Memory Timing Differences

[Afro000Dude]

Besides the (sometimes tremendous) price difference for low latency ram, what is the difference? Is cas 2 really that much faster than cas 2.5? And with ram that is cas 2, how much of a difference do the other timings make? Is there really a differnce between 2-2-2-5 and 2-3-3-6? I'm in the market for some ram and want to know if "low latency" is really worth the cash or if it is hype. Thanks 😀

 

[Actaeon]

Good question, I am interested as well.

I do remember some article comparing, and the timings did give improvements, but I don't think we'll really notice them ingame.

 

[jaeger66]

The only thing to worry about is running at CAS 2. All the others provide benefits that are barely measurable, let alone noticable in actual use.

 

[Batman5177]

on my computer, going from CL3 to CL2.5 gave me about a 1500 3dmark2001 increase. i imagine going from CL2.5 to CL2 will probably give another 1500.

real world difference has been none whatsoever in games (counterstrike, ut2k3, bf1942)

however, running ram at CL2.5 will probably give you about 10-30 more mhz than running at CL2

 

[Afro000Dude]

Anyone else know anything?

 

[Shimmishim]

Originally posted by: Afro000Dude
Anyone else know anything?

check out the cpu processor and overclocking forum

there are lots of threads about timings and fsb settings and what not...

i've done a post about it and so have many others...


good luck!

 

[Ketchup]

It depends on what kind of system you have. With an Athlon system, memory timings will play a greater difference in system performance than they will in an Intel system. On my Intel system, there is virtually no difference between running CAS2 and CAS2.5, but with the other timings, the lower the better, and the performance increases accordingly. If you overclock, getting the low-latency memory will ensure that your memory is not a bottleneck in your system. I notice a nice little speed boost when going from 2-6-3-3 to 2-7-2-2. Running 2-6-2-2 would yield even better performance, but my memory will not do it at DDR 433. Also, running 2-5-2-2 is MUCH harder on your memory than running 2-6-2-2, while yielding virtually no performance improvement.