Memory...Its all so confusing!

Gavster2002 · 28 Feb 2007 at 09:29

Hi Guys bit of advice needed.

I have been buying bits for a new PC for the past 3 weeks and all I have left to get is the Memory and Graphics card. This is what I have so Far

Case = Antec p180
MB = Asus Striker Extreme
CPU = Quade core 6700 Extreme
Sound = SB XF-I Extreme
PSU = Enermax Galaxy 1000 Watt
HDD = 2x Western Digital Raptor X for OS, progs and games and 500GB for data storage
OS = Vista Ultimate OEM 64 bit

Now i am can't decide on memory between this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-084-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817
or the Dominator at lower latency timings?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-118-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

The first is not have SLI ready, does this make a difference or is it just a new snazzy word the industry have made up? but has water cooling that I will be looking into getting next.
The Dominator has lower latencies? from what I can work out this means its faster???

as for the Graphics card i was thinking of waiting a month for the 8900 series to come out???

Any help would be appreciated, but please base comments on performance / overclocability over price as I want to get the best and overclock when the water cooling is in place

Thanks
Gav

steve258 · 28 Feb 2007 at 10:46

Gavster2002 said:
The first is not have SLI ready, does this make a difference or is it just a new snazzy word the industry have made up?

Strictly between the 2 I'd go for OCZ, higher rated and fits perfectly with your upcoming WC system. And also because £450 for 2Gb RAM is just RIDICULOUS, you can get 4Gb of G.Skill for £50 less!!

Gavster2002 said:
The Dominator has lower latencies? from what I can work out this means its faster???

Lower latency = faster, but the difference is little, you will hardly notice it because the rest of your rig is so fast.

To get the most out of your RAM you will need 500Mhz+ FSB or a memory divider in BIOS. Quad core chips are more difficult to overclock so you may need to lower the multi in order to avhieve high fsb.

Gavster2002 said:
as for the Graphics card i was thinking of waiting a month for the 8900 series to come out???

No official date for 8900GTX yet since the R600 is once again postponed, you could be waiting for more than a month. If you want something crazy now then go 8800GTX SLI.

Gavster2002 · 28 Feb 2007 at 12:16

steve258,

Thanks for your comments. I think I will be going for the OCZ as I can hook it up to the WC when I install it.

I think I will still wait till the 8900 card comes out, i will only be upset with myself for not waiting. I have my old 3GB P4 still so no real rush to finish this new project another month won't hurt!

Gav

steve258 · 28 Feb 2007 at 13:24

Ohh forgot to mention that SLI memory is for lazy overclockers, so it sets the timings automatically according to your OC (as far as I know). But you ought to adjust the timings yourself in BIOS to achieve the best results.

Yellowbeard · 28 Feb 2007 at 19:54

Just a note, I seriously doubt your CPU is going to run at 400mhz FSB. So, you may want to look at some lower latency memory rated at PC6400 and run 1:1 or 4:5, depending on what your CPU will do.

Gavster2002 · 1 Mar 2007 at 07:18

Yellowbeard said:
Just a note, I seriously doubt your CPU is going to run at 400mhz FSB. So, you may want to look at some lower latency memory rated at PC6400 and run 1:1 or 4:5, depending on what your CPU will do.

Yellowbeard,

What would be the limiting factor on me running the FSB at 400mhz. Sory I don't quite understand

Thanks

steve258 · 1 Mar 2007 at 07:58

Your CPU.

Bringing FSB to 400Mhz will overclock your CPU to 4Ghz which is next to impossible for quad core cpus. Most quad core cpus I've seen do around 3-3.4Ghz max.

Stock speed = 266.66 x 10 = 2.66Ghz
Overclocked = 400 x 10 = 4Ghz

That's why I said you might want to drop the multiplier to 8 or 7 to achieve high FSB oc at the same clock speed.

For example:

571FSB x 7Multi = 4Ghz

Yellowbeard · 1 Mar 2007 at 13:16

Steve hit it on the head. Most likely, you will do well around 400 x 8 or so, give or take.

OC_A64 · 1 Mar 2007 at 13:41

That is of course assuming the CPU actually makes it to 400FSB.
Most of the quad's on various boards seem to be heavily FSB limited for whatever reason. The only boards which seem capable of pushing higher FSB's are the 965 based boards, with the P5B looking to be the cream of the crop.

The QX6700 is an unlocked chip though, so sorting the clockspeed isn't a huge problem. The 680i allows you to run the memory async, so again there shouldn't be a limit there. The _only_ issue is the performance hit which comes from running async. If you're limited to sub 400 FSB on the CPU (which is quite likely imo) then this is probably a good way to go. You may also find one of the "normal" dividers which the board offers works ok for you (ie you can run the memory where you want to) which could be a better option. Not sure what the performance hit is running linked mode with conventional dividers however.

arfur · 1 Mar 2007 at 13:45

I dont know what the striker is like but my Asus P5N32-E SLI board is picky about RAM and I dont think the OCZ is on the ASUS QVL list (compatible RAM) so its worth checking that out, I'm having issues OC'ing my board at the mo and it could be RAM related as my GEIL isnt on the QVL either.

Gavster2002 · 2 Mar 2007 at 10:53

arfur said:
I dont know what the striker is like but my Asus P5N32-E SLI board is picky about RAM and I dont think the OCZ is on the ASUS QVL list (compatible RAM) so its worth checking that out, I'm having issues OC'ing my board at the mo and it could be RAM related as my GEIL isnt on the QVL either.

I have had confirmation from another user that this RAM works on the Striker with the Quad CPU so there should be no issues.

I think I will be going for the 400 x 8 Divider. If i understang it right that will give the CPU 3.2 Ghz Clock Speed whilst increasing the FSB to 400 Mhz. can someone please confirm?

Tanks

Gav

OC_A64 · 2 Mar 2007 at 11:18

Gavster2002 said:
I have had confirmation from another user that this RAM works on the Striker with the Quad CPU so there should be no issues.

I think I will be going for the 400 x 8 Divider. If i understang it right that will give the CPU 3.2 Ghz Clock Speed whilst increasing the FSB to 400 Mhz. can someone please confirm?

Tanks

Gav

Yes thats right. As per previous post, you _may_ have issues getting to 400 FSB

steve258 · 2 Mar 2007 at 11:22

Yes it will, but then your RAM will only run at DDR2 800 (PC6400) as opposed to PC9200 (DDR2 1150) that the OCZ kit is capable of. As suggested you can run a asych mem divider to overcome this, but the performance increase / impact this has as opposed to running RAM sync. with FSB is something that you will only know by trying once you have everything up and running.