To get faster DDR 2Gig kit or not?

MooSey-UK · 4 Jun 2007 at 11:12

Im running 2 Gig Geil value pc3200 at the moment. to achieve the best O/C from my cpu I have to run a divider obviously. Im still getting 221MHz out the Geil which aint too bad.
However I've recently fitted a 8800GTX. Whilst it's fantastic and S.T.A.L.K.E.R runs a treat @ 1920x1200 Oblivion and 3dmark06 could be better.

(specs in sig)

The bottom line is, if I were to run a 2 Gig pc4400 kit at a 1:1 ratio not only could I get a slightly higher o/c, but I'd get more bandwidth.
Is memory bandwidth the culprit for holding back a cpu such as mine (4400+).
Would more bandwidth improve my GTX's benchmark/games performance?

I always thought the 939 X2's preferred higher clock speeds and lower latency than higher memory bandwith. Since the intro of the 8800 series im not sure if this still rings true.

Obviously a 1:1 ratio at 266 to 270 fsb is going to improve matters but Im not sure if its worth it as overclocking DDR Ram seems hard to come by and expensive.
Overclockers don't stock any anymore. If anyone could recommend a brand that clocks to 275 (2 Gig kit) I'll try and hunt some down..... if it's worth it.

(I can't afford C2D/mobo and DDR2 in one hit but might be able to find £150ish for memory if its worth it).

Deluxe1 · 4 Jun 2007 at 12:55

Why not sell your existing cpu,ram and mb and put that towards the £150 you can get.

You`ll get a good core 2 duo set up with that.

MikeHunt79 · 4 Jun 2007 at 13:16

I recently upgraded, I got ram, motherboard, cpu and gfx for around £200.

2 gig DDR = £65
e2160 = £60ish
c2d motherboard = £40
total, just over £150

Bear in mind you will be able to flog all yer 939 stuff, and then put the money towards better bits if you like.

MooSey-UK · 4 Jun 2007 at 14:08

hmmmm, tempting. trouble is i just blew a grand on monitor,card and psu!
the mrs might not be very happy :eek:

i was hoping to get an extra boost to see me thru until vista/dx10 and true multicore games become reality.

DDR overclockers RAM seems to be outrageously expensive though

squiffy · 4 Jun 2007 at 14:24

Moving memory around

Just bought 2GB dual channel kit, I have a few options.

HTPC, 1GB Corsair Value CAS 2.5
Gaming rig, 2GB Corsair XMS 3200C2PT CAS 2

I can fit the 2GB XMS to the gaming rig to get 4GB of RAM (using XP and probably for some time)

Or fit it to the HTPC and sell off the value ram.
Is it unlikely games will require 4GB of RAM?

Lanz · 5 Jun 2007 at 16:18

It would be pointless, offering you minimal gains for the money.

Memory Bandwidth really doesnt do much for modern games. You'd probably get 5% more FPS, which you wouldnt even notice.

fobose · 5 Jun 2007 at 16:45

Moosey-uk; I bought some G.skill PC3200 DDR (F1-3200PHU2-2GBZX) for £120 new, which on loads of review sites overclocks way past DDR500 speeds. I have it running at DDR460 with 2.5-3-2-7 - am going to overclock it and my CPU to hopefully 250fsb soon as I have now sorted out my case cooling problem

Banjo · 5 Jun 2007 at 17:43

MooSey-UK, I've currently got my Geil value PC3200 DDR running at over 500MHz (check sig.)

You should try overclocking yours but setting lots of settings manually.
I mean, my DDR will only work at ~485MHz with 2.5-3-3-5 latencies or looser, where as once I hit ~510MHz I have to loosen them to 3-4-4-6.
Also, just to put things into perspective, I gained around 700MB/s bandwidth taking my ram from 400MHz with 2-3-3-5 to ~520MHz with 3-4-4-6.

Also, if you're using 2x1GB then your ram may be set to run at 1T, which means you'll already be getting a very good memory bandwidth at ~220MHz (around the same as me, I'd imagine)

There really isn't any point spending a huge amount of money on high speed DDR.

Also, fobose, are you serious? You spent £120 on 2GB of PC3200 DDR?! :confused:

That's pretty crazy, to say the least.

