsoever. Sorry...

If you feel overwhelmed by AMD Overdrive, then the straightforward method would be to make note of the timings in CPU-Z, then go into BIOS and manually set them. If your computer won't re-boot then you'll have to return them to their default values. Beyond this, without having the computer in front of me, I don't have any other suggestions.

I think the best advice would be to read everything you can find on the subject. Particularly articles that relate specifically to your RAM & Motherboard.

Good luck!

This seems like good advise, except that I don't find Overdrive any more overwhelming that the BIOS settings themselves. Maybe I expect too much, but I have never had to do such things in the past, just to get things running normally.

rap33042 said:

@seekermeister:

I did a quick Google search for your CPU and found this:
"First and foremost we have to restate the fact that it is difficult to get accurate temperature readings from AMD Phenom II X6 processors since their internal diodes are way off the mark. Using trusted programs like Core Temp or AMD's own OverDrive utility will gave us sub-ambient temps at idle and full load temps that never exceeded 32C. Having said that, A.O.D does have a 'CPU Temperature' reading in the 'Board Status' section that seems slightly more accurate than the individual core temperature readings in the 'CPU Status' section. In our opinion, the above temperatures are still probably 10-15C lower than actual. Nevertheless, these new six-core processors do appear to run very cool indeed, we really couldn't feel much heat radiating from the heatsinks."

Source: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T & 1090T Six-Core Processors Review - Page 15

I am surprised by the low temps for this processor, but that's a good thing. :)

I found the temperature chart in that article particularly interesting, because the temperature range that it showed with the stock cooler is very close to what I got. I think that mine was ~ 2 degrees hotter. What surprised me is that it didn't improve any with my Cooler Master Hyper TX3. With what it showed for the Thermalright Ultra-120 extreme, I may need to buy a new one of those, but looking at the compatibility chart, it is not clear that it would fit my rig?

Ultimate CPU Cooling Solutions! USA

Here is the screenshot that you asked for. Is the preference button on the top right that you meant? If so, I assume that what you were speaking of is in settings...is the highlighted settings would you referred to?

What you say about core vs CPU temp makes sense, except that the temperature chart in the link in my last post appears to be using CPU temp, rather than core. I would assume that they would use the one relevant to the max limits...wouldn't they?

I did install CoreTemp, which seems to agree with AOD, as far as core temps go, but one thing that caught my eye is that it shows TJMax at 70 degrees, which is 8 degrees above max temp for this processor. That caused me to Google, where I found this thread.

TJ Max for a Phenom II X6 1090t? - Overclockers UK Forums

While I found no clear cut consensus, some expressed doubt about using CoreTemp.

While I admit that I haven't done much as far as tweaking the RAM, and nothing in terms of overclocking it, I still feel that there is something that I should do to get the system to properly recognize my RAM type. All of the diagnostics that I have used properly identified the RAM brand and model, but some of them have identified them as PC8500 DDR3, instead of PC12,800 DDR 3. All of them show a clock speed corresponding to PC8500 DDR3 @ ~ 533MHz, which I think would be = to 1066MHz after being doubled, which is the clock speed for the lower RAM category. I think that my RAM should be shown as 800MHz, which doubled would be 1600MHz as my RAM is supposed to be.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't feel that this is something that is to be done by tweaking or OCing. Is there some other BIOS setting required for the RAM to run properly, or do I just have some mislabeled RAM?

Wishmaster said:

If it were me, I would look in CPUZs SPD tab and see what the recommended voltage, and timings are for it to run at DDR3 1333.

Then boot into your bios, and change these variables so that the RAm is set to DDR3 1333.

Re-Test and see what results you get.

It may actually perform better.


It also wouldn't hurt to run a MEMTEST86 test, just to be sure the RAM is good.


--EDIT--
I remember this from a little while back. Stormy pointed it out. Might be worth a read.
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING AMD AM3 CPU's and RAM SPEEDS

As I mentioned in my OP, I did run Memtest86 and it passed 6 runs, so there is no solution in that direction. Also, as I mentioned previously, everything on CPU-Z's SPD tab is grayed out, so it is of no use.

I will check again later, because I have a movie playing at the moment, but I do not recall anything regarding a BIOS setting for the DDR type. However, even if there were, what would DDR3 1333 have to do with it, since my RAM is DDR3 1600?