e6320 or e7200, OC options?

[9Hooker]

Both seem to hit the 3.0 GHz level pretty easily with little extra cooling.

I've got an Abit F-190HD mATX board. The bios doesn't seem to show the ability to set the ram divider. The board accepts 667/800 ram as well as 800/1066 procs.

I can only assume that if it's a locked 1:1 clock, a 1066 proc requires 800 ram... the 800 proc can use either ram, and the cpu would be underclocked if a 1066 proc gets 667 ram.

Is this correct?

Also, it seems that only the FSB freq can be increased without the ability to change dividers. This means if I overclock my e6320 with 7x multiplier, I'll be pressing the mobo/ram harder than I would with the 9.5 multiplier of the e7200 clock for clock.


My questions:
What speed ram should I be using if I plan to OC (using my bios that may or may not have a RAM divider)
1) the e7200
2) the e6320
How much difference, if any, does the extra 1MB cache in the e6320 and the 45nm process of the e7200.

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: 9Hooker

I can only assume that if it's a locked 1:1 clock, a 1066 proc requires 800 ram... the 800 proc can use either ram, and the cpu would be underclocked if a 1066 proc gets 667 ram.

Is this correct?

No not quite.
A 1066 CPU runs at 266FSB quad pumped and an 800 CPU runs at 200FSB quad pumped. With overclocking aside, with a 1:1 ratio, the 800 CPU would only need 400MHz memory. While the 1066 would only need 533MHz memory. All that at stock speeds.

Originally posted by: 9Hooker

My questions:
What speed ram should I be using if I plan to OC (using my bios that may or may not have a RAM divider)
1) the e7200
2) the e6320
How much difference, if any, does the extra 1MB cache in the e6320 and the 45nm process of the e7200.

1) For the E7200, 800 RAM is perfect. You could possibly achieve a pretty common 3.8GHz (400x9.5) overclock while keeping your memory running at stock. If you get lucky with the chip, you could hit 4GHz at 422x9.5 with a memory speed of 844MHz. That shouldn't be too hard on any 800 kit.

2) For the E6320, 1000 RAM would be necessary if you plan on trying to get much higher that 3GHz. This CPU would achieve 3GHz at 429x7. Also, at those FSB speeds, the motherboard becomes a factor in that it is now possibly a limiting factor in your overclock.

3) The extra 1MB of the 4MB L2 Cache on the E6320 would -- in cache-intensive operations -- see a 1-3% speed increase over the 3MB L2 Cache of the E7200. However, the E7200 (45nm CPUs in general) is on average about 3.03% faster than the 65nm CPUs at the same clock speed. Hence you will probably end up with a 'cancellation' of sorts resulting in them both being exactly as fast, or at least, not noticeably faster than each other.

Feel free to ask if you have further questions.
And welcome to the forums!!

 

[9Hooker]

So in my Phoenix - Award bios reads...

2.4 Advanced Chipset Features
Phoenix ? AwardBIOS CMOS Setup Utility
Advanced Chipset Features
DRAM Timing Selectable By SPD Item Help
x - CAS Latency Time (tCL) 5
x - RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 5
x - RAS# Precharge (tRP) 5
x - Precharge Delay (tRAS) 15 x - Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 20


DRAM Timing Selectable
This item sets the optimal timings for the following four items, depending on the memory
module you are using. The default setting ?By SPD? configures these four items by reading the
contents in the SPD (Serial Presence Detect) device. The EEPROM on the memory module
stores critical parameter information about the module, such as memory type, size, speed,
voltage interface, and module banks. The following items will be available to make adjustments
by selecting option [Manual].
- CAS Latency Time (tCL)
- RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD)
- RAS# Precharge (tRP)
- Precharge Delay (tRAS)
- Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC)

then in my cpu screen in the bios it reads:

- DRAM Spec. (CPURAM)
This item determines the DRAM frequency.

it doesn't look like I can change the divider (5:4, 3:2, etc)[or does it?]. so no matter what I do if I throw in DDR2 800, as soon as I up the FSB, I'm immediately doing more than 800? or using the CPURAM option, I can change the divider and run 800 at near 800 speeds with an increased FSB?


finally, e7200 and ddr2 800 should be all I need to get a good overclock (3.0 or less)????

 

[Cheex]

Are you saying that the is absolutely no option to change the divider???
I find that rather strange.


Secondly...
Remember that the stock speed on the E7200 is 2.53GHz, 3GHz can be considered as a mild overclock.
I would venture to say that all E7200s can do at least 3.4GHz.
Why stop at 3GHz when you can go faster??

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: 9Hooker
Both seem to hit the 3.0 GHz level pretty easily with little extra cooling.

e6320 uses more power at any given equivalent clock speed.

e7200 will get there completely effortlessly at stock voltage. With stock cooling, you should probably be comfortable in the ~3.3GHz range at ~1.25 (YMMV)

e7200 gets better IPC due to the 45nm improvements and the e6xxx gets a little better performance from the extra cache. They will generally be neck and neck at any given speed. Some apps will prefer the cache and some will prefer the wolfdale core. Overall this is too small a difference to worry about.

RAM-wise get DDR2-800 for e7200 it's plenty fast for the overclocking you're planning and CHEAP. e6320 @ 3GHz needs ~430 FSB. Some DDR2-800 will OC that high. Otherwise you need to move up a bit.

 

[Cheex]

At full load the E7200 will use 8.1W less than the E6300. Keep in mind that the E6320 and the E6300 is the same chip, except the E6300 has half the cache disabled. At idle the difference is even more in favour of the E7200.

Edit: If you want further information, check out the link in my sig.

 

[9Hooker]

Thanks for the advice. Just pulled the trigger on an e7200 and this RAM


Anyone know where I can sell an e6320 and some 667 DDR2? Ha!

 

[nyker96]

e7200 would be my pick: runs cooler, has sse4.1.