romkush

I'm finally started ocing my pc so i'm looking to replace my kinston value pc2-6400 800mhz CL6 with something better.
i want something that stocks at least at 1066mhz and can do a stable oc at 1200 mhz, which is the max my motherboard can support (GIGABYTE P43-DS3L)
im thinking either Kingston HyperX DDR2 PC-8500 4GB 1066MHZ CL5 or G.Skill PI Black Edition DDR2 PC-8500 4GB 1066MHZ CL5.
which one is better?
will i see a difference in games/general performance if i switch from my kingston value to one of these?

blibbax

Firstly, full system specs and current clock speeds and FSB would be helpful.

Secondly, unless your RAM is holding back your CPU overclock (which is unlikely, as most motherboards allow you to overcome this by altering the FSB to MCH strap), increasing your memory speeds will have very small influences on performance. It's definitely not worth the massive current cost of (now obsolete) DDR2 memory to gain these tiny increases in performance.

Just tweak the latencies on the memory you have, and leave it at that. Modern systems are not significantly held back by their memory - when the Q9*50 series was replaced by early i7s, there was very little increase in performance in single threaded applications at comparable clock speeds, despite a massive boost in memory bandwidth with the new platform, and when 3D Mark world records are set, they often use fairly conservative RAM speeds.

If you build a whole new system, by all means get decent memory, but it's definitely not worth the upgrade over what you already have.

Having said that, if you currently only have 2GB installed, it could be worth getting another 2GB if you plan to keep the PC for a long time - DDR2 is only going to get even more expensive in the future.

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romkush

I have 4 GB of kingston value 800mhz CL6 installed and i was thinking replacing it with 4GB of better memory.
INTEL E-8400 3.00 GHZ @ 3.60 GHZ with AC freezer 7 pro cooling
FSB is at 400mhz which is also the max my GIGABYTE p43-ds3l motherboard supports and since i cant increase the multiplier 3.60 ghz is as fast as it gets for me.
memory is 1:1 thus 800mhz effective. every little tweak (clock or latency) i do results in instability.
its not holding me back but i was hoping getting better memory will improve my performance.
am i wrong?

blibbax

Getting better memory will improve performance, but only very, very, very slightly, and at significant cost. The money would be better spent almost anywhere else.

Have you tried lowering latencies on your current memory? The performance difference would be miniscule, but if you want a little extra you could give it a go.

Also, while 400mhz is that fastest FSB official supported by P43, it will go significantly higher (500+ not unheard of).

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romkush

ok thank you for clearing up the memory thing. guess i'll stick with my current set.
you think i can increase the FSB to ~ 450 and get a stable system? cause i know the processor is definitely capable but wont it damage my motherboard?
also, i'm not sure my cooling can handle the temps of 4.0ghz as i have 40C ambient temperature at summer.

IvanV

Like blibbax said, faster memory improves performance very slightly, you're unlikely to see much improvement.

You should find out what exactly causes instability when you OC. I doubt that it's the memory, I've got 2x2GB of 800MHz Kingston Value RAM and it works at 880MHz just fine with it's regular 800MHz latencies. No two sticks are identical, but if yours are close to that, that should be enough for a decent overclock.

Still, to eliminate any doubt, you can lower your memory speed in BIOS from 800 to 666MHz, but set the latencies to the values needed for 800MHz operation. Then, when you raise FSB, your RAM will stay within it's specs, so if the system is unstable, it's something else.

Adding to that, even if your CPU multiplier can't go up, it can be set to a lower value than default. That way, with both RAM and CPU working within specs, you can find out at what FSB speed your motherboard can operate. After that, you can combine different FSB and CPU multiplier values to find out the optimal settings for your system.

EDIT: Stress test your system with something like Intel Burn Test to make sure that it's both stable and not overheating. You can do a test with your system at default to establish a baseline for your temperatures, so that you later know if something is getting much warmer than it used to be.

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romkush

you have your memory working stable at 880mhz on cl6 and no extra voltage?
i tried ocing my memory to 900 mhz and i got an error within the first couple minutes of
the prime95 test

blibbax

I'd say that 80 degrees is a safe load temp for that CPU (after say 30 minutes of Prime95 on max power, 2 threads).

As Ivan says, memory overclock-ability will vary, but you can always just lower the speed manually (I presume).

And yes, overclocking will reduce the lifespan of your components. The higher the voltages, the shorter the lifespan. Overclocking without a voltage increase, however should in theory, not damage anything. In theory, however, bees cannot fly, so make of that what you will :P

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IvanV

It surprised me as well, but it survived through 5 repetitions of Intel Burn Test (which is about 25min), after which I made it do another 5 for good measure. That's probably near it's maximum, but it should take a mild overclock. For anything more serious, though, I'd suggest you dropped your memory speed to 666MHz, as that would give you much more room to raise the FSB if it decides to cooperate.

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blibbax

He's already done that Ivan. Currently he's running his memory at 666MHZ, meaning that when he overclocks it to 800MHZ he gets a 20% overclock - the 400MHZ*9=3.6GHZ that he describes above.

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romkush

Actually i havent done that yet. Currently i run my memory at stock 800mhz and the bus is ocd from 333 to 400 giving me a total of 3.60 ghz. FSB:RAM is 1:1.

blibbax

That means that you've done the equivalent using the divider - at stock speeds your FSB:RAM would be 5:6. At least that gives you more options, though - you could do both :P

That'd allow you a clockspeed of 4.3GHZ at a FSB of 480MHZ, with the memory still at 800MHZ

(Warning: may result in extreme temperatures :P)

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romkush

I think setting the FSB to 480mhz would melt my p43.

IvanV

Oh, sorry, misread the that post completely.

Strange that it won't move even a bit past that. Are you sure that all the latencies are at their correct values? When I'd leave them at auto, my motherboard would leave CL at 6, but tighten other latencies over their default values, resulting in instability. You can check with CPU-Z, but the correct latencies for KVR 800MHz (which should allow you to go a little above as well) should be 6-6-6-18-24.

__________________
If anyone has Portal 2 and hasn't played the co-op and wants to do me a favour, let me know (PM me or whatever).

romkush

My latencies are exactly that and wont do a stable oc.
Thats why i wanted to replace them.

blibbax

Don't worry then - if you want to overclock further, then just set the memory speed to 667MHZ as Ivan said.

If you don't, then just leave things as they are, as you won't get any significant performance increase by changing them anyway.

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romkush

Got it.
Thank you all for helping!

blibbax

No problem

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