calling all clever bods !

[Arge]

Hi, really sorry if this is like second nature to you guys but i have yet to find somewhere/one that can explain it all so its easy to understand. Im still trying to understand overclocking and have a few quick questions...

1. With the standard fsb of the e6300 running at 266mhz, If i bought pc6400 RAM (rated 800mhz) the ram would effectively be underclocked and only be running at 532mhz (266 DDR). YES ?

2. So if i overclocked the FSB to 400mhz (for example) then the ram would then be running at its rated speed 800mhz (400ddr) so should function corrently and without too much heat. YES ?

3. Then any overclocking of the FSB over this value would mean i was overclocking the ram an i may start to see problems. Is this what ppl are talking about when they say its good overclocking RAM ?

4. If all the above is basically true an i was to purchase an e6300 with the intention to OC to an absolute max of 400mhz (air cooling!) Then surely VALUE non O/Cing PC6400 RAM would be fine to use as this would then be running it at the speed intended and not actually overclocking the RAM, YES ??

And no answers like "just get PC6400" as i know this but just want to make sure i have the theory behind WHY understood !

Sorry guys, and thanks
want to understand !

Arge

 

[Its_Me]

1) not sure what board your are going for, but most have the ability to run the ram at its correct speed regardless of the CPU FSB (asynchronous). So good chance it will still run close to 800mhz anyway. Effectively requiring 2:3 ratio. I know 4:3 and 4:5 are std , not sure about 2:3 though. All these are asynchronous settings.

2) Most boards (965) can manage 400mhz easily , but its still overclocking the chipset effectively , so even though the ram is 800mhz you may well find stability problems (again stick with a known board and this can be ironed out quickly with settings). Ram would effectively be 1:1 ratio.

3) Your pushing the chipset and sub systems still further alogn with the ram. Stability can be then cuased by not just the ram. Its quick to blame the ram suometimes when it can be down to a chipset/heat/SATA problem. Rule of thumb, suck it and see - help to finding stability can be found in numerous posts.

4) Yes, but then good quality PC5400 would do too. Nothing wrong with taking a hit in timings to get what you are after.

 

[OC_A64]

Hi, really sorry if this is like second nature to you guys but i have yet to find somewhere/one that can explain it all so its easy to understand. Im still trying to understand overclocking and have a few quick questions...

1. With the standard fsb of the e6300 running at 266mhz, If i bought pc6400 RAM (rated 800mhz) the ram would effectively be underclocked and only be running at 532mhz (266 DDR). YES ?

Yes thats right. Your board *might* default it to 800 FSB but thats unlikely. You'd probably need to manually set the speed

2. So if i overclocked the FSB to 400mhz (for example) then the ram would then be running at its rated speed 800mhz (400ddr) so should function corrently and without too much heat. YES ?

Assuming you've set the memory to run a 1:1 ratio (533/1:1 are the usual bios options) then yes the memory will be running at its rated speed.
You *may* find you need a small voltage boost over the bios default and you'd probably have to manually set timings (unless you get EPP memory)

3. Then any overclocking of the FSB over this value would mean i was overclocking the ram an i may start to see problems. Is this what ppl are talking about when they say its good overclocking RAM ?

Anything over 400 FSB (Assuming you purchase DDR2 800/6400 ram) and you'd be overclocking the memory yes. Better overclocking ram will run further over stock rated speeds than worse overclocking memory.

4. If all the above is basically true an i was to purchase an e6300 with the intention to OC to an absolute max of 400mhz (air cooling!) Then surely VALUE non O/Cing PC6400 RAM would be fine to use as this would then be running it at the speed intended and not actually overclocking the RAM, YES ??

And no answers like "just get PC6400" as i know this but just want to make sure i have the theory behind WHY understood !

Yes, you'd be fine with value 6400 ram. As the previous poster mentioned you'd probably get away with 5400 rate memory however I'd suggest you look towards 6400 memory as (no offence) it'd probably be easier for you. E6300 will do 400 FSB EASY probably not even any need to bump vcore. Most if not all 965 and 975 boards, along with the new Nforce 680i's will run 400 FSB without a problem too. (Though you may have to run a few mhz over on the 965's to get things stable due to chipset latency changes around 400FSB. Don't worry too much about that though, even value ram will manage a few FSB over stock without issues)

 

[Arge]

So my 'Theories' are right then ?? even if the values arent exactly !

Thats good then, Thanks a lot for the last two posts they were spot on. At least now i understand the concept even if i do need to learn about putting it into practice.

Should get the chance to experiment on my new rig that i should be ordering early jan !

Thanks again guys,

Arge

oh yeh and.............MERRY CHRISTMAS