Memory Divider Question

[R4z0r]

Originally posted in memory forum but I actually think OC is probably more suitable place for this!

Hey, I'm hoping someone a bit more knowledgable than me on the subject can help me out here. I don't fully understand the implications of the memory divider in my BIOS and how lowering it (To achieve higher FSB) affects performance.

My Spec:

Core2 Duo 2180 (2.0Ghz x10 Multi)
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
Geil 6400 (800Mhz) RAM

I currently set the RAM divider to 3.33 and the frequency to 266Mhz this allows my CPU to run a 2.6Ghz (266Mhz x 10) while my RAM to run at (~885Mhz) keeping it only slightly over it's 800Mhz rating.

Now, I could set my RAM divider to 2, this would keep my CPU speed the same but would make my RAM run at ~532Mhz - would this give me a performance hit?

I frequently see people in the OC forum suggesting dropping the RAM multi to 2 (Sometimes even 1!) so that the FSB frequency can be raised to achieve very high clock speeds. Surely this hinders memory bandwidth (As it always means running your memory <800Mhz) so why do people suggest it? Is it purely that the benefits of high clock speed outweigh memory bandwidth?

Hopefully that's clear and someone can explain this to me!

Thanks!

 

[R4z0r]

Come on guys, surely this isn't that technical a question?!

I've seen ton's of threads with people suggetsing dropping the memory multiplier right down to OC, is this people not fully understanding that it will lower the memory bandwidth or have I got it wrong?

 

[Billy 2 Sips]

It's good to keep the memory at low speeds when trying to find your maximum FSB/Overclock. You don't want the high memory speeds interfering with your stability. So if you keep them low you'll know straight away that it's your cpu thats not stable. Then when your cpu overclock is stable you can overclock the memory.

I think thats the jist of it......someone might be able to explain it better than me

 

[Typhoon]

It's good to keep the memory at low speeds when trying to find your maximum FSB/Overclock. You don't want the high memory speeds interfering with your stability. So if you keep them low you'll know straight away that it's your cpu thats not stable. Then when your cpu overclock is stable you can overclock the memory.

I think thats the jist of it......someone might be able to explain it better than me

What he said. Once you know how fast your chip can run, you can start increasing your ram speed.