How much difference does RAM make to overclock?

Zephyrus

Zephyrus

Zephyrus

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Wondering how much of a difference a decent kit of ram can make to an overclock. I've been using corsair value pc2700 ram up till now. I just ordered some Mushkin 2GB DDR HP3200 High Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) with tmings of 2-3-2 a) because i want to put 2gig in another comp so can put what i currently have in mine into it when the new stuff arrives b) gave me an excuse to upgrade something :p and c) I'm thinking this ram kit will improve my OC'ing potential. But am i wrong in thinking it will make a big difference?

Cheers,
Zeph.
 
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Ello Zeph, ive been wondering this myself! I've got a sneaking suspicion that my corsair is holding me back, anyways i ordered myself the 2gb g.skill hz's which im hoping (fingers crossed) will help things out abit as most people with the same stepping cpu as me have hit 3ghz quite consistently.

I will post my results if u like ;)
 
During the Athlon XP days it made quite a bit of difference as dividers hurt performance a lot so if the ram wasnt up to the job if you be worse permoance wise to run the ram at 200fsb and the cpu at 250.

With the Athlon A64 chips though dividers dont hurt performance as much so in effect you could use old pc2700 ram or so and still clock your cpu really high its just not advised
 
well mine wont be a complete waste... more of a slightly dissapointing upgrade :p

Be good to see how your muskin does tho ;)
 
well Zeph the answer seems to be... nope!

My cpu wouldnt even go a tiny bit further so i think thats our question answered!

Done a few quick tests and the ram wont prime for more than 10 seconds at 280... 270...

I think i could have got away with the zx kit @ 233 with tighter timings but im gonna put the multi down and see what timings i can get out of it running around 260.

Still better than the corsair stuff so far so im happy and only very slightly dissapointed, gonna miss my flashy led's tho :(

Maybe u'll have better luck...
 
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Hmm 2.7 still seems to be as far as it will go. Higher than that and windows won't load. I'm wondering whether it's my board holding me back. Tried on a 100 divider for the memory and still no go so had to put it back to 133 and 300x9. The DFI board i had for a (very)short while before got me to 2.9 but wasn't prime stable it found an error after 6 hours, unfortunately i had to sell that board as i'd been a bit frivolous with the credit card :p
Anyway it would appear that the memory isnt going to get me any higher clocks. Still... it was fun trying again :p

Zeph.
 
Yeah the next step is to change our mobos lol! I really want a DFI xpert but im gonna hold off for a while, got debts to think about now :eek:

Im actually thinking the epox is, in a way holding me back because it really undervolts the cpu when its under load and im scared to put it up to 1.6. At the moment its set to 1.525 in the bios but that drops below 1.49 under load :(

we live and learn ;)
 
Ooh looking good. tried just increasing cpu voltage to 1.425 and upping to 310x9 but windows crashed after it loaded the desktop. This time tried cpu voltage 1.475 and vdimm 2.8 and seems to be doing the trick (although cpuz seems to be saying that the cpu is using 1.44V). Prime not finding fault after a couple of minutes at 310x9 so looking promising. I havent played much with the voltages before as i was scared of the temp increases but idle and load temps haven't changed since increasing it (so far :p ), and the last time i played with the volts was when i built this and was only using the stock cooler. Any recommendations for voltage settings ie just try setting at 1.5 then see how fast i can get the cpu? I'm assuming that 2.8V is high enough for the memory as the highest option it has is 2.9V.

Zeph.
 
yeah i'd stick with 2.8 on the ram... i'd up the vcore to 1.55 and see what it can do, as long as u keep an eye on temps all should be fine! I've been up to 1.575 without any probs but it didnt help much over 1.525 so i went back again ;)

as long as u dont go over 1.6 im sure it'll be fine... dont hold me to that tho ;)
 
Hmm no matter how high i try the voltage it wont enter windows without crashing at desktop with a repeating sound noise if i have it on 312x9 or higher. Gonna leave that comp running 310x9 on prime95 for the rest of the day and see if its stable at that. It's 2.8Ghz so i cant complain at that :)
 
thats pretty good for a 144!

been messing with my g.skill and it doesnt seem to like either high htt (300+) or a lower cpu multi for some reason :confused: so im stuck at 233mhz.

It runs at 2.5-3-3-6 tho which is nice :D
 
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