Dual Channel RAM Question

[ZL1]

Hi

guys I have such a question, if I want to run 2 sticks of DDR400 in dual channel mode, do I have to buy one of those Dual Channel Kits (expensive 🙁 ) or can I just buy 2 typical Crucial (big crucial fan 🙂 ) DDRs and put them in dual ?


please advise


Thank you
Dan

P.S. also since Im asking about ram, if I want to overclock a P4 3 do I need faster ram ?

 

[xylem]

You should be fine ordering the Crucial, but to be safe you should probably order them at the same time, to be sure you get matched sticks. Also, if the cpu has a default bus speed of 200/800, you can overclock using pc3200, but to stay in spec in regards to the ram, you will have to run it asynchronously, slower than the overclocked bus speed (which is an option with mainstream p4 motherboards). On the other hand, depending on how well your ram overclocks, you may be able to run it 1:1 on a mild bus overclock. If the default cpu bus is lower, you will have an easier time staying 1:1 on an overclock.

 

[ZL1]

Originally posted by: xylem
You should be fine ordering the Crucial, but to be safe you should probably order them at the same time, to be sure you get matched sticks. Also, if the cpu has a default bus speed of 200/800, you can overclock using pc3200, but to stay in spec in regards to the ram, you will have to run it asynchronously, slower than the overclocked bus speed (which is an option with mainstream p4 motherboards). On the other hand, depending on how well your ram overclocks, you may be able to run it 1:1 on a mild bus overclock. If the default cpu bus is lower, you will have an easier time staying 1:1 on an overclock.

oh, so if I plan to push the cpu 500or so mhz higher I will probably need faster ram, and those are expensive, damn 🙂
well lets say I go with some other brand, because crucial doesnt go higher than pc3200, what brand would be best ?


Thank you
Dan

 

[xylem]

It is common for p4 overclockers to run the ram and bus asynchronously, since the default bus speed is so high. For instance, in bios you can set the (bus mhz)🙁ram mhz) ratio to 5:4, in which case you could run the bus at 250 (a 25% cpu overclock) while maintaining the ram at 200, still within its rated specification. Also, your ram may also overclock decently... Supposing your ram is stable at 215 mhz, you would be able to run the bus at 269. There are a number of different ratios for you to choose from, so you do not necessarily have to buy different ram to be able to get the overclock that you want from your cpu.

 

[ZL1]

Originally posted by: xylem
It is common for p4 overclockers to run the ram and bus asynchronously, since the default bus speed is so high. For instance, in bios you can set the (bus mhz)🙁ram mhz) ratio to 5:4, in which case you could run the bus at 250 (a 25% cpu overclock) while maintaining the ram at 200, still within its rated specification. Also, your ram may also overclock decently... Supposing your ram is stable at 215 mhz, you would be able to run the bus at 269. There are a number of different ratios for you to choose from, so you do not necessarily have to buy different ram to be able to get the overclock that you want from your cpu.

Hi

yes that does help, but if I match them at 1:1 the overall system performance will boost as well so right now Im sitting in my chair chainsmoking a pack of cigs thinking about what to do 🙂
I enjoy this alot, it takes me away from day to day life so I might just stretch and get pc4000s 🙂


Dan

 

[BudAshes]

I just bought some kingston pc4000 and am quite unimpressed with the preformance boost of running at 1:1 than 5:4. I have a 2.6 oced to 3.26 ghz(250 fsb) and running at 1:1 gave me only about 80 extra points in 3d mark and aquamark plus i had double the ram with the pc4000. So i really dont know if it is worth the money. If you just get ddr 400 and run it at low timings you will have almost the same preformance for cheaper.

 

[ZL1]

Originally posted by: Xafgoat
I just bought some kingston pc4000 and am quite unimpressed with the preformance boost of running at 1:1 than 5:4. I have a 2.6 oced to 3.26 ghz(250 fsb) and running at 1:1 gave me only about 80 extra points in 3d mark and aquamark plus i had double the ram with the pc4000. So i really dont know if it is worth the money. If you just get ddr 400 and run it at low timings you will have almost the same preformance for cheaper.

thats odd, THR says that pushing the timings is not even compared with pushing the speed of the module, Im reading right now about their tests of 500mhz ram with a p4 setup running at 250mhz and they said that their timing tunning was easity outrun by a small boost of only 3mhz in the synchro'd fsb
and it makes sense to me because you do have a much faster memory module after all, are you running them in dual mode ?