Cannot overclock CPU and RAM at the same time

[NC514]

Hey so as the title says I can only overclock my RAM OR my CPU.

 

Full System Specs:

MSI z77A-GD-45 Gaming

i5 3570k

Corsair H60 CPU water cooler

2x4GB Samsung 1333Mhz

2x4GB Crucial 1333Mhz

Intel SSD

1TB HDD

GTX 1070Ti

750W Corsair PSU

 

Yesterday I got the 1070Ti, new PSU, and H60. I planned to overclock my CPU to avoid having a bottleneck with the new GPU. I had previously overclocked the RAM to 1800Mhz. I set that back to stock (1333) to dial in a stable overclock on my CPU. CPU is now running well at 4.5Ghz. I am trying to put the RAM back to 1800Mhz and it simply will not go beyond stock speeds. I do not recall exactly how I was able to overclock it before but it was not difficult and I have tried things I didn't have to the first time to no avail. Also there ISN'T an XMP profile option (this RAM was probably not meant to be overclocked at all). Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Edited May 13, 2018 by NC514
Typos

[Ace McPlane]

On 5/13/2018 at 8:21 AM, NC514 said:

Hey so as the title says I can only overclock my RAM OR my CPU.

 

Full System Specs:

MSI z77A-GD-45 Gaming

i5 3570k

Corsair H60 CPU water cooler

2x4GB Samsung 1333Mhz

2x4GB Crucial 1333Mhz

Intel SSD

1TB HDD

GTX 1070Ti

750W Corsair PSU

 

Yesterday I got the 1070Ti, new PSU, and H60. I planned to overclock my CPU to avoid having a bottleneck with the new GPU. I had previously overclocked the RAM to 1800Mhz. I set that back to stock (1333) to dial in a stable overclock on my CPU. CPU is now running well at 4.5Ghz. I am trying to put the RAM back to 1800Mhz and it simply will not go beyond stock speeds. I do not recall exactly how I was able to overclock it before but it was not difficult and I have tried things I didn't have to the first time to no avail. Also there ISN'T an XMP profile option (this RAM was probably not meant to be overclocked at all). Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Okay, so the first thing you to need to know is that your Ram overclock does effect your CPU overclock to an extent.

It'll increase temps as you increase the dram voltage for example just like if you increased the Vcore.

 

The 2nd thing you need to know is that overclocking ram isn't that simple.

You need to adjust timings not just voltage and frequency.

If you overclocked your ram before without doing a 24 hour memtest86 test from a flash drive, there's a very good chance you were never stable to begin with.

 

Another thing you need to know is that you need to double the number with ram.  1333mhz is actually 2666mhz. DDR stands for Double Data Rate. So that means that your 1800mhz ram overclock was likely actually 3600mhz which is really, really high for DDR3.. I really doubt even 3000mhz would be stable.

Though, it could be 1333mhz and already doubled if it's really crappy ram.

To be sure, fire up cpu-z and check what it says there.

If it says a number that's about half of 1333mhz then yes your ram is pretty slow stuff.

If it shows 1333mhz in there, then it's really 2666mhz ram.

 

You also really shouldn't be mixing and matching different brands or models of ram as that can cause a bunch of stability problems.

 

Anyways, it's normal to have to back off your ram overclock to make way for your CPU overclock but download memtest86, the installer that's for flash drives, install it to one and let that run overnight before doing anything else.

Then if you want to still OC the ram, follow a guide on it and run memtest86 each time you change something for at least an hour or two. Then do another 24 hour test when you think you've found your stable frequency and don't forget to learn about timings! It's only really the first 4 numbers you need to learn about.

 

 

[Spudbilly]

26 minutes ago, stateofpsychosis said:

Okay, so the first thing you to need to know is that your Ram overclock does effect your CPU overclock to an extent.

It'll increase temps as you increase the dram voltage for example just like if you increased the Vcore.

 

The 2nd thing you need to know is that overclocking ram isn't that simple.

You need to adjust timings not just voltage and frequency.

If you overclocked your ram before without doing a 24 hour memtest86 test from a flash drive, there's a very good chance you were never stable to begin with.

 

Another thing you need to know is that you need to double the number with ram.  1333mhz is actually 2666mhz. DDR stands for Double Data Rate. So that means that your 1800mhz ram overclock was likely actually 3600mhz which is really, really high for DDR3.. I really doubt even 3000mhz would be stable.

Though, it could be 1333mhz and already doubled if it's really crappy ram.

To be sure, fire up cpu-z and check what it says there.

If it says a number that's about half of 1333mhz then yes your ram is pretty slow stuff.

If it shows 1333mhz in there, then it's really 2666mhz ram.

