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By SPD? HostClock? Ok, I admit I don't know what I'm doing here!

The Sauce

The Sauce

Diamond Member
KT266A system overclocked to FSB 145. I had the memory set as HostClock thinking this would run the memory at 145. Then I read somewhere that you should always leave it as "by SPD." Well i did that and my Sandra memory scores dropped about 50-100 points. Can anyone tell me what the REAL difference is between the two settings? If I choose "by SPD" will the mobo automatically detect and run my memory at 133 MHz regardless of what the FSB is set at?
 
I believe that if you set your memory by SPD it will run at what the front FBS is set but it will change the other memory timings to what is set by SPD (CAS, RAS etc. depending on the ram manufacturer).

Example if you had Crucial PC2100 and set your memory timings by SPD it would run 145 with CAS of 2.5 but if you manually set it your could run 145 with CAS 2, which would explain the difference in memory scores.

I know I didn?t write this as clearly as I could but I haven?t even had a full cup of coffee yet so the mind isn?t working too well but I think you get the point.
 
But even if you set it for "by SPD" it still allows you to change all the memory settings manually...I still don't get it.
 
IF your enable ?set by SPD? then memory timings, (CAS, RAS, Precharge etc.) will be set using the values that are contained on the DIMM regardless of what you set manually, (in effect overriding your manual settings for those values). I always manually set my memory timing to the fastest setting I can for a given FSB and still remain stable and most of the time it seems to benchmark higher than using the SPD function, (with the exception of an old MSI6309 board I have).
 
Like Slapstick said, allowing spd (serial presence detect) overrides all manual settings, there's a small eeprom on most memsticks that contains the default settings. Intel boards aren't happy without it, some cheap memory lacks the eeprom.

Some board/bios setups don't reveal all the mem parameters and manual setting can be counterproductive. I also have a msi 6309, AMI bios, and it apparently backs off on some hidden adjustments in manual mode- spd is the only way to go with it.

Hey, it's only two years old, not like my BH6....
 
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