what's the point of overclocking ram?

[Foundation]

i have one stick of crucial 256mb ddr module at default. Should I try overclocking it? Will I even notice a difference? My t-bird is at default also......

 

[JameyF]

If you're talking about increasing the fsb, you will increase the speed at which the data can be transfered from the memory to the processor (as well as other things). If you're talking about reducing the latency timings, you will be doing just that...reducing the time that your memory is latent (idle or waiting on data).

In both cases, you will be increasing your systems speed. I chose to do both. Increasing the FSB allowed me to OC my intire system without making processor modifications. Decreasing latency increased responsiveness. Don't expect huge gains in performance, unless you make huge increases in FSB. I haven't noticed much benefit over the few days mine has been running. Going from 133 FSB to 150 FSB (hypothetical) should only give a 10-15% increase is system speed. For many it's like that mountain...you climb it because it's there.

 

[ElFenix]

processors see decreasing returns on changing their multiplier to get higher frequencies. a faster processor can only process as much as it can get from RAM, which is why you don't see a 1:1 increase in benched speed:MHz in most applications (except those that can fit in a processor's cache, though those applications can also suffer a performance hit if the OS scheduler kicks them out of cache.) so that is why increasing the bandwidth between processor and system ram is important.

actually you see the biggest increases if you increase your FSB (the bus from processor to northbridge) in lock step with your memory bus (bus from northbridge to main RAM) in a 1:1 ratio. usually having the memory or FSB at +/- 33MHz of one another increases latency vis-a-vis a 1:1 ratio, but can increase performance of certain applications while decreasing performance in others.

 

[FalseChristian]

You overclock your RAm to get faster speeds between your CPU and main memory. That's why, for example, a 1.2GHz Duron using PC2100 DDR-SDRAM beats out a 1.2GHz Tualitin Celeron using 100MHz SDRAM. The Duron's RAM can pump out over twice the bandwidth then the Celeron's can. But, Celerons now support DDR-SDRAM so you'll see it beat the Duron handily.

 

[Jman13]

As far as timings go, I experienced about an 8% performance gain just from using aggressive memory timings. I know it's just 3DMark scores, but I went from 7458 to 8103, and the only thing I changed was the memory timing. Looking at the game benchmarks, I got between 8 and 25 fps gain (depending on which game) from just increasing the timings.

 

[acidvoodoo]

does overclocked ram need more cooling?

 

[rachaelsdad]

Better ram cooling will enable a higher overclock. If you just raise the FSB and do not increse the Voltage of the memory you shouldn't need any extra cooling; However even at 2.8 Volts a DDR will definately require at least a fan blowing on it to remain stable. Over that and you might want to try ram sinks.

 

[ElFenix]

<< But, Celerons now support DDR-SDRAM so you'll see it beat the Duron handily. >>

what?!? do you mean the p7 based celerons because no p6 based celeron has a DDR FSB which is required to take any advantage of DDR memory.

and ram runs into capacitance problems before heat issues in most cases.