AM3 memory overclock platform

[DrMrLordX]

I'm interested in knowing which board would provide the best platform for memory overclocking given that it must be an AM3 board. Obviously layout, power delivery, BIOS options, and board component cooling would all be points to consider. Other bells and whistles wouldn't matter so much, and if they could be avoided in order to keep overall board cost down, then all the better.

The target DIMMs are likely something in the G.Skill PIS series. It has been claimed that the DDR3-2200 DIMMS can hit DDR3-2650, so it would be interesting to see whether or not such claims can amount to real-world results. Apparently that was done on an i7 platform featuring a Biostar board.

DIMM clearance issues that may result from the use of a large tower HSF are also something to consider (Megahalems or Tuniq Tower Extreme, for example).

So . . . any thoughts?

edit: looks like I found the winner:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...=GA-790XTA-UD4

It remains to be seen if AM3 CPUs can handle memory speeds higher than DDR3-1866. From what I have seen/heard, they can not.

edit edit: upon further review, two MSI AM3 boards claim DDR3-2133 support (with overclocking). Either MSI is lying or AM3 processors can exceed DDR3-1866 speeds somehow. Do they have a multi higher than 8x I wonder? That appears to be the maximum memory multiplier on the Gigabyte board I linked above.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Okay, let me ask this a different way:

What AM3 motherboard has the highest available memory multiplier? So far I haven't found a board yet with a multi over 4x/8x (1:4/1:8). I'm also seeing some indicators that AM3 memory controllers don't like DDR3 speeds over around 1825-1866, though that flies in the face of what MSI promises on two of their boards (MSI 790FX-GD70 and . . . the nForce 890 one). Can anyone confirm or deny this? Is this a limitation that can be overcome by sticking to two DIMMs or maybe just one DIMM?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Alright, I'll narrow it down even further:

Has anyone tried any G.Skill Pi series RAM on the MSI 790FX-GD70? The DDR3-2200 and DDR3-2133 DIMMs listed on MSI's qvl list for the GD70 all run $240 and higher for a pair, which is a bit much. G.Skill's Pi series offers better speeds/timings for the money, but is unrepresented on the qvl list.

Also, has anyone gotten the higher-speed memory listed on MSI's QVL list to run at advertised speeds and timings?

 

[StrangerGuy]

The question is: Why would you want to overclock DDR3 so much? Buying top-of-the line RAM (or mobos) is almost always the worst performance-to-dollar ratio you can get, because CPUs are designed to minimize accessing RAM as far as possible with all those L1/L2/L3 caches.

I'm not familiar with the US prices but it seems to me there are better ways to spend the money.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I have my reasons, convoluted though they may be. The cost-inefficiency of RAM overclocking is well-known and not an issue in this matter.