I have checked for about 45mins this morning to see if I could find the answer on my own about FSB settings for ddr2 1066 with a e8400 but I was unable to locate anything about this combo. (I'm sure there has to be somewhere though so I'm sorry if I over looked it)

Currently I have 4gigs of ddr2 pc-6400 @ 420 (840 fsb) and my e8400 @ 420. so a 1:1 ratio.

I found a great deal on the newer ddr2 1066 and thought I would try OC'ing the chip a little more since the fsb on the RAM would no longer be the bottle neck.

Unfortunately I have no idea what the settings should be for this to work as a 1:1 or if that is even possible. My tech level is pretty advanced but Im not realy experienced with overclocking so any help would be great.

Thanks for your time and any support you can give

Well I set the CPU FSB to 444 and everything seems fine, DDR2 is 888 with 2.2 volts.

Am I gimping myself like this?

The ram speed the manufacturer gives is what they are guaranteeing the stick will do. As long as it is stable is all that really matters. You can adjust the multiplier if you want to run the ram at a faster speed than what 1:1 will give you. I am not entirely sure what you are asking though.

I'm trying to figure out how to get the ram as close to factory 1066 as I can while still getting 4.0ghz from my e8400.

The system wont post with the ram any higher then 888 (straped @ 400) and the cpu fsb set to 444.

I have tried upping the voltage to the ram and cpu but nothing seems to work.

Don't set the ram voltage any higher than 2.2 volts. What is the cpu voltage at? What multiplier are you using? 800mhz ram is generally better for overclocking the e8400. You may see a bigger difference if you set the both the cpu FSB and ram to a lower amount, but also lower the timings on the ram. What are the timings at right now?

it also isn't necessarily the ram thats bottlenecking your system. Before you decide to get some new ram make sure that the ram is indeed what is bottlenecking it

cpu volts is 1.36 multiplier = 9.0

ram votls is 2.20 and timings are 5-5-5-9

I have an ASUS p5k / EPU mobo

Thanks for the help!

oh also I have the northbridge strapped @ 400 so it defaults the ram to 888mhz, I have 2 other settings for the ram but they wont work with my current voltage and settings.

I couldnt get my old ram to clock past 420fsb with the NB strap @ 400.

The new RAM is underclocked but I can go up to 444 (I havent tried anything higher yet, I wanted to get the ram stuff worked out before I bit off more then I could chew)

EDIT: Here is the RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220161

That ram has a very high stock voltage, so you may not be able to tighten the timings much. Before trying to max it out, try running the cpu at 420x9(~3.8ghz) and see if it's stable. Personally, I would rather run it at 3.6ghz and lower the memory timings than try to max out the memory.

that ram has an obscene stock voltage, you won't get much from it

what would you recommend for getting the best bang for my buck here ram wise?

machine specs:

e8400
asus p5k / epu

I'm not really that interested in OCing the video, just the cpu and ram. Also Im not real sure how to "tighten" the ram timings - is there a good guide around for noobs?

Thanks again

Get either 2 or 4gbs of DDR2 800ram. Make sure it has low timings (4-4-4-12) and preferably low voltage (<2.1v) as well. This way, you won't have to go in and change the timings yourself. If you find some ram on whatever website you shop at, post a link and we'll tell you if it's good.

Hope that helps.