Should I upgrade my Corsair CMX512 3200LL x 2 with Dual Channel PC-4000 Geil Sticks?

[Detoyminador_]

I'm currently got my P4 3.4 @ 3.8Ghz (224 fsb, mem ratio 5:4) @ 1.6v and the corsair memory running in my Abit ic7-max3 m/b in the dual channel mode. My sisoft mem tests are int buff'd 4887 mb/s float buff'd 4894 mb/s. Would I get any benifit by upgrading the memory? Would I notice a big speed increase? Then will it run the mem ratio at 1:1?

 

[Goi]

PC4000 memory is rated to run at 250MHz DDR, so yes you would be able to run at 1:1 mem ratio. Whether you notice a big speed increase is another matter though.

 

[Yanagi]

if your FSB would be higher definately.. but since your fsb isnt THAT much higher i would stick with what you have

 

[jacktesterson]

Originally posted by: Yanagi
if your FSB would be higher definately.. but since your fsb isnt THAT much higher i would stick with what you have

 

[oldfart]

No. That is some very nice ram you have now. You would not see any noticeable speed increase, it may actually be slower if you have to go to loose timings. What timings do you run now?

BTW, 3.4 @ 3.8? nice :beer:

 

[Detoyminador_]

2-6-3-2, I've just bumped it up a couple of fsb, it's at 3844.69Mhz in wcpuid. Ran prime95 for a couple of hours with no dramas with temps hitting 55c, games are running great too, no lock-ups.

 

[JBT]

Don't bother. The Ram you have now is great.

 

[oldfart]

Originally posted by: Detoyminador_
2-6-3-2, I've just bumped it up a couple of fsb, it's at 3844.69Mhz in wcpuid. Ran prime95 for a couple of hours with no dramas with temps hitting 55c, games are running great too, no lock-ups.

Nice overclock. Whatare you using for cooling? How much Vcore? 2-6-3-2 is pretty good. You wont get that with new ram. Keep what you have.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: Detoyminador_
I'm currently got my P4 3.4 @ 3.8Ghz (224 fsb, mem ratio 5:4) @ 1.6v and the corsair memory running in my Abit ic7-max3 m/b in the dual channel mode. My sisoft mem tests are int buff'd 4887 mb/s float buff'd 4894 mb/s. Would I get any benifit by upgrading the memory? Would I notice a big speed increase? Then will it run the mem ratio at 1:1?

Intel systems benefit greatly with a high 1:1 bus by using faster ram.

With your current setup, you will not notice big speed increase on everyday desktop applications. You will notice big difference in drop on your video encoding time with higher bus. Other digital content creation applies here.

Yes, with PC4000 you can achieve 1:1 ratio as long as the other components in your setup do not hinder you. Your CPU should be okay since you already have OC at that level voltage and a good alpha h/s.

 

[oldfart]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion

Originally posted by: Detoyminador_
I'm currently got my P4 3.4 @ 3.8Ghz (224 fsb, mem ratio 5:4) @ 1.6v and the corsair memory running in my Abit ic7-max3 m/b in the dual channel mode. My sisoft mem tests are int buff'd 4887 mb/s float buff'd 4894 mb/s. Would I get any benifit by upgrading the memory? Would I notice a big speed increase? Then will it run the mem ratio at 1:1?

Intel systems benefit greatly with a high 1:1 bus by using faster ram.

With your current setup, you will not notice big speed increase on everyday desktop applications. You will notice big difference in drop on your video encoding time with higher bus. Other digital content creation applies here.

Yes, with PC4000 you can achieve 1:1 ratio as long as the other components in your setup do not hinder you. Your CPU should be okay since you already have OC at that level voltage and a good alpha h/s.

All the testing Thugsrook, Duvie, myself, others have shown otherwise. 1:1 and 5:4 are almost identical. If you have to run loose timings @ 1:1, it can actually be slower. Tight timings are more important than mem speed. The difference in real world apps are negligible. The only place you will notice a difference is in useless synthetic benches like SiSoft. I've seen several posts of people who did the "upgrade" to go to 1:1 and gained no performance or actually lost some due to the slower timings.

You have ram that has decent timings now. Keep it.

 

[kef7]

I'm in a similar situation:

I want to hit 250fsb with 1:1 or even 5:4 but cannot do so with my 2*512 xms3200c2pro and 2.4c on a lanparty 875b. (240fsb @ 5:4 is stable, 220fsb @ 1:1 is stable)

Reading this thread is making pause and reconsider whether buying more expensive ram (thinking either ocz 3700eb or xms4000) that might provide only a minimal improvement is really worth it.

