Question when Overclocking

[AMDZen]

I know that when Overclocking, you can do more with 1 DIMM then with 2, and more with less ram as well (2x256 vs 2x512)

So what I'm trying to determine is, how much of a difference am I looking at when overclocking a 3700+ SD or a 3000+/3200+ Venice with 2x1024 instead of 2x512. I am currently building a new computer and I have yet to decide on how much RAM I am going to buy. I don't think I need 2 Gig right now, but I will probably some time soon. So lets say for instance I get a pretty good SD or Venice chip that I get cranked to something like 300x9 which would be an effective speed of 2.7 Ghz on 2x512 Dimms. How much less of an overclock can I expect if I decide to go with the 2x1024 Dimms instead??

Thanks

 

[Furen]

It shouldnt make much of a difference (unless you get an extremely weak mem controller) as long as you're willing to use a memory divider other than the default. Your ram will probably not go higher than 220MHz or so, though.

 

[Elfear]

My oc stayed exactly the same when I moved to 2GB. I have a little less bandwidth since I'm running at 235MHz instead of 285MHz but in real world apps it's a pretty small difference. The extra capacity more than makes up for the decrease in bandwidth in some games. My cheap Patriot sticks will do 255MHz@2.5-3-3-6 timings which is a lot better than I was expecting out of 1GB sticks.

If you want to go really expensive than Ballisitix makes some 2x1GB kits that some guys are running at ~290MHz so you wouldn't have to worry about lost bandwidth. Of course, like Furen mentioned, your mem controller would have to be up to snuff.

 

[AMDZen]

Thanks guys. Do you know what chips the Ballistix your talking about use? Or maybe what your Patriot chips are?

 

[Elfear]

Here are the Patriot sticks I got. I believe these are the Ballistix sticks the guys over at Xtreme are using. Great ram but it's about $80-90 more than the Patriot sticks.

Here is a link to a guy with the Ballistix stuff.

Here is another one.

And finally a database for the top results from a few manufacturers.