i5/i7 SB OC'ing influenced by the memory?

[DoubleCheese]

I'm planning on getting an i5 or i7 and Z68 board in the near future and just wondered whether the overclocking potential is affected by the number of memory modules in place? i.e 2 vs 4 banks of DDR3 RAM?

 

[HiVizMan]

Because the memory controller is on die (part of the CPU) the short answer is yes your overclock potential can be affected by the number of memory slots used. Is it likely? No, simple because most of the time people overclock using the multiplier with the SB CPU's. That means you select the speed your ram will run and forget about it and focus on your multi to gain frequency. Only when you start clocking your BCLK which increases your ram frequency does it become a real issue.

 

[Jordan97]

There is very little difference when using 4 sticks instead of two, but you may find you need a slight increase in voltage for the CPU to stay stable as the memory controller is on the CPU and more modules means more strain on the processor.

No, simple because most of the time people overclock using the multiplier with the SB CPU's.

Only when you start clocking your BCLK which increases your ram frequency does it become a real issue.

You can only increase the BCLK by one or two before the OC becomes unstable. There is no noticeable speed increase as the core speed is increased only by about 0.04 - 0.05GHz for each increase by one.

Due to the very small increments the base clock can be increased by, it is very unlikely for you to experience any issues involving RAM.

 

[Surveyor]

You can only increase the BCLK by one or two before the OC becomes unstable. There is no noticeable speed increase as the core speed is increased only by about 0.5GHz.

I think you have your numbers wrong there.

Assuming the multiplier was increased to 45 for overclocking, and the Base Clock increased from 100 to 102MHz, the increased core speed accounted for by the increase in the Base Clock would be 90MHz or 0.09GHz.

 

[koooowweeee]

There is very little difference when using 4 sticks instead of two, but you may find you need a slight increase in voltage for the CPU to stay stable as the memory controller is on the CPU and more modules means more strain on the processor.





You can only increase the BCLK by one or two before the OC becomes unstable. There is no noticeable speed increase as the core speed is increased only by about 0.5GHz.

Due to the very small increments the base clock can be increased by, it is very unlikely for you to experience any issues involving RAM.

my base clock is 104 and in benching 105 and is very stable

 

[Jordan97]

I think you have your numbers wrong there.

Assuming the multiplier was increased to 45 for overclocking, and the Base Clock increased from 100 to 102MHz, the increased core speed accounted for by the increase in the Base Clock would be 90MHz or 0.09GHz.

Ah yes, so it is. I must have misread it and did not notice the other 0.

 

[Jordan97]

my base clock is 104 and in benching 105 and is very stable

I did it simply on a basis of what I have seen before. However, it is still not enough to make any influence on the RAM.