Banjo ;_;

MooSey-UK · 5 Jun 2007 at 17:47

upgrading the RAM has now become a neccessity.
for some reason my cpu has decided it'll go higher than before (burn in? new psu?) which throws my speeds and dividers. to run at 2.7 i have to have the RAM at 192mhz (all be it tighter timings) where as before I had 2.66 with RAM running at 221mhz. I've yet to bench in games but superpi and 3dmark06 are up despite the lower bandwidth.
by fitting pc4000 i can run 1:1 and get more bandwidth.
the performance may or may not be greater but running a 8800gtx in oblivion or stalker at 1920x1200 needs plenty of coal to stoke the fire. fitting some decent RAM should make a noticeable effect in those game titles.

MooSey-UK · 5 Jun 2007 at 17:50

Banjo said:
MooSey-UK, I've currently got my Geil value PC3200 DDR running at over 500MHz (check sig.)

You should try overclocking yours but setting lots of settings manually.
I mean, my DDR will only work at ~485MHz with 2.5-3-3-5 latencies or looser, where as once I hit ~510MHz I have to loosen them to 3-4-4-6.
Also, just to put things into perspective, I gained around 700MB/s bandwidth taking my ram from 400MHz with 2-3-3-5 to ~520MHz with 3-4-4-6.

Also, if you're using 2x1GB then your ram may be set to run at 1T, which means you'll already be getting a very good memory bandwidth at ~220MHz (around the same as me, I'd imagine)

There really isn't any point spending a huge amount of money on high speed DDR.

Also, fobose, are you serious? You spent £120 on 2GB of PC3200 DDR?!
That's pretty crazy, to say the least.

Banjo ;_;

my Geil is at it's limit at 221 3-4-4-8 1T. 1mhz more and it all goes ****.
im currently checking out the bay for something more sporting.

fobose · 5 Jun 2007 at 18:00

Banjo said:
Also, fobose, are you serious? You spent £120 on 2GB of PC3200 DDR?!
That's pretty crazy, to say the least.

Banjo ;_;

Why is it crazy? I dont want a new PC, my AGP/Socket 478 PC does me just fine but I had 4x256mb of kingston hyperX and wanted 2gb. £120 is a lot cheaper than a whole new PC.

MooSey-UK · 5 Jun 2007 at 18:09

unfortunately when hardware is no longer current generation and many shops stop stocking prices rocket

im happy to spend up to 80 notes secondhand. any more and i'd have to consider selling cpu/ram/mobo/hsf and going c2d.

fobose · 5 Jun 2007 at 18:14

I missed loads of cool kits on MM, including a g.skill PC4000 2gb kit

I think it went for about £100 to.

El Jimben · 5 Jun 2007 at 18:23

fobose said:
Moosey-uk; I bought some G.skill PC3200 DDR (F1-3200PHU2-2GBZX) for £120 new, which on loads of review sites overclocks way past DDR500 speeds. I have it running at DDR460 with 2.5-3-2-7 - am going to overclock it and my CPU to hopefully 250fsb soon as I have now sorted out my case cooling problem

Obviously each kit won't clock exactly the same but mine does DDR466 2.5-3-2-5 @ 2.6v and DDR500 @ 3-3-2-5 2.8v.

Banjo · 5 Jun 2007 at 18:27

fobose said:
Why is it crazy? I dont want a new PC, my AGP/Socket 478 PC does me just fine but I had 4x256mb of kingston hyperX and wanted 2gb. £120 is a lot cheaper than a whole new PC.

Ah, I'm guessing that you didn't make this purchase very recently?
I'm sorry, I thought you meant you'd just bought 2GB of DDR for that price, as 1GB stocks of ram are going for like £30 on the bay right now so as far as I can see there's no point paying more than £60 on a 2GB set.

Banjo ;_;

fobose · 5 Jun 2007 at 18:38

I bought it about 5 weeks ago, and I wanted something that was gaurenteed to overclock well. I couldn't get my KHX ram to overclock more than 235fsb with 4 sticks so didnt want to go with 4x1gb. At the time of purchase, DDRII was very similar in price, but as I say I didnt want to buy a whole new system.