Why the slower memory?

jubei

jubei

jubei

Soldato
Joined
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In all the specs i see on this forum people are always recommending the 6400 memory over the 8500/1066 versions etc. Why is this?

How much difference does it actually make? are you bottlenecking your new rig at all if you are getting a nice new quad core and 8800 and then putting 6400 memory in?

If not then why are other memory types even available as they would just cost more for no benefit? sorry if its a stupid question but i am speccing a system at the moment and would be nice to save cash wtih cheaper memory but dont wanna be potentially bottlenecking my system.

Also is there a big difference between using HDD in raid and just egtting a single HDD? speed wise that is. Also what are the recommended HDD to get these days? Talking normal Sata, not raptor as they are a bit of a luxury :)

Thanks all
 
I'm new to building my own rigs and computer stuff in general but this is what I've managed to figure out.

FSB and Ram speed runs best in 1:1 ratio. Most Core 2 Duo/ Quads currently have around 266mhz FSB (266x4). 6400 memory in DDR2 is 800mhz (400x2), but thats 'double rate' so it is actually 400mhz.

This means, 6400 memory will allow an overclock of the CPU to around 3.6ghz (400mhz FSB x 9 multiplier) without even overclocking the RAM speed, which is what most Quads/C2D peak at anyway. The higher speed ram is useful for when you want to hit a higher overclock AND want tighter timings. However, the Intel chip based systems don't see too much benefit with tighter timings in real-world performance, so people tend to stick with 6400 rated ram.

I hope that explains correctly, I'm sure others will do a better (more accurate) job.
 
For hdd's two Seagate Barracuda 7200.10's in RAID 0 will be the fastest you can get :p

Faster then a single raptor i beleive. For a fraction of the cost and a larger GB per £ amount.
 
twistedheat said:
I'm new to building my own rigs and computer stuff in general but this is what I've managed to figure out.

FSB and Ram speed runs best in 1:1 ratio. Most Core 2 Duo/ Quads currently have around 266mhz FSB (266x4). 6400 memory in DDR2 is 800mhz (400x2), but thats 'double rate' so it is actually 400mhz.

This means, 6400 memory will allow an overclock of the CPU to around 3.6ghz (400mhz FSB x 9 multiplier) without even overclocking the RAM speed, which is what most Quads/C2D peak at anyway. The higher speed ram is useful for when you want to hit a higher overclock AND want tighter timings. However, the Intel chip based systems don't see too much benefit with tighter timings in real-world performance, so people tend to stick with 6400 rated ram.

I hope that explains correctly, I'm sure others will do a better (more accurate) job.
Click to expand...

that's all correct, except ram doesn't always run better at 1:1, for example 266mhz fsb, and 1066mhz ram would still be quicker than 266mhz fsb and 667mhz ram.
 
I guess its because of price and overclockability, I mean this Crucial Ballistix PC5300 667Mhz ram used to be heavily recommended with people often getting 1000+ Mhz out of it with timing like 4-4-4-12.
 
willhub said:
I guess its because of price and overclockability, I mean this Crucial Ballistix PC5300 667Mhz ram used to be heavily recommended with people often getting 1000+ Mhz out of it with timing like 4-4-4-12.
Click to expand...

it still is I think, it's just that geil stuff is far cheaper these days.
 
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