A little confused about MEMORY and OVERCLOCKING

[pookie69]

OK - so memory has always confused me, so apologies if my post doesn't all seem to make sense.

Suppose i have a P4C 800FSB CPU, and a mobo that supports a max of DDR400, PC3200.

Now, would it be better for me to stick in some PC3500 or even PC3700 memory alongside the CPU, so as to give me decent headroom to o/c, or would good quality PC3200 memory, say OCZ, be able to sufficiently support my CPU o/c'ing efforts without hindering me?

Thanks for the help guys Hugely appreciated!
:thumbsup:

 

[PhoenixOrion]

The most significant benefit you get from overclocking is the performance gain when both the front side bus and memory bus are increased together at 1:1 ratio. To achieve the highest numbers and maintain this ratio, you will definitely need memory rated/tested at the highest frequency. Because of this, PC4000, PC4200 and PC4400 are generally used to gain optimal performance from overclocking.

 

[pookie69]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
The most significant benefit you get from overclocking is the performance gain when both the front side bus and memory bus are increased together at 1:1 ratio. To achieve the highest numbers and maintain this ratio, you will definitely need memory rated/tested at the highest frequency. Because of this, PC4000, PC4200 and PC4400 are generally used to gain optimal performance from overclocking.

Im thinking about o/c'ing a P4 3.0C, and o/c's of up to 3.6GHz seem likely. At this CPU freq, if the 1:1 increase in buses is maintained, wouldnt this effectively mean the memory would be made to run @480Hz? That surpasses even the memory specifications of PC3700/DDR466 - is that right?

>>> i suppose if thats the case, then you would want to get hold of some PC4000/DDR500.

PC4000 memory has sucky timings though rite? But when its FREQ vs TIMINGS, should one sacrifice timings for frequency? I heard that timings are over-rated in modern setups.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Yes, memory will be at 240Mhz (480Mhz in a dual channel setup). That means you will need memory rated at least at PC4000. If you want a safety headroom then go with PC4200 as the higher ratings are tested to accommodate more voltage.

PC4000 timings depend on the manufacturer. JEDEC standards for PC4000 is 3-4-4-8. The most important timing is CAS. I've read bench tests showing marked difference between CAS2, CAS2.5 and CAS3. But these are numbers that are nanoseconds apart from each other so "no big deal."

What you will experience or "feel" in real world is the nice memory bandwidth especially when performing content creation such as digital editing a media such as video files/picture files or encoding files into mpeg4.

 

[pookie69]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
Yes, memory will be at 240Mhz (480Mhz in a dual channel setup). That means you will need memory rated at least at PC4000. If you want a safety headroom then go with PC4200 as the higher ratings are tested to accommodate more voltage.

PC4000 timings depend on the manufacturer. JEDEC standards for PC4000 is 3-4-4-8. The most important timing is CAS. I've read bench tests showing marked difference between CAS2, CAS2.5 and CAS3. But these are numbers that are nanoseconds apart from each other so "no big deal."

What you will experience or "feel" in real world is the nice memory bandwidth especially when performing content creation such as digital editing a media such as video files/picture files or encoding files into mpeg4.

Cool - that all makes sense - thanks for the input

 

[PhoenixOrion]

You might want to check www.overclockers.com to see:

1. what are the typical overclocks by other people for your specific chip
2. how long they have been running the chip under those conditions
3. motherboards and cooling methods used

 

[pookie69]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
You might want to check www.overclockers.com to see:

1. what are the typical overclocks by other people for your specific chip
2. how long they have been running the chip under those conditions
3. motherboards and cooling methods used

Yea, i did so last nite after u told me before in a previous post about which CPU to buy

Thanks loads.