Timings and other things

[sjw208]

Hello all,

I've currently got 2x1Gb sticks of Corsair XMS2, and am trying to upgrade to 2x2Gb sticks of Corsair XMS2 Pro, so leaving my other 2 slots free as I am considering the pros and cons of a 64bit system with 8Gb (the most my motherboard can support). So here are my questions:

Both sets of sticks are 800Mhz, the fastest my board will support, and from what I can tell are the same in every respect except that the "old" sticks have 4-4-4-12 timings and the new have 5-5-5-18. Will this be a problem? And do I have to do anything special with the BIOS to account for this.

Also, the PC is one of the overclockers.co.uk OC systems, and from what I remember the memory was supposed to have been overclocked. Is this likely to cause any problems when I plug my new sticks in? A friend recommended that I first take a look in the BIOS and maybe turn off any overclock settings before installing the sticks.

Finally, is there anything I need to know about the process of installing the memory, from what I could gather online most of the process is automated by the PC and aside from the possible issues above I should just be able to swap them over with no problems.

While I'm posting in the memory forums; if I might upgrade to Vista 64-bit at some stage in the future, will the additional 4Gb of memory need to be another of the same type of sticks? Just trying to decide whether to pick up a second set now in case I can't get the same again down the line.

 

[Richie P]

What motherboard does the system have?

What you'll need to do before installing the memory is manually changed the BIOS memory timings to 5-5-5-18 to be sure that all the stick will work (the new sticks might not work at 4-4-4-12 timings, but the old ones will definitely work at 5-5-5-18).

Adding 2 extra memory sticks will mean that you might need to bump up the northbridge voltage as well, to handle the extra load that will be going through it. That's the reason for the motherboard question.

Take care of these two points in the BIOS and you should be able to plug 'em in and go

 

[sjw208]

Its an Abit IP35

With the Northbridge adjustment are you talking about when/if I upgrade to 8Gb on Vista 64?

I will make sure to change the timings before I install. If the memory is already overclocked does that mean the timings may not be set to 4-4-4-12 as it is or does overclocking involve other settings which I would want to change back for the new sticks?

 

[sjw208]

I've had a look in the BIOS and I can't see where I would set the memory timings... Can anyone please elaborate a little more on what exactly I need to do, I'm not experienced with these things so will need a bit more info.