 

[oldfart]

Originally posted by: kef7
I'm in a similar situation:

I want to hit 250fsb with 1:1 or even 5:4 but cannot do so with my 2*512 xms3200c2pro and 2.4c on a lanparty 875b. (240fsb @ 5:4 is stable, 220fsb @ 1:1 is stable)

Reading this thread is making pause and reconsider whether buying more expensive ram (thinking either ocz 3700eb or xms4000) that might provide only a minimal improvement is really worth it.

NEVER give up CPU speed for mem speed. It is FAR more important. By going to 220 FSB, you are giving up 240 Mhz of CPU speed. No amount of memory tweaking will make that much difference. Run 240 FSB, 5:4 and tweak your memory timings for lowest latency possible.

 

[kef7]

oldfart--thanks for chiming in (and sorry to the OP for this minor thread hijack)

IIRC 240fsb 5:4 is stable with 2-3-3-6 timings. I'm trying to resist buying new ram but the paypal is burning a hole in my pocket; if anything maybe I'll just get some pc3200 for my mobile celeron system and o/c it higher.

 

[oldfart]

Originally posted by: kef7
oldfart--thanks for chiming in (and sorry to the OP for this minor thread hijack)

IIRC 240fsb 5:4 is stable with 2-3-3-6 timings. I'm trying to resist buying new ram but the paypal is burning a hole in my pocket; if anything maybe I'll just get some pc3200 for my mobile celeron system and o/c it higher.

Save your $$ or spend it on something that will give you an actual performance increase. If you really need to get rid of the paypal funds, you can send it over my way for a consulting fee!

BTW, what makes you think the ram is holding you back from hitting 250 FSB? If you want to be sure, set the ram up as slow as possible, 3:2 ratio 3-4-4-8 timings and see where the CPU will go. Once you figure that out, speed the ram back up.

 

[Detoyminador_]

oldfart, I'm using an alpha heatsink with an 80mm sunon fan. Vcore is at 1.625v. Was that post for me oldfart about trying to hit 250fsb and change memory timmings?

 

[oldfart]

Originally posted by: Detoyminador_
oldfart, I'm using an alpha heatsink with an 80mm sunon fan. Vcore is at 1.625v. Was that post for me oldfart about trying to hit 250fsb and change memory timmings?

Wow, that Alpha is some modest cooling for that speed and Vcore. What are you seeing for load temps? No, that post was for kef7

 

[Detoyminador_]

ambient 25c, sys 26-28c, CPU @ idle 37-38c, CPU when gaming 47-50.5c and in prime95 as high as 56c.

 

[kef7]

BTW, what makes you think the ram is holding you back from hitting 250 FSB? If you want to be sure, set the ram up as slow as possible, 3:2 ratio 3-4-4-8 timings and see where the CPU will go. Once you figure that out, speed the ram back up.

Last night I booted up at 250fsb 5:4 with lax timings (3-4-4-8 in bios, cpu-z says 2.5-3-3-8) and system locked up after a minute or two.

Changed to 3:2 with same timings and had no lockups but fails prime95 blend test after an hour or so.

 

[oldfart]

Sounds like your CPU just wont do 260 FSB. What Vcore? What mobo do you have? What are all the bios settings?

 

[kef7]

Sounds like your CPU just wont do 260 FSB. What Vcore? What mobo do you have? What are all the bios settings?

system info:
2.4c (SL6WF) cooled by SLK947U w/ panaflo
DFI lanparty pro875B (revA mobo)
2*512 corsair xms 3200c2pro
enermax 430 watt psu
9800 PRO AIW
Audigy 2 platinum
36g wd raptor
80g wd 8mb cache
plextor combo cdrw/dvd player drive
plextor dvd burner

So far I have:
--set ram ratio to 5:4 or 3:2
--tried lose/tight timings; both 2-3-3-6 and 3-4-4-8 (can set cas to 3 in bios but cpu-z reports it as 2.5)
--locked agp/pci/sata at 66/33/100
--disabled auto detect PCI clock
--disabled spread spectrum
--changed fsb to 250 to get 3.0
--stock vcore (raising vcore didn't seem to help when I tried in the past)
--vdimm at 2.9 (max, think corsair recommends 2.8?)