Looking for a DDR3 Bios Configuration Guide for MSi P55 GD80 board.

[clocknane]

Hello, I checked the stickied post under DDR3 Bios configuration guides and my board is not listed. I am trying to acquire information about proper voltage, timings and w/e other information I need to properly OC my RAM. Here are my current settings/hardware


Mobo - MSi P55 - GD80 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Board

Processor - Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield 2.8 GHZ (Currently OC'd to 3.8 GHZ)

Power Supply - Corsair 850TX 850W ATX 12v Power supply with 70A on the 12v

Memory - G.Skill Ripjaw Series 4GB (2x2GB) 240 Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) RAM (Running at 1600 Mhz atm but want to know if I can go to 1800 range.

Video Card - MSI N275GTX Twin Frozr OC Ed. 896 MB

Case - Xclio 777 Black/Titanium Finish Chasis, ATX Full Tower EXTREME

Any help is greatly appreciated thanks.

[Syaoran]

I've got a similar system that any added info anyone could share would be greatly appreciated. I haven't done much OC'ing yet but it's currently sitting at 3360MHz (160 X 21).

i7 860
MSI P55-GD80
8GB (4 X 2GB) F3-12800C7D-4GBECO
Sapphire Radeon 4850 X2 2GB
Auzentech X-Fi Forte
SilverStone Strider ST850 850 Watt

[Tradesman]

You might be able to run at 1800, will depend on what set of Ripjaws you have, believe they have 4 sets ranging from CL7 up through CL9, will probably have to loosen timings regardless of which set, how much will depend on the set you have

[Syaoran]

I've done a lot of tinkering with my setup and might be able to help a little more now. At first, I wasn't completely sure what the correct configuration for DDR3 1600 was but it does seem to be 160 X 5 X 2. That worked flawlessly for me but I had also tried 200 X 4 X 2 like I had seen in reviews with various brands of PC3-1600 but my RAM will not stablize at that without a lot more voltage over stock. Then again, I'm running my memory at stock voltage in the following setup.

RAM: 175 X 4 X 2 = 1400MHz
CPU: 175 X 20 = 3500MHz

Voltages for my setup are 1.175 for the CPU and 1.38 on the RAM and have been stress tested under Everest Ultimate for more than 8 hours straight. I am happy with that so far and will keep mucking about with my system until I can get it as fast as possible without major voltage increases. I do think I should of purchased some faster memory though considering how easy these CPU's overclock. I have 8GB though in my system so I doubt any new memory will be on my purchase list in the near future.

One thing to note. Update your P55-GD80 to the latest BIOS. It helped a lot in stabilizing my memory over 170.

[clocknane]

I've done a lot of tinkering with my setup and might be able to help a little more now. At first, I wasn't completely sure what the correct configuration for DDR3 1600 was but it does seem to be 160 X 5 X 2. That worked flawlessly for me but I had also tried 200 X 4 X 2 like I had seen in reviews with various brands of PC3-1600 but my RAM will not stablize at that without a lot more voltage over stock. Then again, I'm running my memory at stock voltage in the following setup.

RAM: 175 X 4 X 2 = 1400MHz
CPU: 175 X 20 = 3500MHz

Voltages for my setup are 1.175 for the CPU and 1.38 on the RAM and have been stress tested under Everest Ultimate for more than 8 hours straight. I am happy with that so far and will keep mucking about with my system until I can get it as fast as possible without major voltage increases. I do think I should of purchased some faster memory though considering how easy these CPU's overclock. I have 8GB though in my system so I doubt any new memory will be on my purchase list in the near future.

One thing to note. Update your P55-GD80 to the latest BIOS. It helped a lot in stabilizing my memory over 170.

Ok update Syaoran: My CPU speeds are 206.4x18 = 3715MHz and my RAM is now 825x2 = 1650 MHz with 7-7-7-24 timings. CPU voltage on 1.35 and Dram Voltage on 1.6.. currently running idle at 34 degrees Celsius and about 58 on load while gaming. I think i am going to leave it like this and stress it to see if its stable although temp wise looks good.

[Syaoran]

Those are my speeds currently. with each new platform, I usually need to get used to the newness of it before I start aiming for a particular speed. I have the ECO memory which runs at 1.35 at 1600MHz (160 X 5 X 2) at 7-8-7-24. Although this motherboar originally booted the RAM at 1.65, I'd rather not run it at that if I can help it. The JEDEC standards for the memory state 1.5V so that's probably as far as I'll push my memory. Pushing 8GB is always more of a challenge as well. Considering what they're advertised at, I'm more than happy with the results I've had with them so far.

[GSKILL TECH]

Great job helping each other.

Syaoran, your voltages and overclock sounds great. The only thing I would suggest is lowering memory voltage as much as possible. If you are limited to 1.50V, simply utilize the extra voltage to overclock the memory.

clocknane, everything looks good as well.

DDR3-1600 is max default on the i7 860 processor, so it would definitely have no issues with DDR3-2000+. Depending on what you do with your computer, you may not need the extra speed. 8GB of DDR3-1600 CL7 is quite fast already.

Both of your memory packages should be able to hit DDR3-1800, so simply use the 10X memory mulitplier instead of 8X and you will be able to lower the BCLK to overclock the memory further. The 860 CPU has a max of 12X so you have plenty of room to play with.

Keep us posted on the results.

Thank you
GSKILL SUPPORT

[Syaoran]

I have to say that I'm impressed with G.Skill for actually having people that actively participate in their forums. (: I would say I'm limited by voltages, I just don't want ot shorten the lifespan of any of the components. My Noctua U12P SE2 also draws air from above the memory slots so I'd like to minimize the heat coming off of them as much as possible. If I change the direction of the heatsink, it will draw it's air off of the back of my 4850 X2 2GB and that air is a lot hotter so I don't want to reorient the heatsink.

I am very happy with the flexibility of the ECO series memory in my system. Instead of going higher though in terms of clock speed, I'm thinking of seeing if I can get the memory down to CL6. If I can't pull that off, I might try using the 10X memory multiplier instead of the 8X and run the system a little higher in overall clock speed.