Multiplier / Memory Settings

[jmackay]

Just wondering since I don't have much experience in this, but is it worth it to drop the multiplier on your CPU in order to raise the FSB?

EG: Is there much of a gain going from say 9x355 (3.2ghz) to 8x400 (3.2ghz)? Or say 9x400 (3.6ghz) to 8x450 (3.6ghz).

Also, how much of a difference is there between 4-4-4-12 and 5-5-5-15 timing? Is it better to find a spot where you can run @ lower 1T vs high 2T?

Some people say to unlock your ram and cpu, while others say its best to keep them 1:1.

Are there any good articles about this kinda stuff somewhere?

Trying to figure out what will be best for my setup.

Evga 680i, e6600, Buffalo Firestix 800

Thanks.

 

[orion23]

A higher FSB = higher memory bandwidth.

Tighter or lower timings = better synthetic benchmarks.

@ the best, we are talking about seconds gained from running a higher FSB.

However, a high FSB will be very stressful on your motherboard, so IMO, it is better to keep everything cool and relaxed instead of exploiting your hardware to the max.

 

[jmackay]

Does running tighter timings / 1T vs 2T stress the memory more or is it safe (though potentially unstable).. aka will I run any risk of ruining it?

 

[BillParrish]

EG: Is there much of a gain going from say 9x355 (3.2ghz) to 8x400 (3.2ghz)? Or say 9x400 (3.6ghz) to 8x450 (3.6ghz).

Yes you just pushed your memory speed and bandwidth higher while keeping the cpu frequency the same, its faster as a system. You have exactly the right idea. As long as you concentrate on the CPU speed first.

Also, how much of a difference is there between 4-4-4-12 and 5-5-5-15 timing? Is it better to find a spot where you can run @ lower 1T vs high 2T?

Not sure, but dont think you will get 1T, not much, couple of percent in benchmarks, never notice playing a game, well worth loosening up the timings to get more FSB for the CPU.

Some people say to unlock your ram and cpu, while others say its best to keep them 1:1.

I run 1:1 on intel systems, the increased wait states and buffering when running non-synched eats up most if any performance gain.

I think you have the right idea, do whatever to get highest CPU speed while keeping memory 1:1 and running it as fast as it can within the limits imposted by your possible mulitpliers.

These guys have a lot of c2d articles be sure to look under the memory section too, the article about value ram on C2Ds makes a lot of the points above.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=2802&p=2

Sadly an search of similar [H] articles was fruitless.

 

[BillParrish]

Does running tighter timings / 1T vs 2T stress the memory more or is it safe (though potentially unstable).. aka will I run any risk of ruining it?

Nope will not damage it, only high voltage can physically damage your ram. Other things, like timings and speed settings will just make it fail as in, "HEY I cant do that and I am going out to lunch, crash"

Be ready to reinstall windows due to a corrupted HD when you start really pushing the memory, it happens.

 

[jmackay]

Rgr, just wanted to make sure I couldn't damage it (physically not mentally hehe)

Thank you both for the info!