Tight Timings vs High Clock Frequencies

[Kent10]

Hi:

Thanks to everyone for advice on my new build which I am expecting in the next couple of days. I am very excited though I'll be out of town and won't be able to put it together for a few days. I am planning on overclocking my Q6600 G0 and I have a question about the memory overclock. I have searched quite a bit on line and am still confused. Perhaps it will make sense once I have hands on experience. Reviews of the Crucial memory I have say it can reach the following speeds.

3-3-3-8 @800MHz, 4-4-4-12 @1066MHz or 5-5-5-12 @1200MHz

I know once I begin the overclock process I will have to experiment with the frequency and the timings but considering my memory might be able to achieve the 3 possibilities above, I am wondering which is preferred (the tight timings or the higher frequencies) or are these all about the same. Which would I choose? Thanks for helping me understand. Kent

[Capper]

don't worry as much about the timings and RAM latencies, per say......just run your RAM at the best possible timings at the highest clock speed.

[Telexen]

In almost all reasonable comparisons a higher clock speed will give you the better performance in most applications. You might score more in memory bandwidth with much tighter timings, but what does that *really* get you over higher clock speeds.


Also, if I remember correctly, the Q6600 is a 1066MHz FSB CPU...so those CAS3 timings at 800mhz is a moot point. You'll be at 1066MHz stock.

[Capper]

Originally Posted by Telexen

In almost all reasonable comparisons a higher clock speed will give you the better performance in most applications. You might score more in memory bandwidth with much tighter timings, but what does that *really* get you over higher clock speeds.


Also, if I remember correctly, the Q6600 is a 1066MHz FSB CPU...so those CAS3 timings at 800mhz is a moot point. You'll be at 1066MHz stock.

Thats simply not true, he can run that memory at DDR2-800 @ 3 -3-3-9. It doesn't matter what the FSB is run at (the processor is 1066). Ideally, they say that you'll get the best results from running your memory and CPU at a 1:1 divider, but really, memory speeds and latencies mean little in the grand scheme of things.

This is why all motherboard have a memory divider, so people can tinker with what they think is the best solution. If you can run DDR2-1066 @ 4-4-4-12, with the divider at 1:1 (Say, you aren't overclocking, then you are fine.......if you are overclocking, and can hit 1200FSB with the CPU, then try 5-5-5-15 @ DDR2-1200, it'll increase your bandwidth if nothing else.

[Telexen]

I didn't say it couldn't run at 800MHz. I said the timings the RAM will run at that speed are a moot point. I can't think of any sane reason to lower your memory clocks from the stock FSB speed on a stable system.

[Capper]

I'm not seeing where he says the default memory speed is. I'll also say that the memory speed really isn't going to matter, I still run a kit of OCZ Reaper DDR2-800 @ 4-3-3-12, and to be honest the 800MHz clockspeed doesn't affect performance at all

If he has a kit of DDR2-1066 thats rated at 5-5-5-15, then theres no harm at all, and he might see a modest gain in some benchmarks running it slightly underclocked with tighter timings.

As I said, memory timings matter little i n the grand scheme of things. If you are into benchmarking, tinker with different settings and letencies to get the best results possible.

[Kent10]

This is the memory I have and the defaults.
Speed DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Cas Latency 5
Timing 5-5-5-15
Voltage 2.2V

[Capper]

I doubt that kit will do DDR2-1200 stable, I also think it'll struggle with DDR2-1066 at 4-4-4-12, so I'd concentrate on the best timings possible at 5-5-5-15, which will probably be between DDR2-1085 and 1100, if I'm correct

[Kent10]

Hi Capper:

In your review HardwareLogic - Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 Tracer Memory Kit Review you got the memory to 1225 with 5-5-5-15 timings. "Loosening up the timings to 5-5-5-15-2T, I was able to push the Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500 Tracer 2GB Memory Kit all the way to DDR2-1225.......an amazing 159MHz over the rated speed, while never exceeding the listed voltage of 2.2V." I realize each stick of memory is different and other sticks might not get this high. Was your 1225 stable? I can go as high as 2.2V without worry, right, but I shouldn't go higher than that. I know some do but I assume unless there is extreme cooling it would not be safe for the memory. I will be using the GeminII cooling system.

Thanks again for your help. I think once I get everything set up and can run the benchmarks I will understand how it all works.

[Yellowhello]

HERE'S <--(link) a pretty good article about it. I'm not sure what's its trying to say... Maybe more memory is better than faster memory?