Help with OCZ EB Platinum!

[DogSoldier]

Aight, I have the new EB Platinum installed and am very dissapointed. It won't run at the advertised 3-3-2-8 at 250Mhz. I've been at it all day trying to get it working. I've tried a number of things.

I've set the DDR voltage from 1.55 - 1.85
I've set the AGP Voltage from 1.5 - 1.6
I've fiddled with the Spread Spectrum and MPS settings
I ran the RAM at defaults SPD and divider in the BIOS and it gave me 5:4 3-4-4-8 in CPU-Z Memory, even tho CPU-Z SPD shows the proper 3-3-2-8
I've swapped the 2 sticks twice and tried running them from the secondary slots
I updated the BIOS from 0019 to 0021
I reinstalled the old sticks and set everything back to my old settings, powered down and unplugged the power cord. Removed the old sticks, put in the new sticks and than cleared the RTC (I learned that on a different forum)and the EB still wasn't detected by BIOS SPD as 3-3-2-8

I was able to get it running at 252Mhz 1:1 3-3-3-8 and Sisoft Memory Bandwidth benches lower by about 400 MB/s (Compared to my old OCZ Gold) but I never tested for stability as I was frustrated.

During one of the reboots, something stranger than usual happened, I got a weird DOS message about Samsung Bios settings and it was looking for a new BIOS in the floppy and CD. I didn't think it was the RAM because I understood they are made of Infineon, not Samsung chips.

I think the problems stem from three things, the RAM is in fact, bad. I need a bigger PSU (But it ran fine with my OCZ Gold at 2.85V) or the 865P chipset and memory controller just can't handle this new DDR. My system is comprised of a P4P800 865P chipset, 2.4Ghz P4C at 3.16Ghz (260Mhz), Enermax FS tower cooled by a total of 8 fans (CPU, 9800P, 2xPower,4xCase) Enermax EG365P-VE (350 W) PSU, 2xWD IDE HDs, 1 CDROM, 1 Floppy.

Now, I sort of gave up running the Platinum at 250 so I'm currently using a 5:4 divider (212Mhz), 2.5-3-3-8 timings and have overclocked the CPU past my old 260Mhz, it's now running at 265Mhz stable. Current temps Folding are CPU=45C/113F, MB=38C/100F and the room temp is 84F

HELP!!!!!!

[primesuspect]

Dog, I'm moving this to OCZ support, because you'll probably get better help there.

[DogSoldier]

Mucho gracias

[fingerflinger]

One general thing about overclocking for the good of the order: Increasing the front side bus will "overclock" other parts of the system as well, in a sense. I don't use OCZ memory, but I would try running the memory at spec with a lower CPU speed? Every time I upgrade components, I search for a brand new stable OC.

On a side-note I'm running almost the exact same setup as you are DogSoldier!

[DogSoldier]

fingerflinger, I understand that increasing the FSB will increase other parts of my system, that's why my AGP/PCI is locked to 66/33 and has been for awhile. I've been running OCZ Gold 2x256 PC4000 (OCZ500512ELDCGE-K) at 260Mhz 1:1 2.5-4-4-7 reliably for over 2 years. The new memory is OCZ Platinum EB PC4000 2GB 2X1GB DDR500 CL3-3-2-8 so it's rated to run at 250Mhz, that is the default speed. The CPU is great, it can run at up to 266Mhz without problem. I think it may be the PSU as the computer will reboot when I'm trying to clock the BIOS to 250Mhz and the ram to 3-3-2-8.

Yeah, the P4P800 is an awesome board and it's given me very little problems in the time I've owned it. But it is 3 year old technology, so I've been looking at newer, faster systems. I understand Intel CPUs are falling in price so I'm looking at upgrading, just wishful thinking at this point.

[fingerflinger]

I was pretty sure you already knew that, but I just thought I'd offer my procedure. Man, the P4P800 has saved my butt a couple of times when I first started overclocking: I was a bit overzealous. Sorry I can't help with your problem, though.

[TheLostSwede]

Dog,

Do you see any improvements? Chances are that your ram won't do as good on intel as on AMD. Try 3-3-3-8 timings, play with the "weird" timings and run memtest. Start at 240 and see where you end up.

[DogSoldier]

Hey Mack, I appreciate the prompt reply. Yes, the performance was much better with the 2x1048 sticks in there, but the RAM wouldn't do 3-4-4-8 at 254Mhz much less the default 3-3-2-8 at 250Mhz it claims as default, so I called the NCIX rma department and the tech graciously admitted (A newbie, obviously…) that they've been getting a lot of returns of this product, and that it was evidently a bad batch. So I returned it last week and asked specifically for the XTC model as replacement, as I didn’t want to risk getting another bad kit of EB. I also gave myself hives reading the reseller ratings for NCIX, but that’s another story. I’m expecting the new ram, hopefully, before Friday. The saga of the search for RAM continues….

BTW mack, it is ok to admit that maybe, just maybe, the problem was bad OCZ ram and not the Intel platform. :nudge:

[TheLostSwede]

There will always be a bad kit or stick now and then. It's just impossible to have zero returns. Your kit only had some issues last November-December and sould work very well now. I'm glad you are getting sorted out :)

[DogSoldier]

Well, looks like 3rd times the charm... I have 2x1048 OCZ XTC Platinum running at 260Mhz 3-3-3-8 and everythings cool. Folding a huge 31 hour Tinker, temps and voltages are fine, nothing spotty at all. Multitasking is a breeze. I'm very happy with this RAM and it's gonna prove its value in the coming weeks I'm sure.