PC2700 vs PC3200 memory

[Goi]

Hi guys,
I'm wondering if there's much difference between the 2 in terms of overclockability? Conventional wisdom tells me that PC3200 should clock higher than PC2700 memory, but I've read reviews of PC2700 using the famous Winbond BH-6 chips that outperform its PC3200 counterparts using the newer and allegedly better/faster Winbond BH-5 chips. What's the deal with that? Below are the links...

Twinmos PC3200 review showing it to be not such a stellar overclocker. In fact, it struggles even at 200MHz, its rated speed. It needs to be set at a higher voltage and a slower memory timing to be able to even achieve its rated speed of 200MHz.

Another Twinmos PC3200 review doesn't show it to be too good either.

Twinmos PC2700 review showing it to overclock way above 200MHz(219MHz default voltage and at the most aggressive memory timings)

Corsair PC3200 review showing it to be a capable overclocker(215MHz but with extra voltage). However, its using the older Winbond BH-6 chips rather than the newer BH-5 chips.

Kingston PC2700 review shows it to clock up to 205MHz, also using the BH-6 chips.

Seems to me that the older BH-6 chips are better than the newer BH-5 chips, and that PC2700 memory based on the BH-6 chips might in most cases outperform PC3200 memory based on the newer BH-5 chips?

 

[Alphazero]

Your hunch is right, there's really not much of a difference. The performance gain between DDR333 and DDR400 is also negligible. When buying new RAM, you can save yourself some cash...

 

[CrazySaint]

Not all PC2700 is created equal, some will OC to over DDR400, some will barely make it to DDR350. For instance, my Corsair XMS PC2700C2 struggles at DDR400, while Corsair XMS PC3000C2 or PC3200C2 will likely do DDR430+

 

[kgraeme]

The problem with the assumption that PC3200 memory should overclock better is that there isn't a PC3200 spec, so that memory is really already overclocked. It's a lot harder to push someting past it's already overclocked limit.

 

[Goi]

That's true, but isn't it weird that a Twinmos memory stick with Winbond BH-6 chips would fare better than a Twinmos memory stick with Winbond BH-5 chips? I mean, this is almost a case of "all other things being equal", since the memory brand is identical(therefore PCB design should be identical), the rest of the system is kept identical, the only difference being the BH-6 chips and the BH-5 chips. Theoretically the BH-5 chips should perform better since they're rated at 5ns(200MHz clockrate) as opposed to the BH-6 with its 6ns(166MHz clockrate) rating. But alas, that's not the case in almost everywhere I've read...

 

[thomsbrain]

i have corsair xms 3200, running at 408, CPU limited, no problems