2GB memory to buy for OC. Help!

Street · 27 Jan 2006 at 17:41

No probs... someone else linked me to it on here a week or so back because I was getting confused with dividers

Id recommend the Corsair 3500 RAM... not just because I've got it myself, but mine can get up to 230MHz@2-3-2-5 and up to [email protected] all using only 2.6V! The man from uncles is clocking around the same as mine, if not better (getting 236@2-3-2-5!).

smids · 27 Jan 2006 at 18:05

Street said:
No probs... someone else linked me to it on here a week or so back because I was getting confused with dividers

Id recommend the Corsair 3500 RAM... not just because I've got it myself, but mine can get up to 230MHz@2-3-2-5 and up to [email protected] all using only 2.6V! The man from uncles is clocking around the same as mine, if not better (getting 236@2-3-2-5!).

But that is expensive stuff... £220 cheapest I found. However, it is great stuff, I have to admit. OCZ or Mushkin for cheaper RAM @ PC3200 - these usually are the best clockers and should outperform the ZX.

Street · 27 Jan 2006 at 18:32

Yeh true, it does cost about £50 more than most other 2gig sets... but im a Corsair fanboy, so course I'm going to say get it

smids · 27 Jan 2006 at 18:58

Street said:
Yeh true, it does cost about £50 more than most other 2gig sets... but im a Corsair fanboy, so course I'm going to say get it

I'm very tempted myself - don't push me!!!

man_from_uncle · 27 Jan 2006 at 19:18

When i got mine it cost me just £179.95 + VAT as it was on special offer that week. It's £20 more expensive now at OCUK.

I've tried dropping to CAS2.5 so i can push my overclock up over 2.7Ghz (currently 2.711Ghz). The CPU is superpi32m stable and i'll prime it when i am out tomorrow. RAM is at 247 2.5-3-2-5. And i'll bet there is another inch still to grab.

Street · 27 Jan 2006 at 19:56

yeh i managed to get mine on this week only as well

Bargain!

Might try dropping mine to 2.5-3-2-5, see if its still stable

You tried dropping the volts yet?

man_from_uncle · 27 Jan 2006 at 20:05

Down to 2.8 again. Got the missus over too, so i'll probably not get much chance to fiddle more this evening.

It's definately worth a shot going down to 2.5-3-2-5. I found that I only had very little extra headroom when i went to 2-3-3-6 from 2-3-2-6 a few days ago. Got to 243 I think. Dropping the CAS though.....i've got a sneaking suspicion that there is a lot more room to move in terms of FSB.

Street · 27 Jan 2006 at 20:24

man_from_uncle said:
Down to 2.8 again. Got the missus over too, so i'll probably not get much chance to fiddle more this evening.

Surely thats more of a chance to fiddle

Mine memtests fine at 2.5-3-2-5 now... off out in a bit, so gonna have to play with it some more tomorrow!

The aim is 255MHz as that'll give me 2.8Ghz on my CPU...

man_from_uncle · 27 Jan 2006 at 20:38

You might not get there at those timings, but you'll keep CAS 2.5 i think.

Street · 28 Jan 2006 at 05:37

255MHz at 2.5-3-2-5 doesnt seem to work at all... memtest starts going crazy on me. 253MHz at 2.5-3-2-5 however seems to work fine, with memtest, super pi and prime all working fine

Think thats my limit at thees timings!

man_from_uncle · 28 Jan 2006 at 14:05

I actually had similar results this morning. Got to 251 at 2.5-3-2-5 but if i wanted to get higher i had to drop to CAS3. But I was also getting to my overclocking limit (seems to be 2.85-2.9 not stable) so i am not sure if it was the memory or the memory controller that was giving way. I might try going 1:1 and testing again with some more mild overclocks and see where that gets me with these sticks.

I also got to my highest stable speed too 2.768ghz (all be it at CAS3), but i still can't get under 29mins at superpi32m.

Flanno · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:33

I havn't bought the Gskill 2gig HZ kit yet, but just wanted to ask a question about it. I am hoping to overclock a 3000+ 754 Venice E6 chip to 2.8ghz. From what I have read on this thread it would seem tight timings with a reasonble memory speed is better then all out high memory speed with very loose timings.

So which would give me better peformance do you think ?

Option 1
--------
Run chip at 9x310htt for almost 2.8ghz, and with a 166 divider run the memory at slightly over spec (258hmz) at hopefully stock timings (3,4,4,8).

