Memory Timings When OCing

C

CalvinGT

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 7, 2007
Messages
251
Ok, so my RMAd Mushkin ram is coming back this week, hopefully fully operational. I am going to switch back to that as I am very unhappy with the performance of the Ballistix I picked up last week. Either way, just a very question for you all. When overclocking the CPU (but not the RAM itself), is there any rule of thumb regarding the memory timings?

The Mushkin is rated 4-5-4-11 DDR2 800. If I am OCing my E6600 to 3.375ghz, should I leave the RAM at those timings or increase it? If so, whats the rule of thumb here to figure out whats safe. I just dont want my very finnicky 680iLT to burn the RAM.

Thanks!
 
Well...no matter what dram ratio you're using, the memory will always gradually clock higher as you speed up your processor (unless you've got an RD600 based board like myself). A good thing to do is either lower the memory clock with a divider and/or relax all the basic timings first. Find your CPU's max overclock, never letting the memory exceed stock clocks while pumping the FSB. Once that's done, leave the memory timings all very relaxed and start to raise the memory clock with faster dividers until you find a point where it seems fairly capable. Once you've settled on a memory clock/divider you can start tightening the timings, but depending on the memory clock/voltages being used you may or may not get close to stock timings.

I know this is all very general, but depending on your specific memory/motherboard the exact dividers/timings/voltages will vary quite a bit, but it is this general pattern that I always follow and it has never steered me wrong.
 
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