 

You also really shouldn't be mixing and matching different brands or models of ram as that can cause a bunch of stability problems.

 

Anyways, it's normal to have to back off your ram overclock to make way for your CPU overclock but download memtest86, the installer that's for flash drives, install it to one and let that run overnight before doing anything else.

Then if you want to still OC the ram, follow a guide on it and run memtest86 each time you change something for at least an hour or two. Then do another 24 hour test when you think you've found your stable frequency and don't forget to learn about timings! It's only really the first 4 numbers you need to learn about.

 

 

I agree with a lot here except your understanding of ddr. 1333mhz ram is not actually 2666. In cpuz it will say 667 for each module. Two ram modules running in dual channel will run at 1333. Dual channel memory kits running at ddr4 2666 are each individually running at  1333. 

 

If you want that memory oc. You need to either oc ram first...then see how high you can go on cpu oc...or get your desired cpu oc...then slowly and methodically increase ram to see how high of an oc you will get. I have done overclocking in the past with old hardware....then mad3 upgrades...then went back in and wildly could not get the same oc again.

 

Maybe its due to degradation of parts or magic. Either way i would 3ncourqge you to focus on cpu oc and not stress too much about ram. 

[Ace McPlane]

6 minutes ago, Spudbilly said:

I agree with a lot here except your understanding of ddr. 1333mhz ram is not actually 2666. In cpuz it will say 667 for each module. Two ram modules running in dual channel will run at 1333. Dual channel memory kits running at ddr4 2666 are each individually running at  1333. 

 

If you want that memory oc. You need to either oc ram first...then see how high you can go on cpu oc...or get your desired cpu oc...then slowly and methodically increase ram to see how high of an oc you will get. I have done overclocking in the past with old hardware....then mad3 upgrades...then went back in and wildly could not get the same oc again.

 

Maybe its due to degradation of parts or magic. Either way i would 3ncourqge you to focus on cpu oc and not stress too much about ram. 

Misunderstanding.

I was saying exactly that.

If in CPU-Z it says 1333mhz, it's actually 2666mhz.

If it says 666.50 or about half as I said, it's 1333mhz.

That's exactly what I was saying.

Something must have gotten lost in the communication there

 

"Though, it could be 1333mhz and already doubled if it's really crappy ram.

To be sure, fire up cpu-z and check what it says there.

If it says a number that's about half of 1333mhz then yes your ram is pretty slow stuff.

If it shows 1333mhz in there, then it's really 2666mhz ram."

[Spudbilly]

2 minutes ago, stateofpsychosis said:

Misunderstanding.

I was saying exactly that.

If in CPU-Z it says 1333mhz, it's actually 2666mhz.

If it says 666.50 or about half as I said, it's 1333mhz.

That's exactly what I was saying.

Something must have gotten lost in the communication there

 

"

Though, it could be 1333mhz and already doubled if it's really crappy ram.

To be sure, fire up cpu-z and check what it says there.

If it says a number that's about half of 1333mhz then yes your ram is pretty slow stuff.

If it shows 1333mhz in there, then it's really 2666mhz ram."

LOL...so if he manages to get 1800 mhz dual channel memory oc and whatever timings he manages then each dimm module will be running at 900mhz.......

[Ace McPlane]

3 minutes ago, Spudbilly said:

LOL...so if he manages to get 1800 mhz dual channel memory oc and whatever timings he manages then each dimm module will be running at 900mhz.......

Okay, the OP really didn't give me enough information about their ram sticks to be sure either way whether it's really 1333mhz or 2666mhz.

I'm guessing 1333 though because I rarely see DDR3 over 2400mhz..

 

I'm trying to help the OP with a problem though, not get into a debate

so with all due respect, I don't want an argument so I'm not going to respond anymore.

 

 

[NC514]

I did try adjusting the timing after making this post but no luck. It is in fact 667Mhz according to CPU-Z. I inherited a ton of old parts from my friend and would not normally mix RAM manufacturers if he had not been able to run this system for over 5 years himself. Anyhow, I'm assuming that overclocking the RAM may not be necessary as I am getting the frame rates I'm used to in games but at higher settings (only a 60Hz monitor anyway). I was using the RAM at overclocked speed for multiple months without issues including gaming. I know that doesn't imply complete stability like a stress test would. All 4 of my RAM sticks are set to 9-9-9-24 for the common timing parameters by default. I tried 10-10-10-30 but was honestly just guessing (oops lol). What do you guys think, necessary to overclock? If so what should I attempt next? Trying to avoid a RAM upgrade. Can't bring myself to invest in DDR3 but DDR4 would require a new Mobo and CPU to support it. I appreciate your responses. LMK what you think. Thanks.