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Overclocked Memory Breaks Core i7 CPUs
arcticstoat writes "Overclockers looking to bolster their new Nehalem CPUs with overclocked memory may be disappointed. Intel is telling motherboard manufacturers not to encourage people to push the voltage of their DIMMs beyond 1.65V, as anything higher could damage the CPU. This will come as a blow to owners of enthusiast memory, such as Corsair's 2.133MHz DDR3 Dominator RAM, which needs 2V to run at its full speed with 9-9-9-24 timings."
You are missing a point here. there are ram chips out there that are designed to run with more voltage then 1.65. So you do not even need to overclock for this to happen.
for example
OCZ Platinum 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 is a 1.8v standard. that's NOT overclocking
I agree overclocking and you break something your own problem but this product can't even use some decent ram as its stated to be used without blowing the CPU. At that point I would want my CPU replaced thank you,
Push what limits?
You're not pushing a cpu, it was designed to run faster! Just bined lower.
You're not overclocking overclocking ram at 2v. Its designed to run with that voltage!
This isn't an overclocking issue, its a design flaw by Intel. Not our fault you can't see the forest for the trees.
Run a CRC on your brain, sparky, you dropped a bit or two.
The Nehalem CPU is designed to run at JDEC Spec of 1.5V, but can handle 1.65 without being binned. Yes, the RAM is designed for 2V, but the CPU wasn't - use the RAM, take a chance on killing the CPU and voiding your warranty.
60nm parts have 25% more area in which to absorb electrons and 25% more dielectric between elements than a 45nm part, so of course they could handle more voltage without damage. It's a design flaw in material physics, not the processor.
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
1.8 volts for DDR3 memory is severly out of spec.
The nominal voltage is 1.5. Chips nominally operating at higher voltages are of *LOWER QUALITY* than chips operating at the proper 1.5 voltage.
The ability to increase voltage to offset more aggressive timings than the memory supports is the real issue. At that point you are getting no real performance improvement and the real possibility of random bit flips + additional wear on the memory/northbridge/cpu.
DDR3 and CPU caches are all about bulk data transfers and have zero to do about latency. Whatever silly gains you think you are getting by playing with timings are hidden by the nature of the hardware.
by adjusting the RAM voltage, you are also the voltages on the input pins of the processor. Overvolting an I/O pin can cause latchups, which basically is a short circuit.
Looks like there are enough missed points to go around. The JEDEC DDR3 specification (see JEDEC Standard No. 79-3B) explicitly defines VDD as 1.5 V +/- 0.075 V for DDR3-compliant memory modules. Furthermore, the max supported frequency is 1600 MHz. What OCZ and other like-minded manufacturers are doing is intentionally violating the DDR3 spec to enable overclockers. Higher frequencies can only be reached with higher voltages, so they screen the DRAM chips to find the ones that can be pushed the farthest. These are then sold to enthusiasts to enable them to "push the envelope" on their gaming monster. Specifications exist to enable interoperability between different manufacturers. Intel is supporting the spec. OCZ is not. It's hard to blame Intel for not supporting OCZ's non-compliant parts.