Q6600 overclock - quick question

[Deanodarlo]

I've got a media/workstation PC containing the following:

Q6600
1 x 2GB DDR2 800 RAM (5-5-5 timings)
Single channel GA-73PVM-SH2 fully integrated board

and wondered which is the best overclock settings out of these two (2.7Ghz target CPU speed as I think the 450W PSU doesn't like 3.0Ghz and above):

1. 1. Raise the 266 FSB to 300 and keep the memory in sync (2.7Ghz CPU, 300/600 MEM with slightly faster timings)
   
   2. Raise 266 FSB to 300 and run the memory out of sync at its rated speed and timings - 800

Which is best? I'm currently running scenario 1.

Thanks for anyones help!

 

[error8]

2. Why not keep the memory at its rated speed? It's not going to affect your stability.

 

[Deanodarlo]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm out of touch with modern systems and overclocking - I thought perhaps the mem being in sync and using faster timings might be better than out of sync and slower timings? I was under the impression faster DDR2 doesn't really make much difference over a certain speed.

Or is it better to have the increased bandwidth on a quad core?

Anyway, I'll have a good read though the overclock sticky at the top of this forum.

I want to keep the energy saving / speedstep features of the Q6600 enabled as this is a workstation, so I don't want to mess about with voltages or multipliers. I'm guessing I could run 400 FSB if I used a lower multiplier, but I'd have to disable speedstep I think?

If the general consensus is scenario 2. is the best setup, then that's what I'll do!

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you think your PSU is holding you back, then upgrade that.

 

[elconejito]

If you're trying not to fiddle with the settings much, then go for option 2.

If you wanted to tweak a bit, you can probably tighten the timings at the lower Mhz with option 1. Otherwise, with slower timings AND slower Mhz option 1 is losing any benefit you get from having them in sync.

 

[Deanodarlo]

Thanks for the responses.

I decided to stop being lazy and pull out some benchmarks in 3Dmark and various free benchmarking utilities that test all areas of the system.

Scenario 2. was the winner - faster RAM Mhz and 2T command rate is better than 1:1 sync ratio and 1T on a core2 quad.

1:1 seems overrated these days, certainly in a scenario where you can run your ram at a significantly higher speed than your fsb. My conclusion is go for Mhz on memory even if you have to run a divider when using core2 chips.