The over-asked question about OCing.

[Shortass]

I know this has been asked a million times but in my search I somehow managed to avoid the answer i was looking for. Sorry.

But anyways, as the title so states, I was wondering whether or not there is a performance difference between, say 200x11.5 (2350) or 166x14 (2332 i think). IF there is, how much of a difference is there? Cause I have pretty crappy ram that can't, at any voltage, get even to DDR400 speeds (it's kingmax 433). Some people had this problem too, so I wasn't surprised, just dissapointed, but is it worth spending $300 or so on good, fast ram that can run at 200 or 216 fsb or is the difference so small it's better to hold out as it is?

Also, is there a temp difference?

 

[SimsFreak]

Better FSB = More performance.

 

[dennisjai215]

higher ghz = more performance with good fsb.. ex: 230x10 (2.3ghz)
is better than highest fsb possible without the higest ghz ex: 270x8 (2.16ghz)

i forgot who did a review with the multipliers... but the 100mhz better than the HIGHEST FSBxlowest multiplyer possible GHZ

 

[aka1nas]

Higher FSB at the same clock frequency will often increase overall performance, and at worst, not negatively impact performance. After a certain level, you won't notice much of a benefit from increasing the FSB higher(unless your total clockspeed increases as well). I.E. if you could get really great OCing RAM along with your mobo to run at 300Mhz FSB. You could run a CPU at 300FSB w/ 8x multi and get 2.4Ghz. Or you could run it at 2.4Ghz at like 250FSB with the corresponding higher multiplier. At that clockspeed, the extra memory bandwith provided by the higher FSB isn't needed on an AthlonXP and thus you wouldn't really see more performance. It isn't really hurting anything to have extra bandwith, but it isn't worth any extra cost to have faster RAM at that point.

 

[Shortass]

Alright, that's pretty much what I figured. I'll wait until I upgrade my entire system (a few years) when the ram prices drop (heh) and 64-bit processors are actually helpful. Thanks. I'd rather not waste $300 on awesome OCing ram when I can make it by just fine with crappy ram at 2-2-2-6.

 

[dennisjai215]

what aka1nas said.. i couldnt put it in words =(

 

[Jeff7181]

All else being equal, it's impossible for a slower FSB to perform better than a faster one.

 

[Shortass]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
All else being equal, it's impossible for a slower FSB to perform better than a faster one.

Agreed, but the issue is more is the difference worth $300? It seems the performance difference is too small to worry about.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Shortass

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
All else being equal, it's impossible for a slower FSB to perform better than a faster one.

Agreed, but the issue is more is the difference worth $300? It seems the performance difference is too small to worry about.

So the question is not whether a higher FSB or higher multiplier is better.

You don't need to spend $300 though. I spent just over $200 on my Mushkin PC3500 and it's running happily at 216 MHz 2-3-3-11 on 2.7 volts. I don't think the difference would be THAT noticeable... I mean... depending on the rest of your hardware, your money could be better spent elsewhere possibly. But if you already have a decent hard drive and a 9800 Pro or better video card and are looking for more performance, RAM would be the best option, short of a 6800 or a whole new rig.

 

[Travis6586]

I spent just over $200 on my Mushkin PC3500 and it's running happily at 216 MHz 2-3-3-11 on 2.7 volts. [/quote]

Have you tried overclocking your RAM any, and if so, what's the fastest stable speed you can achieve? My Mushkin PC3200 RAM runs at 220 MHz @ 2.5-4-4-7 (440 MHz combined). Anything past that, and its not stable. Just trying to guage if I've got a semi-good overclock on my RAM or not.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
I spent just over $200 on my Mushkin PC3500 and it's running happily at 216 MHz 2-3-3-11 on 2.7 volts.

Originally posted by: Travis6586
Have you tried overclocking your RAM any, and if so, what's the fastest stable speed you can achieve? My Mushkin PC3200 RAM runs at 220 MHz @ 2.5-4-4-7 (440 MHz combined). Anything past that, and its not stable. Just trying to guage if I've got a semi-good overclock on my RAM or not.

It doesn't overclock well at all, and doesn't like any voltage other than 2.7 volts no matter what speed it runs at. Of course, no RAM I've ever had has overclocked well, so it could just be a picky nForce2 memory controller. I also run dual channel, so that may hinder some overclocking too.