Originally posted by: giorgione
Hello. I have a few questions about RAM. Let's assume dimms with the following properties:
466MHz 3-4-4-8-1
400MHz 2-2-2-6-1
a) Which RAM will perform better when used in a 400DDR motherboard without overclokging? The one with the lower latency settings?
b) Can the 400MHz RAM be used for overclocking? To what limit can it be pushed?
I'm trying to figure out what RAM to get. I might want to experiment with overclocking...
In regards to question A, it would depend on the motherboard chipset you're using. Most nVIDIA and Intel motherboards perform best when the FSB of the CPU and the speed of the memory are run in synchronous mode. Therefore, you might not see any improvements by using a faster memory module such as the 466MHz one.
In that case, it would be better to use the DDR400 module with a lower and faster timings.
For VIA-based motherboards, however, faster memory does increase the overall speed of your system although the memory is being run in asynchronous mode.
So, it all depends on the type of motherboard you're using.
For question B, the overclockability of a DDR400 module would depend on the manufacturer and the type of cooling you have. If you stick on some copper heatsinks, you could probably squeeze out more speed out of the DDR400 memory. Also, if quality memory is being used, then you're chances of reaching a higher limit from your memory will be increased.
So, it's best to avoid cheap, generic RAMs and go for the big brand names like Corsair, Kingston, and OCZ. I think you should stay from Geil because their quality has not been consistent as the others'.
