dual channel mode

[shohoku]

I have two pieces of OCZ PC 2700 DDR 512MB memory module in dual channel mode on my Epox 8RDA3+. What I'm disappointed is at no performance difference, whether I have one piece of memory or two piece of memory on dual channel mode. These two memory modules have NOT been overclocked. Will two pieces of PC 3200 256MB memory make any difference in performance??

 

[Corporate Thug]

if the processor is running at 333 mhz, then no it will not. if the processor is running at 400 mhz then it will. just keep in mind that dual channel does very with AMD

 

[mechBgon]

The extra bandwidth of dual-channel operation is usually not a large benefit on nForce2 boards unless they're using their onboard video (for those nF2 boards that have onboard video). At that point, dual-channel totally lights a fire under the onboard video performance. Switching to PC3200 will allow you more headroom to overclock, but that's all you should expect of it.

Whatever the case, run your memory at 100% of your FSB speed so the latency remains low.

edit: doubling your RAM is a worthwhile thing in and of itself, of course

 

[shohoku]

if the processor is running at 333 mhz, then no it will not. if the processor is running at 400 mhz then it will. just keep in mind that dual channel does very with AMD

So right now, I have Athlon 2500+ o/c to 3200+ and if I bring it down back to 2500(1.8ghz), then I should see some difference in performance w/the memory modules I have now??

 

[shohoku]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The extra bandwidth of dual-channel operation is usually not a large benefit on nForce2 boards unless they're using their onboard video (for those nF2 boards that have onboard video). At that point, dual-channel totally lights a fire under the onboard video performance. Switching to PC3200 will allow you more headroom to overclock, but that's all you should expect of it.

Whatever the case, run your memory at 100% of your FSB speed so the latency remains low.

edit: doubling your RAM is a worthwhile thing in and of itself, of course

I already tried to run my memory at 100% of FSB speed but it wasn't stable for some reason. Even if I bring up some of vDimm, it resets itself or crashes.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: shohoku

if the processor is running at 333 mhz, then no it will not. if the processor is running at 400 mhz then it will. just keep in mind that dual channel does very with AMD

So right now, I have Athlon 2500+ o/c to 3200+ and if I bring it down back to 2500(1.8ghz), then I should see some difference in performance w/the memory modules I have now??

I'm not sure I understood that. You should always have the RAM and CPU run at the same base speed. If your CPU is running a 200MHz FSB then your memory should be running 200MHz (PC3200 speed) for optimal results. If the CPU is outrunning the memory, it's going to starve for data at times, and it will always have a latency penalty on top of that.

Imagine you're in a line of people passing oranges down the line, hand-to-hand. What is more efficient:

[*]having the person on your right hand you two oranges, and the person on your left takes away zero or else three, so you have to operate out-of-sync, or...
[*]...having the person on your right hand you two oranges, and the person on your left takes two away each time?

~ ah so, grasshoppah...

 

[lordtyranus2]

Question is worded a bit odd, but I think you are asking if you should lower your overclock to run at 100% memory frequency?

I'd do it slightly. With generic PC2700, I was able to run that at PC3200 speeds. my CPU was 11x200, and memory freq was 100%. I'm surprised you can't do that as well. Bump VDIMM to 2.8 or higher and give it a try. Also, alter your timings if needed; I run at 8-3-3-3.

Otherwise, I'd lower my FSB to around 180 or so, the ram should definitely work then. But 100% is always better. I've tried both 100% and 80%, and my PCmark2002 score went down significantly.