[W-Unit]

Hey guys, so atm I am a bit stuck in trying to get the most performance out of overclocking my Core i7 920 with Corsair XMS3 6GB DDR3 1600 memory.
If I set the BCLK to 200 MHz, then I get a 4.0GHz overclock. BUT, then I have to choose between a DRAM frequency of 1603 or 1230 (or something I don't exactly remember the lower number but it was in the 1200 range).
If I set the BCLK to 199 MHz, then I get only a 3.98GHz overclock, but I can then set my DRAM frequency to 1595, which is pretty good since its rated for 1600.
Either of these settings gives me CPU load temps of about 70-72ºC (or 65-67ºC; I'm not sure because two of the sensors always read higher than the other two), and I'm not comfortable pushing temps above this range, so bigger overclocks aren't really an option for me to fix this.

I know this is a pretty small performance margin we're talking about here, but I was just wondering if it's safe/stable to run 1600 memory at 1603MHz. I've never messed around with RAM stuff before and I feel much more unsafe with it since I don't know how to check their temperatures, don't know if they can reliably run at higher speeds than they're rated for, etc.

Thanks!

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RAM can be overclocked just as CPUs can. Of course, RAM typically can't achieve very large overclocks (500mhz+) like CPUs, but a 3mhz overclock should be no problem.

Of course, you will never be able to tell the difference between a Core i7 @ 3.98GHz and DDR3 RAM @ 1595MHz and a Core i7 @ 4.0GHz and DDR3 RAM @ 1603MHz, so it really doesn't matter.

Have you tested the stability of your overclock? Going from 2.66GHz to 4.0GHz is a huge overclock! Try running the CPU Linpack test using OCCT.

[stettybet0]

RAM can be overclocked just as CPUs can. Of course, RAM typically can't achieve very large overclocks (500mhz+) like CPUs, but a 3mhz overclock should be no problem.

Of course, you will never be able to tell the difference between a Core i7 @ 3.98GHz and DDR3 RAM @ 1595MHz and a Core i7 @ 4.0GHz and DDR3 RAM @ 1603MHz, so it really doesn't matter.

Have you tested the stability of your overclock? Going from 2.66GHz to 4.0GHz is a huge overclock! Try running the CPU Linpack test using OCCT.

[W-Unit]

Great, thanks for the help!

Well, as far as stability, I've been running it at 4.0GHz (1.35 vCore) for about a week now 24/7 with no problems. I've benchmarked several times using CineBench and, during this process (which utilizes 100% of the CPU), like I said CPU core load temps are around 72ºC max (Zalman CNPS9900 ftw). So with that I've concluded that it's pretty much safe and stable. Still can't hurt to do some more checking I suppose
Looks like that program wants to take a while to test... I'll run it overnight and let ya know how it works

Edited by W-Unit, 07 August 2009 - 12:54 AM.