Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

[derekjwhitten]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

2 hours on and it's still working well! Looks like you've cracked it - thank you so much!

I'll be heading to the computer shop tomorrow to get some more RAM. Is there anything you can recommend?

[profJim]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

I'm using 8GB of HyperX T1 PC2-8500 ram

• Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Memory Model KHX8500D2T1K2/4G
  $70 for each 2 x 2GB kit on my side of the pond, and they are excellent.

The 60mm tall heat spreaders can be a problem with aftermarket cpu coolers.
Hopefully Kingston is still selling similar HyperX memory with normal height heat spreaders.
My memory speed is set to 876MHz with 4-4-4-10 memory timings. YMMV

G.Skill memory kits are very popular in our forum and seldom have problems with bios settings.
My Mushkin memory is also excellent.

For best performance, buy a kit that is rated with 4-4-4-12 timings at 800MHz, or 5-5-5-15 at 1066MHz.
There is no real world difference in performance with cas4 settings up to 875 - 900MHz and cas5 settings at 1066 - 1100MHz.

If you have a good enough cpu cooler, we can help you overclock your cpu to 3.20GHz and possibly up to 3.60GHz.
Overclocking to these levels will give you a huge boost in performance.

With 4GB (or more) of memory, there are 2 memory voltage settings that will probably need to be increased.
Without these bios changes, you will probably have boot loop problems.

[derekjwhitten]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

Awesome, thanks.

I think I've found something similar at my local shop. The head spreaders look quite standard in this photo - http://www.cplonline.com.au/online-s...ategory_id=281

Would my motherboard have the capabilities to get the full benefits of this RAM? I don't want to buy something that is better than what I actually need...

I've only got a standard head spreader and fan on my CPU - not sure if it's enough to maintain safe temperatures if clocked?

[profJim]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

Data sheet for the memory you linked to: http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/khx8500d2k2_4g.pdf
This is similar to my memory, but with a standard height heat spreader.

My P35-DS3L is the low end member in the Gigabyte P35 family.
You should be able to run with settings similar to what I posted earlier.
This memory is high end memory that will let you run with optimal memory timings for the best performance.
Lower rated memory would require looser memory timings and memory performance would be somewhat lower.

If you are using the stock Intel cpu heatsink, your overclock will be limited to about 3.0 - 3.2GHz due to higher temperatures.
With a $40 - $50 (USD) aftermarket cpu cooler, you should be able to overclock higher.
There have been many Q6600 overclocking threads in the Gigabyte forum where EP45 motherboards were used.

From your cpu-z screen-shot, you have the more recent G0 stepping for your Q6600. As I recall, these were somewhat cooler running and often overclocked better than the original B3 stepping Q6600's. Keep in mind that there is often a significant difference in how well 2 nearly identical systems will overclock.

You can overclock your current system and see how high it goes before heat and/or voltages get too high.
You will need to do a lot of stress testing to ensure that your overclocked system is stable.
Use the forum's advanced search feature to find threads with Q6600 in the thread title and select the search titles only option.
Happy reading
Don't forget to always unplug your power supply's cable from the wall outlet before removing or installing hardware.

Set:

• DDR2 OverVoltage Control to +0.4 (2.20 volts)
• (G)MCH OverVoltage Control +0.1

With your current 266MHz bus speed

• setting the System Memory Multiplier = 3.2 will run your memory at 850MHz (with manually set 4-4-4-12 memory timings)
• setting the System Memory Multiplier = 4.0 will run your memory at 1066MHz (with 5-5-5-15 memory timings)

I recommend starting with the 850MHz settings.
Save settings and exit before your install your new memory.

Download Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool and create a bootable usb or optical disk for testing your new memory before booting into windows.

[derekjwhitten]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

Thanks for your advice :) I'm going to start with 4GB today, and see how I go. A little bit apprehensive overclocking since I've just got the computer working again, but I have some time next weekend so will read up between now and then and might give it a go.

Will definitely post back here before going ahead, because I'll no doubt have some questions.

Thanks for all your help profJim!

[derekjwhitten]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

4GB of RAM successfully installed. I started to tweak the BIOS based on the values you posted, but warning messages appeared saying the voltages weren't optimised. Were those values to get the most out of the new RAM, or was that also overclocking the CPU?

For now I just want the RAM set at the optimum values, and I'll consider the CPU later.

[profJim]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

The settings from post #19 are for best memory performance with your stock cpu settings.
Don't worry about the bios warning message using 2.20 volts; most DDR2 memory kits have a maximum limit of 2.1 volts.
Your memory might be stable with slightly lower voltage, as long a s you stress test your system.
Memtest86+ will often report errors when the bios settings are too far off the required values.
With new memory, I run the full 8-test loop at least 4 times, followed by running test #5 for 10 - 15 loops.
When I'm overclocking, I run shorter Memtest86+ tests, but then run several Prime95 tests for at least 6 - 8 hours each.

With stock cpu speeds, I'm comfortable if the following tests run without errors:

• Prime95 Blend test: 8 - 12 hours
• Prime95 small FFT test: 4-6 hours (optional, but recommended)
• Prime95 large FFT test: 4 - 6 hours (optional, but recommended)

note: be sure to enable Round Off Checking before your first run Prime95

Why so much testing?
Because data file corruption is possible if your system isn't stable.
You might need to do full re-install if you don't have backup images of your operating system.
Do I have complete faith in win7's automatic backup images? Not really.
What about using win7's repair and/or rollback features? They're good, but I still want my own backup images, just in case.
I have all my saved files on different disk partitions, including My Documents, downloads, media files, etc.

Keep in mind that each time you tweak your system's cpu and/or memory, you need to repeat your stress tests.
Taking shortcuts can and will lead to unexpected problems at some point in time.
Check out the Prime95 tutorial link in my signature.

[profJim]

Re: Phase LEDs and buzzing sound from internal speaker

The following is from the data sheet for your memory:

Each module pair has been tested to run at DDR2-1066MHz at a latency timing of 5-5-5-15 at 2.2V.
The SPD is programmed to JEDEC standard latency 800Mhz timing of 5-5-5-18 at 1.8V.

This means that you should be able to use looser 5-5-5-18 primary memory timings with 1.80 volts.
Using these looser settings, your memory performance will be lower than the timings I gave you.
Using the 3.0 system memory multiplier, your memory might be stable at 800MHz with 4-4-4-12 memory timings using 2.00 or 2.10 volts.

Memory voltage usually needs to be higher when you use:

• tighter memory timings
• higher memory speeds
• more memory (e.g. 8GB vs 4GB)

Post a cpu-z SPD single window screen-shot for your new memory.