Running DDR3 Memory Above 2GHz on the ASUS P5E3 Premium

[Apoptosis]

The Intel X38 Express and Intel X48 Express chipet can reach above 500MHz FSB with the right combination of Core 2 Duo processor, P5E3 Deluxe/Premium motherboard and BIOS settings. Some people have even reached DDR3 2133Mhz on Intel X48 based motherboards with the 2133Mhz Corsair XMS memory kit. Chances are that it would be able to reach these speeds or if it does it won't be stable. At those speeds, chipset and processor are primary bottlenecks, with not optimal BIOS settings right behind. So remember if a 2GHz and beyond kit doesn’t necessarily work on these boards that doesn't mean it’s defective. The Corsair TW3X4G2133C9DF memory kit for example was developed and tested on eVGA 790i SLI Ultra motherboards and was never set to run on any Intel chipsets. They still can run on the boards though, but you have to manually set everything and have a good platform to reach the 533MHz FSB needed to hit 2133MHz.

If you are trying to reach DDR3-2133 1T on the P5E3 Premium motherboards be sure to try the settings below if you are having issues. This also works on the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe, but the order of the values are different. For those that want to get the most from their kit be sure to mess with the DRAM CLK and DRAM CMD skews. Also remember to use only BLACK DIMM sockets on both the P5E3 Deluxe (X38) and P5E3 Premium (X48)

The most I have been able to get on my ASUS P5E3 Deluxe (Intel X38 Express) motherboard was 2080MHz, which is impressive. The ASUS P5E3 Premium (Intel X48 Express) is being harder on me, so it is still a work in progress. Here is a screen shot of 2080MHz in dual-channel on the p5E3 Deluxe:

corsair_2133_x38.jpg (105.46 KiB) Viewed 5460 times

Here are the settings I am using on both boards:

Ai Overclock Tuner - [Manual]
Ratio CMOS Setting - [6]
FSB Strap to North Bridge - [Auto]
FSB Frequency – [533]
PCIE Frequency - [100]
DRAM Frequency - [DDR3-2133]
DRAM Command Rate - [1N]
DRAM Timing Control - [Manual]
9-9-9-24-5-110-12-6
CAS# Latency - [9 DRAM Clocks]
RAS# to CAS# Delay – [9 DRAM Clocks]
RAS# Precharge – [9 DRAM Clocks]
RAS# Active Time – [24 DRAM Clocks]
RAS# to RAS# Delay – [Auto]
Row Refresh Cycle Time – [Auto]
Write Recovery Time – [Auto]
Read to Precharge Time – [Auto]
10-6-5-5-7-5-7
Read to Write Delay (S/D) – [Auto]
Write to Read Delay (S) – [Auto]
Write to Read Delay (D) – [Auto]
Read to Read Delay (S) – [Auto]
Read to Read Delay (D) - [Auto]
Write to Write Delay (S) - [Auto]
Write to Write Delay (D) - [Auto]
24-8-1-10-10
Write to PRE Delay - [Auto]
Read to PRE Delay - [Auto]
PRE to PRE Delay - [Auto]
ALL PRE to ACT Delay - [Auto]
ALL PRE to REF Delay - [Auto]
DRAM Static Read Control - [Auto]
DRAM Dynamic Write Control - [Auto]
--- DRAM Skew Control --- Menu In
DRAM CMD Skew on Chanel A - [Auto]
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM A1 - [Auto]
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM A2 - [Auto]
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM A1 - [Auto]
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM A2 - [Auto
DRAM CMD Skew on Chanel B - [Advance 150ps]
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM B1 - [Auto]
DRAM CLK Skew on DIMM B2 - [Advance 250ps]
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM B1 - Auto]
DRAM CTL Skew on DIMM B2 - [Auto]
--- DRAM Skew Control --- Menu Out
Ai Clock Twister - [Auto]
Ai Transaction Booster - [Auto]
CPU Voltage - [1.35000]
CPU GTL Voltage Reference(0/2) - [Auto]
CPU GTL Voltage Reference(1/3) - [Auto]
CPU PLL Voltage – [Auto]
FSB Termination Voltage - [Auto]
DRAM Voltage – [2.00v]
NB Voltage – [Auto] which is the same as [1.55v]
NB GTL Voltage Reference - [0.61]
SB Voltage - [Auto]
Clock Over-Charging Voltage - [Auto]
Load-Line Calibration - [Auto]
CPU Spread Spectrum - [Auto]
PCIE Spread Spectrum - [Auto]

[Methious]

That's a pretty good FSB, hit 500 or above and your in a pretty exclusive club. Have you tried to stabilize that with an 8 multiplier? (I've got a new e8400 I'm playing with on a Gigabyte EP45T-Extreme board).

I've hit 500 on a couple of the Extreme Water cooled chip set boards, but I don't run them for long that way. With the Mushkin 12800 I've got the highest I've gone it 1752.