RAM timing help

de8212

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Jan 2, 2000
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Can someone tell me what kind of settings i need in the BIOS for my RAM? This is Crucial 10th anniv. 667 ram. I know the voltage should be at 2.2 but not sure about all the timings. Is the lower the # the better or the higher (ex. 3 3 3 12)?

BTW this is with the eVGA 680i mobo and there is a pile of settings.
 

de8212

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Jan 2, 2000
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Originally posted by: yiranhu
Use rated timing for your Crucial... it's low enough already...

I have it set right now to what crucial recommends (I think). I see otherrs running this same RAM at DDR2 800 speeds and higher. I just want to get whatever I can out of it.

 

myocardia

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Jun 21, 2003
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Originally posted by: de8212
Originally posted by: yiranhu
Use rated timing for your Crucial... it's low enough already...

I have it set right now to what crucial recommends (I think). I see otherrs running this same RAM at DDR2 800 speeds and higher. I just want to get whatever I can out of it.
In that case, set your timings to 5-5-5-15-2T.
 

de8212

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Jan 2, 2000
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Originally posted by: myocardia
In that case, set your timings to 5-5-5-15-2T.

So CAS latency 5 is faster than CL3??????? Any good guide onthe net explining all of this?
 

myocardia

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Jun 21, 2003
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Originally posted by: de8212
Originally posted by: myocardia
In that case, set your timings to 5-5-5-15-2T.

So CAS latency 5 is faster than CL3??????? Any good guide onthe net explining all of this?
Be my guest if you don't choose to believe me. But, there isn't any system RAM on earth that can do 3-3-3-x timing @ 1100 DDR, no matter how expensive, so you can give up that dream right now. Higher speed=higher timings, or much more voltage, for slightly higher speed, with the same timings. That's a fact of life. Well, it's a fact of overclocking, anyway.:p

edit: Your RAM will do 1000 DDR (500 FSB) with 5-5-5-15 timings. We all know that. Some people have gotten it to 500 with lower timings, and higher voltage, others have tried that, and it didn't work for them. The only way you'll know for sure is to try it, then come back and tell us exactly what your set will do.
edit #2: Almost everyone who owns the RAM you have can do 500 FSB @ 5-5-5-10-2T with 2.1-2.2v. Other people can do 4-5-5-10-2T with the same voltage. Yet other people have it running @ 500 FSB, with 2.4v @ 4-4-4-10-2T, but that requires a fan blowing across the RAM. So, it all depends on what you're willing to do, how high your processor will overclock, and what your two sticks of RAM can handle..
 

de8212

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Jan 2, 2000
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No, it's not that I don't believe you. I'm just confused. :confused:

yiranhu said "Low is better (i.e. less latency) "

Roguestar said "DDR2-800 at 4-4-4-12"

and you said "5-5-5-15-2T"

So I was a little confused.

What I am trying to do is to ease into overclocking. i wanted to set my RAM up first at the best timings I can get out of it and then adjust FSB.
 

myocardia

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Jun 21, 2003
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Well, in that case, you're going about things backward. You need to see how your processor overclocks first. You do that by taking the RAM out of the equation. You do that by raising the timings. Once you know how fast your processor can do, on whatever voltage you're willing to give it, then you can start lowering the RAM's timings. And if you're in fact going for a max overclock, I can assure you that it will go much higher while running @ 5-5-5-15-2T timings than it will with 3-3-3-8.
 

prosser13

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Apr 10, 2005
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Generally:

Low latency numbers = a lower overclock but faster RAM speeds
Higher latency numbers = a higher overclock but slower RAM speeds (however the faster speed of the RAM and cpu make up for this)

This is why people 'loosen' (e.g. raise their latency numbers) to allow them to get a higher overclock as it gives you a higher overhead.