Memory speed upgrade = big performance upgrade?

[crimson117]

I have a C2D E6300 (from 2006 ) and 2GB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz.

What sort of performance gain, if any, would I get by increasing memory speed - perhaps going to 2GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz?

(I know I could also double up to 4GB for real cheap, but I'm mainly curious about how memory speed affects the system performance in the context of my stock E6300 CPU.)

Edit: in case it's relevant, mobo is GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3

 

[crimson117]

I suppose I've found my answer. Usually less than 1% gain, maybe 3-5% in certain gaming scenarios.

 

[Denithor]

The only advantage higher speed RAM give you is more overclocking room (if that's even an issue to begin with). With an e6300 you might actually want some higher clocked RAM but DDR2-1000 should do the trick nicely (you can hit 3.5GHz without having to overclock your memory).

I had that same motherboard and it sucked for overclocking. My first-gen e6400 would only do 2.66GHz with a voltage bump (1.38V). When I replaced just the board with an IP35-e I was able to hit 3GHz effortlessly at stock volts (1.32V).

The 965P-DS3 does not have any memory dividers below 1:1 so you need memory that will let you max your OC. DDR2-800 will let you hit 2.8GHz and as mentioned above DDR2-1000 will stretch it a bit further (if the rest of your system will take it).

G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 $40
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1000 $50
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-1066 $45

Not sure why the 1066 kit is cheaper than the 1000 other than maybe it's CAS6 versus CAS5 for the slightly slower kit. Whatever.