Looking to OC, just need a question or two answered beforehand...

[Lone_Star_Lynch]

I was considering OCing my q6600. Or more I knew I was going to do it. I'm a bit apprehensive. But I took a look at the OC database here in this forum and it looks like everyone in it got 3.0ghz or more. That motivated me.

So I just need to ask a quick question and I'll set about the OCing process. I have two 2gig kits of ddr2 800.
This one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034
And this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220174

They have obvious differences. The latencies and timings are different, the voltage... I'm guessing for a good over clock I'll need to use all the same sticks. Can anyone out there educate me on this real quick? Is the extra boost on the CPU worth taking out two gigs if I cant have the 4?

 

[Lone_Star_Lynch]

bumpity bump... OCing noob looking for some help from someone who knows what they're talking about (unlike himself)

 

[RedShark]

Unless you're into benchmarking, just go with the cheaper stuff. The Corsair's better timings will only net you an extra few percent in performance. Also, it's worth emphasizing that memory timings have almost nothing to do with how well you can overclock your CPU, unless you're going for something extreme (tigher timings suggest the RAM could run even faster at looser timings, but I doubt this bothers you). Going from 2.4 -> 3.0 ghz is a much bigger jump than going from the cheap memory to the expensive memory.

 

[Forceman]

It isn't strictly necessary to have all the same memory in order to overclock - they will all run at the same settings so you will be limited by the weakest link but it will still work. Adjust your memory settings to match the weaker of the two sets of memory and go from there. Even if you had to remove a pair of sticks and drop back to 2 GB of RAM, you'd still probably get better performance from the overclock, depending on what apps you are running (2 GB is probably enough for whatever you are likely to need, while you can always use more CPU power)

 

[RedShark]

Heh, reading comprehension FTW I mis-read the original post--just listen to Forceman and ignore me

 

[Lone_Star_Lynch]

It isn't strictly necessary to have all the same memory in order to overclock - they will all run at the same settings so you will be limited by the weakest link but it will still work. Adjust your memory settings to match the weaker of the two sets of memory and go from there. Even if you had to remove a pair of sticks and drop back to 2 GB of RAM, you'd still probably get better performance from the overclock, depending on what apps you are running (2 GB is probably enough for whatever you are likely to need, while you can always use more CPU power)

Thank you very much. Another noobish question coming your way... The Patriot is the weaker stuff, right? So I set the Corsair to run at the Patriot's speeds before I start my overclock? I understand everything else pretty much, but I've always been confused by RAM.

EDIT: nvm sorry reread your post.