Tight Timings, 1:1 or High Speed which is better?

[ginjaninja]

After a lot of ups and downs and false starts, I now have my rig stable.
The only aspect i havent tweaked so far is the memory. I would like to tweak the memory for maximum performance but need advice please.

q6600 G0 3.6 Ghz (400x9) @ 1.32v, 31 idle, 61 load
TRU 120 with Noctua 1200 RPM
asus maximus formula
Corsair Dominator 8500 Ram
Antec P182
Current Memory Bios Setting (strap 400, Memory 800Mhz, 5,5,5,18, 2,2 Volts ie basically on auto)

should I be looking to get the tightest timings at 800Mhz, or the most amount of Mhz out of the memory.
Advice on the sorts of volts / timings i should be aiming for (both primary and secondary). From a previous post yellowbeard has advised that I should get 4.4.4.12 @ 2.2v or better but i dont know at what secondary timings i should go for or just leave on auto.
At this stage i do not envisage raising the FSB any more for day to day usage and am looking for the best system performance at 400fsb.

The performance is just needed for games (but also for curiosity / epeen)..in reality does memory performance make much odds to min frame rate in games..im suspecting not.

Im using Prime Blend for stability test, everest for synthentic benchmark and crysis benchmark for real world benchmark...any better suggestions? Are there certain types of games which are sensitive to memory performance/bandwidth.

 

[helmutcheese]

Outside of Benches and a Few App's your best to have the FSB and Memory at same speed 1:1 or In Sync (depending what Bios Vendor calls it).

So if you ran a 1333mhz DDR FSB CPU your Memory only needs be 1/2 that so 667mhz not 1333mhz (DDR2 wont reach that/well most).

If you overclock to 1600mhz DDR FSB, your Memory only needs be 800mhz DDR.

I would not run the Memory at less than 1/2 the DDR FSB to try get better Timings.

Example a E6850 is a 1333mhz FSB CPU, it really has a FSB clock of 333mhz, but Intel Quad Pump so x4 = 1333mhz DDR FSB.

Example DDR2 PC5300 has a Real Clock of 333mhz but its DDR so x2 = 667mhz DDR Clock.

 

[ginjaninja]

ive been toying with 4-4-4-12 @2v @ 800 mhz everything else on auto..prime95 blend is stable so far...any other recommended settings..should i try to drop the primary values any more..or go for 1t?

 

[helmutcheese]

Well thats great, your covered for the new Intel 1600FSB CPU or if you OC your current CPU .

Not all Mobos like 1T, Striker E claims to do it but I aint got it to run on any Ram I tried, did on all my AMD CPU Mobos though.