Memory Upgrade

big.rich1976

big.rich1976

big.rich1976

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Joined
21 Sep 2006
Posts
168
Location
Whittlesey
Hey,

Im due to upgrade the memory on my PC in the coming weeks. I am currently running PC2-5400 running at 667mhz, I am planning on upgrading to
PC2-8500C5 1066MHz from OCZ, Should i expect a good performance increase. Just getting into my overclocking and feel my current ram could be holding me back slightly. all the best

Rich
 
You'll only really get a performance increase upto the level of your FSB.

So say you run your E2180 at 3.2ghz, your best bet would be to drop its multiplier to x8 and run 400x8, setting your memory to 800mhz. Running the memory faster than the FSB offers very little extra tbh.

So PC2-8500 would be overkill for your system. PC2-6400 would be plenty. Have you tried pushing your current memory to 800mhz? An awful lot of PC2-5400 will run at PC2-6400 speeds.
 
Thanks Cob,

I am planning on upping the speed of my E2180, upto 250*10 at the moment and seems to be stable. Was not so sure about overclocking the ram but may give it a try. The orig plan was to hold out on ram until DDR3 prices come down. They havent done so far and may drop a quad core in at some point next year. May look at getting some pC2-6400 in the meantime maybe.
 
I would test your current memory. On the x10 CPU multiplier it will be more than enough to keep up with an overclocked E2180. And as I say, it may well keep up even on the x8 multiplier.
 
I will do that, If i remember correctly the mem i have at the moment is not generic non branded, Im fairly certain i bought Crucial Ballistix range so may be OK to OC. Will test it and see.
 
Just remembered, I purchased 2gb of ballistix ram as my dad had given me 2gb already. they are all 667mhz but two different sets. will have to check what the old stuff is. Thanks for the help tho. Much appreciated.
 
Just set your RAM to 1:1 and see who far you can overclock the CPU. My e2180 did 3.2ghz easily which would leave your 333 RAM running at 320. For your memory to be holding you back you would have to get to a point where you e2180 would do 340++ (x10) fsb and your RAM not be able to equal that speed IE. 340 FSB (at 1:1) = 340 MHz RAM speed.

If the sole reason in buying the 8500 memory is to overclock more then its's not worth it. It's unlikely that you will have an e2180 that will do much over 3.4ghz and at the same time have 333mhz RAM that won't match the 340.
 
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I wouldnt say its the sole reason, But i was thinking i could maybe do with some faster memory but it wouldnt appear i need it at the moment. I must admit i do find this whole business of memory very confusing nowadays. obviously my ram runs at 667mhz and my CPU is running at 800FSB i could see a bottleneck there, however if i did buy some ram at 1066mhz again the bottleneck would still be there. need to do some more research me thinks. Im thinking tho if i do buy the ram it may be ok for when i upgrade later on.
 
big.rich1976 said:
I wouldnt say its the sole reason, But i was thinking i could maybe do with some faster memory but it wouldnt appear i need it at the moment. I must admit i do find this whole business of memory very confusing nowadays. obviously my ram runs at 667mhz and my CPU is running at 800FSB i could see a bottleneck there, however if i did buy some ram at 1066mhz again the bottleneck would still be there. need to do some more research me thinks. Im thinking tho if i do buy the ram it may be ok for when i upgrade later on.
Click to expand...

Thats not how it works at all. Your CPU has an FSB of 200 which is quad-pumped (800) The more you overclock, the more both of these figures increase. You don't really need to take much notice of the last figure too much untill you get to the point that you start pushing your motherboard past its rated FSB. So your CPU is 200 FSB and you RAM, at it's lowest divider (1:1), will also be 200 Mhz. At an of FSB 333 you would have your CPU at 3.33ghz and memory at 333mhz. If you can get that far thats a very good overclock. Your RAM is saved by the fact that the CPU has quite a high multiplier, If you had an 8x multi for example, it would be a different story.

I'm not saying don't buy RAM, It's at a really good price at the moment. I'm just saying untill you reach at least 3.33ghz there is no-way your current RAM will hold you back.
 
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Yip.

So the 800mhz FSB chips are really 200mhz, 1066mhz are really 266mhz, and the 1333mhz ones are really 333mhz.
 
OK finally think i have my head round these multipliers, Thanks for the help. Im presuming my ram multiplier is 2x? Hence Double Data Rate AKA DDR???? In reality then i wouldnt really be pushing my ram at all.
 
Your DDR2 RAM has an actual rate of 333mhz but an effective rate of 667 MHZ. Just treat it as 333MHZ like CPU-Z will show. If you left all BIOS settings to default but used the 1:1 divider (sometimes called 2.00), your RAM would be 200mhz (the same as you FSB hence 1:1) Your CPU should do a good few FSB over 300 (3ghz presuming you keep the 10x multi) meaning your RAM will be a good few MHZ over 300. Sounds good to me !

I had an e2180 for 12 months running solid at 3.2ghz from day 1. It's a great CPU but ONLY if overclocked. Try this:

Set your RAM divider to 1:1 or 2.00
Change your PCI-E frequency from AUTO to 100 or 101
Change your Vcore (CPU voltage) to about 1.32500
Keep your CPU multi at x10
Check the recommended VDIMM (memory voltage) for you RAM from maybe the manufacturers site or from elsewhere on the internet. Set this in the BIOS. The default DDR2 voltage is 1.8v but your RAM might well be more E.G. 2.1 If it was 2.1 for example this might show as something like DDR2 overvoltage +0.3. Also it's a good idea to get the correct timings from the same source and set these E.G 5-5-5-15

Increase your FSB from 200 to 300 but not all in one go! try 10 FSB at a time maybe slowing to 5 FSB at a time when you get to about 280
Run orthos or similar for 10 minutes each time while also running some software that monitors your temperatures!
The first time you get an error or maybe even a lock-up or blue screen, don't worry. Just increase your vcore buy 1 increment and try again.

By doing all this in slow stages you will get a 'feel' about where the limits are. The beauty of overclocking a 200 (800) FSB CPU with a 10x multi is that you won't be stressing your motherboard unless its a 1066 FSB one and a cheap one at that. It will come down to a balance of CPU speed, Vcore and temps.

Oh and one more thing before you start, learn how to clear the CMOS on you motherboard just incase you make any settings that the motherboard can't POST with. Clearing the CMOS reset's all of your settings
 
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Thats fantastic. That makes perfect sense. Thanks so much for the help. My asus P5KC has a option where if the OC is unsucessful it will reset the bios automatically, If it didnt i can locate the jumper on the motherboard to clear the CMOS. I have had a poke around in the BIOS for the ram divider, there is a page where all the settings are, timings, frequencies etc. will try the settings you have suggested. cheers


Rich
 
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