P67 + Gskill RAM timing issues

[Morphine06]

I have to admit I wasn't really impressed with desktop performance of my new system. Windows opened and task bar stuff loaded about the same as my last system. I started to wonder if I was getting all the performance out of my RAM so, I reved up CPUZ and checked out my RAM timings.

My memory specs (my MB is listed as compatible):
DDR3
7-8-7-24-2N
4GB (2GB x2)
DDR3-1600 (PC3 12800)
1.5 Volts
Registered/Unbuffered
Non-ECC

CPU-Z was reading (everything worked fine):
8-8-8-24 1T

I booted to bios and it confirmed what CPU-Z said, so I set it to:
7-8-7-24 1T and windows crraaaawwwwllledd.

I booted to bios and set it:
7-8-7-24 2T and the bios crashed after restart

I reset CMOS

I booted to bios and now it reports the RAM at:
7-8-7-24 1T

CPU-Z also now reads:
7-8-7-24 1T

Windows seems to take a little longer to boot all the processes after login.

(while writing this post I decided to set it back to 8-8-8-24 1T to compare, brb)

I set the bios manually to what it was before I started changing things:
8-8-8-24 1T (1N actually) v1.5

Windows seems to boot slower than normal, but now I wonder if I'm just imagining it. =S

EDIT: CPUZ confirms these are the settings, but I figured I should mention the DRAM freq is 800mhz (bios says 1600) and the FSBRAM ratio is 1:6. I'm out of my depth right now.

My system specs:
2500K @ stock 3.3
Noctua DH-14
RAM specs above
ASRock P67 Extreme4
PCP&C 750W silencer
HD4870 1GB Crossfire
EDIT: forgot to add 74GB Raptor

 

[Fallen Kell]

Ehhh... don't worry about it since you will be returning that board anyway.... Might as well get a full refund when you do and wait until the Z** chips are out.

 

[Morphine06]

Ehhh... don't worry about it since you will be returning that board anyway.... Might as well get a full refund when you do and wait until the Z** chips are out.

I...
You...

Forget it.

 

[Termie]

I can't speak specifically to SB, but I know that when I had my timings too tight on my G.Skill DDR3, Windows would pause a long time on the W7 welcome screen before getting to the desktop. It may have also caused some odd crashes (mostly having to do with the graphics card driver, but that's another story).

As for why you're having trouble booting at the rated timings, I'm not sure. Could it be that the frequency is actually higher? Is it really 1600? Did you manually set that in the BIOS?

To be completely honest, tweaking the timings from CAS8 to CAS7 is not going to make your W7 installation feel faster. And neither was upgrading to SB, unless you had a really outdated system. What's holding you back (and I mean way back) is that old Raptor. When I moved from a 150GB raptor to a Samsung F3, my system sped up (and also cooled/quieted down). When I installed an SSD, it absolutely took off. My C2D system feels every bit as fast in normal operation as my i7, and that's because they both have SSDs.

 

[Morphine06]

I can't speak specifically to SB, but I know that when I had my timings too tight on my G.Skill DDR3, Windows would pause a long time on the W7 welcome screen before getting to the desktop. It may have also caused some odd crashes (mostly having to do with the graphics card driver, but that's another story).

As for why you're having trouble booting at the rated timings, I'm not sure. Could it be that the frequency is actually higher? Is it really 1600? Did you manually set that in the BIOS?

To be completely honest, tweaking the timings from CAS8 to CAS7 is not going to make your W7 installation feel faster. And neither was upgrading to SB, unless you had a really outdated system. What's holding you back (and I mean way back) is that old Raptor. When I moved from a 150GB raptor to a Samsung F3, my system sped up (and also cooled/quieted down). When I installed an SSD, it absolutely took off. My C2D system feels every bit as fast in normal operation as my i7, and that's because they both have SSDs.

This is exactly the conclusion I came to earlier. I hit the wall of diminishing returns as far as CPU/RAM for desktop use is concerned and an SSD is the only bottleneck left to improve that environment.

I appreciate the response. Cheers.

 

[Aikouka]

EDIT: forgot to add 74GB Raptor

I think we found your problem . The 74GB Raptor may have been good in its day (nearly 8 years ago), but honestly... it's slow... slower than today's 7200rpm drives.

EDIT:

When you say you "set the timings in the BIOS", did you actually set the timings manually or did you turn on XMP?

 

[Morphine06]

I think we found your problem . The 74GB Raptor may have been good in its day (nearly 8 years ago), but honestly... it's slow... slower than today's 7200rpm drives.

EDIT:

When you say you "set the timings in the BIOS", did you actually set the timings manually or did you turn on XMP?

I'm not used to the UEFI, but it had a profile I could select which did match my RAM and was different than the timings it defaulted to on install. I tried that, but I also set it manually because I didn't totally trust the profile.

I think one of these is in my future. I don't need a lot of system drive space.

 

[Termie]

I'm not used to the UEFI, but it had a profile I could select which did match my RAM and was different than the timings it defaulted to on install. I tried that, but I also set it manually because I didn't totally trust the profile.

I think one of these is in my future. I don't need a lot of system drive space.

That should do the trick, although I think it's an older model. A popular model is the OCZ Vertex 2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227550. Some people have had issues with them lately, though, so maybe the Corsair is a safe bet.

 

[Aikouka]

I'm not used to the UEFI, but it had a profile I could select which did match my RAM and was different than the timings it defaulted to on install. I tried that, but I also set it manually because I didn't totally trust the profile.

I think one of these is in my future. I don't need a lot of system drive space.

I'm not sure, but I honestly don't mess with the timings after turning XMP on. I have noticed some odd reports of my timings on this Sandy Bridge machine in that some of them are reporting the wrong timings, but the BIOS is reporting the usual XMP timings. Probably a bad Gigabyte BIOS (surprise!).

As for the SSD, they can be quite nice. Using SSD-based systems at home make me wish my laptop at work had one. It's so slow!

 

[Morphine06]

The PC is running fine at 8-8-8-24. Perhaps a bios update would allow me to run the timings the RAM is spec'd for, but I don't expect any discernable gains.

I just got a great deal on an Intel X25-M G2 80GB SSD. ($140) Tax return just in time. =D