Option 2
--------
Straight forward 10x280htt, and with 166 divider run memory at approx 233mhz, with hopefully better then stock timings.

Also - as this rig isn't going to be used for playing heavy weight games like BF2, would I be better off in getting a gig of Geil Ultra-X which can run 1:1 up to 275mhz at 2.5,4,4,7.

THX

nick_lerwill · 29 Jan 2006 at 21:51

i recomend the corsair highly overclockable and good make

man_from_uncle · 30 Jan 2006 at 10:47

Flanno, there won't be a lot of difference between options one and two, you'd have to experiment and see what you can get them running like at both speeds. However doesn't the 3000+ only have a x9 multiplier? Also, if one gig is enough then there are loads of sets that will probably be better options than the HZ. Personally though i think it's a waste to build a decent new rig and not give it 2 gigs even if you don't think they will be needed straight away.

00fil00 · 30 Jan 2006 at 15:31

i thought the 3000+ only goes to about 2.5ghz. thats why people buy opterons.

Flanno · 30 Jan 2006 at 18:43

Thanks for the advice.

Actually not that many people realise but AMD produced one 754 cpu using the venice 90nm core with E6 steping. The 754 3000+ actually runs at 2.0ghz with a 10x multiplier has SSE3, and actually has a heat sig. of only 51watts. The product code is ADA3000BXBOX. This is the the lowest wattage of any amd desktop cpu and I am anticipating some monster overclocks. Lots of people have hit 2.8ghz on stock voltage. Plus I picked it up for 90 euro, so getting an overclock on this for so little cash would be great

It's going into an Enermax Venus micro atx case with 275psu (does 20a on 12v rail though), along with a gigabyte mAtx 754 Nforce 430 mobo, 320gig SATA HDD and DVDRW. I checked a couple of online PSU power calculators, and I will even have enough juice for a 2nd hand 7800GT down the line hopefully.

craigr76 · 30 Jan 2006 at 22:44

00fil00 said:
ballistix die. QUOTE]

Nope got to disagree, my 4x512 Ballistix 4000 ran for 8 months at 275, 2.5,3,3,3,7 until I sold it for faster memory

craigr76 · 30 Jan 2006 at 22:48

smids said:
The ZX is recommended (by myself too) because on an A64, tight timings are probably more important than high frequency. The reason? Because the A64 memory controller is on-die, as in on the CPU itself. .

Cant agree with this either, if the CPU isnt running at maximum it can never create enough bandwidth for the memory as the controller is on Die, tight timings reduce the amount of FSB you can apply... think about it, if my system is running at 300FSB and my memory is running at 300 1:1 (ocz 4800) @ 3,4,4,4,10 if I tighen that to 2.5,3,3,3,7 then the memory craps out so I have to lower my FSB for those timings hence the CPU is now running slower (assuming you were using maximum multipler)

check this out if you dont believe me...

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40178

smids · 30 Jan 2006 at 23:24

craigr76 said:
Cant agree with this either, if the CPU isnt running at maximum it can never create enough bandwidth for the memory as the controller is on Die, tight timings reduce the amount of FSB you can apply... think about it, if my system is running at 300FSB and my memory is running at 300 1:1 (ocz 4800) @ 3,4,4,4,10 if I tighen that to 2.5,3,3,3,7 then the memory craps out so I have to lower my FSB for those timings hence the CPU is now running slower (assuming you were using maximum multipler)

check this out if you dont believe me...

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40178

I know about Angry's post, that's where I base my findings from. Have you misread it? I don't understand your point either - memory will not run at the same timings all the way through FSB. You have to slacken to reach higher FSB. The point is higher FSB at loose timings is not better than low FSB at tight timings, actually tight timings is better.

Ballistix do die; this is confirmed by Crucial removing the entire line from their website due to the abnormal number of failures.

craigr76 · 30 Jan 2006 at 23:56

smids said:
The point is higher FSB at loose timings is not better than low FSB at tight timings, actually tight timings is better.
QUOTE]

how can tight timings at a lower FSB be better? on a P4 maybe as the memory controller is on the NB, high FSB on a A64 is what gives you the power you need especially in games, I dropped my 300FSB, 3,4,4,4,8 1T ocz down to 275 ,2,2,2,5 1T and it made virtually no difference to apps or games, benchmarks yes but thats not where it counts in the real world.