Would faster RAM give much benefit?

[dbilsborough]

Just built a new gaming rig:

ECS PN2 SLI2 680i mobo
X6800 processor (second hand, but seemed good value for £300)
8800GTX


the RAM I have is a mix of 2 x Dell and 2 x Crucial 677mhz stuff that runs at 5-5-5-5-15 (I think)

I changed the latency of the RAM from 5 to 4 but it didn't make a big difference to my 3DMark06 score

I overclocked the processor to 3.46GHZ just to see if it would and the system seems stable enough

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=779586

Would I see a big benefit upgrading to faster RAM? I'm not really bothered about benchmarks to be honest, just the "real world" speed of the system, although I do use 3DMark06 to make sure everything is working.

Some memory seems to sell for a massive price, but like a lot of PC stuff I just wonder if it's a lot of money for little benefit....

 

[kmistry]

In real world applications you probably wouldn't notice the difference if you changed your RAM, though getting good RAM would mean you would have greater overclocking potential. If you really want to test your system to make sure its stable after overclocking then run Prime95 (google) its a good indicator as to how stable a system can be as opposed to using 3dmark 06.

Kiz

 

[Orison]

In the "real world", as a gamer, you won't notice any difference whatsoever between different RAM speeds. This article will tell you about it in detail but all you really need to see is the conclusion. Basically, higher-speed RAM gives you more OCing headroom, because it can keep pace with a higher FSB. But in your case, using an E6800 chip means you don't need to raise the FSB that high to find the chip's overclocking limitations, as the clock multiplier is so high. The people who do benefit from spending extra money on highly overclockable tightly-timed memory are those buying E6300 and E6400 CPUs, where the x7 or x8 clock multiplier will otherwise limit their OC ceiling.

In short, you won't notice the difference in real-world applications enough to justify the £200 expenditure to replace your RAM. The stuff you've got in there is already plenty fine, and it wouldn't be a good performance return on your investment at all.

 

[dbilsborough]

thanks for the replies, pretty much what I expected, but as systems are so complex these days it's always good to get an opinion

I was looking at memory on the OCUK shop and Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8888C4 TwinX (2x1GB) £470 must be good stuff although I would expect it to install itself and make me a cuppa for that price

 

[kmistry]

thanks for the replies, pretty much what I expected, but as systems are so complex these days it's always good to get an opinion

I was looking at memory on the OCUK shop and Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8888C4 TwinX (2x1GB) £470 must be good stuff although I would expect it to install itself and make me a cuppa for that price

Lol you're not wrong there!

 

[1dmf]

so although faster spec memory makes up for latency , latency is still important , so if you have fast memory and good latency then that is best.

Well that's what I made out from the conclusion link, is that correct.

Plus if you get low latency pc6400 , to get it running synconously, you have to OC the memory, which usually increases the latency (relax timings i've seen it called).

So if you have low latency memory , relax the timings , and OC you end up with syncronous , good latency, fast as hell memory -> so paying that extra bucks is worth it!

 

[WJA96]

I was looking at memory on the OCUK shop and Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 Dominator PC2-8888C4 TwinX (2x1GB) £470 must be good stuff although I would expect it to install itself and make me a cuppa for that price

I think it does all that. And it brings you your slippers when you get home from work too. It'll be £100 this time next year