Ram Timings

[wkingsnorth]

Can somebody please explain ram timings to me? I really have no idea and wonder how my Corsair XMS3 8gb ram at 9-9-9-24 compares to other timings. Thanks

 

[SeeKified]

RAM timings are basically a set period of time that the RAM will wait before proceeding with an instruction. Lower timings means less wait time and higher performance for the RAM, but in reality the difference between 9-9-9-24 and 7-7-7-20 (when compared at the same memory frequency, for example 800 MHz) for instance is measured in nanoseconds and isn't something that people would notice outside of a benchmark program.

There's a LOT more to be said about RAM timings, but that's as much as one needs to know, really. There's a great article on Anandtech explaining everything in detail.

 

[wkingsnorth]

Thanks. Article Link?

 

[SeeKified]

Here it is. It can be a tad confusing at times, but it's very in-depth. It deals with timings/latencies in a more general manner, rather than discussing the CAS-tRCD-tRP-tRAS (the 9-9-9-24 you mentioned) specifically.

 

[wkingsnorth]

Thanks

 

[EggCustard]

When you have a choice between frequency and timings then the former always wins. The latter is merely an icing on the cake bonus, think of it as a fine-tuning of performance characteristics. Real-world usage scenarios rarely exemplify the gains from lower memory timings unless the application is very memory intensive (i.e. it relies on very frequent memory requests, not just the amount of memory it uses).