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TR3X6G1600C9 not performing at spec - very disappointed


aph

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I am stress testing these sticks in isolation and they are not running at the specced speeds. Here are my settings:

 

BCLK - 200 (tested up to 218 stable in isolation)

Mem. multi - 8x

Mem. volts - 1.66 V

Mem. speed - 1600 MHz

Mem. timings - 9-9-9-24-2T

Uncore multi - 18x

Uncore volts - 1.35 V

Uncore speed - 3600 MHz (tested to 3910 at 1.35 V stable in isolation)

IOH volts - 1.2 V

CPU multi - 14

CPU volts - 1.2 V

CPU speed - 2.8 GHz (tested to 3.8 GHz with 1.2 V at 200 BCLK in isolation)

 

I'm an experienced system builder and test each component on its own. At these settings they fail Prime95 within 10 mins. This RAM is the only part which can't even perform to spec, nevermind beyond as every other component can.

 

I'm in the building stages of a new rig and dismantled my old one so it's very disappointing to consider being without RAM for however long the RMA process takes.

 

It's a little hard to believe because the reviews on NewEgg are all so positive and people usually post there if their sticks are not performing to spec. Based on those good reviews I am open to any suggestions, but I think I've done my homework and just have a bad set.

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From my understanding the QPI voltage & DRAM voltage should be within .5v. vCore shouldn't be an issue. I have run DHX 1600c7 (intel extreme spec) @ 1.9v on my system stable with a QPI voltage of 1.5v and vCore of 1.43v. I didn't want to push the .5v difference spec so I remained at .4v difference. It didn't phase my CPU through several torture tests and many hours of Crysis gaming, but of course I wanted those modules out since they are not the ideal overclocking modules for the x58 platform. If you are comfortable with 1.7v DRAM then the 1.35v QPI should be fine and shouldn't harm your CPU. Me personally, I don't want to install any modules over 1.65v although it can be safely done. There are other people that are using over 1.65v DRAM with the new x58 setup, and some have killed their CPUs and some haven't. The common denominator seems to be the .5v difference between vDRAM and vQPI. Keep it within .5v and it seems to be fine. I have also read somewhere that it might be a good idea to keep the vCore and vQPI relatively close. I believe my vCore vs vQPI is within .05v from eachother currently. (I hate trying to remember settings on my home comp here at work)

 

Hope this helps, Good luck. ;):

 

EDIT: Maybe the voltage drop on the DRAM is too much and therefore a BIOS 1.7v DRAM may truly only yeild 1.65v. If that's the case, then I would expect BIOS 1.65v DRAM not to be stable because it would truly supply 1.60v to the DRAM. If you really are worried about vCore you could just boost up the CPU multi which would need an increase in vCore. You could probably go for 4.0 or 4.2 with an increase in vCore if your cooling allows.

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The memory Voltage should be set to 1.65 Volts max and the QPI with these modules will normally run at 1.53 Volts. TH (D0) Stepping CPU'd do not run well with High QPI Voltages but I would try and load setup defaults and the enable XMP and test the system and see if its stable that way with out over clocking the CPU.
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The memory Voltage should be set to 1.65 Volts max and the QPI with these modules will normally run at 1.53 Volts. TH (D0) Stepping CPU'd do not run well with High QPI Voltages but I would try and load setup defaults and the enable XMP and test the system and see if its stable that way with out over clocking the CPU.

 

1.66 V is the closest to 1.65 V that many X58 boards can get because the intervals are .02 V. This includes the Intel DX58SO. Under load the actual voltage typically is lowered to 1.65 V anyway.

 

I will try a stock setup with the XMP profile, but my impression is that these sticks are rated for 1600 MHz and 9-9-9-24 at 1.65 V. There is no stated requirement to have the system at stock and I can only imagine what the reaction would be if you stated that to use this RAM, one cannot overclock the CPU.

 

You haven't offered me any suggestions to get this RAM running at the specs besides asking me to run my system at stock. This is untenable so I will be returning these sticks anyway, and the impression I'm getting from your posts is that this is not unexpected performance so they will be going back for a refund instead of an exchange.

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Loading stock settings with the XMP profile works fine. I am doing further isolation testing to determine where the problem lies exactly and will update this thread when I have more. In the meantime anything you can do to point me in the right direction based on the settings I posted would be appreciated.
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After much more testing I've narrowed the problem down to the following. Here is what it comes down to.

 

The memory performs just fine at 1600 MHz as long as the BCLK is low. If I reach the same speed with a high BCLK and a lower multiplier, it's no longer stable.

 

133 BCLK * 12x multi = 1600 MHz (OK)

200 BCLK * 6x multi = 1200 MHz (OK)

200 BCLK * 8x multi = 1600 MHz (Unstable)

 

For the last 2, the resultant CPU and Uncore speeds are the same. So this takes them out of the equation and points to the RAM. But it performs just fine at that speed when the BCLK is lower and multiplier is higher. I'm completely stumped.

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