ASUS P4PE and Memory?

[MarkFahey]

I am looking into building a new rig with an ASUS P4PE/L - P4 2.4. I know that specs on the board say it is rated for up to PC2700 DDR. My questionis would I benefit from going with faster memory like a PC3200 Corsair DDR stick? Will this board be able to handle this speed and what benefit would I get (if any) by uping the speed of the memory?

Also, can someone recommend a link to a breakdown of DDR memory speeds?

Thanks

Mark

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I'm runnin' that exact setup (my 3200 stick is in da mail 😉 ) and you should be able to run that 2.4@2.7@ no more than 1.55-1.575v as indicated in bios (maybe@default Vcore)@150FSBx4=600fsb, 400DDR best timings on that XMS3200 (if you go with a stick of 2700 you can pick 375DDR with that FSB) which would be a nice mild overclock and let you get your feet wet so to speak overclocking. The faster memory speed and timings and faster FSB will increase your system bandwidth, however the benefits are dependant upon wether your doing anything to take advantage of it. Some games, video encoding software, DC projects, ect. take advantage of the extra bandwidth, not to mention the 300mhz speed increase dosen't hurt either. So the real question is are you doing anything that'll make it worth the added expense? Otherwise the 2700DDR and CPU@ default speeds will be plenty and@ current pricing the 2700 is a safe bet.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I just found THIS during a quick search and there's a partII to the guide, hopefully it'll answer most your questions 🙂

 

[MarkFahey]

Thanks alot DAPUNISHER for the very informative reply. My main concern will be high performance in regards to Flight Simulation. ie: Microsoft Flight Simulator and a few others. MS Flight Sim and most others are very CPU dependant! Would the increase in system bandwidth with say PC3200 benefit CPU dependant games? I also use a few First Person Shooters in my gaming roundup.

Currently I am a novice to overclocking but am learning. I see in your rig specs that you are running an "Intel P4 northwood 2400MHz@2900MHz on 512 MB of Crucial 2700DDR" Zowie! - That seems like a very high overclock, are you using the default HSF? How are you achieving such a high OC?

Also what improvements do you think you will see with the new PC3200 stick?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The XMS series is gonna give you room to grow as your overclocking skillz increase so you might want to get it for added future proofing but the 2700 will suffice if the $$$ is an issue. My overclock is somewhat whimpy compared to what some of these cats are gettin' outta the 2.4B C1 steppings on air cooling so you may end up with a better chip than me 😉 I'm using a Vantec AeroFlow with 5700rpm TMD fan (pretty quite for the speed) with Shin-Etsu MicroSi thermal compound (I like it much better than ASIII) and the CPU voltage is 1.65v (as set in bios) these Asus boards still use a 2 phase power stepping so the actual voltage fluctuates between 1.632v-1.667v, my memory voltage is@2.7v at this time and the timings are by SPD on my Crucial 2700 to obtain the 403DDR stable. I also have the PCI and AGP speeds set a little higher than the default 33/66, BTW, this board allows you to lock them in spec so overclocking doesn't stress you PCI cards and Vid card too much, however, there appears to be a problem with it's functioniong correctly so the fix is inHere. As far as the 3200 goes, I'm just hoping to be able to use tighter timings and juice alittle more out of the bandwidth as I've determined the CPU is@it's max limit without exceeding the generally excepted safe voltage for the .13micron Northwoods of 1.7v actual so the ram isn't likelly to help my overclock, though that won't stop me from trying 😀 HTH 🙂

 

[DAPUNISHER]

BTW, I've read that@speeds of over 2.8ghz the +12v line on your PSU needs to be above 20A to help give the CPU the juice it needs so that may be holding me back, If you can affords it a PSU from Power&Cooling or Enermax with a 30+A +12v rating would be a good idea.