so how important is latency?

[Progenitor]

Been looking up prices for PC3200 modules, and it seems that the primary difference between the various prices jumps is the latency rating. How important is the latency in terms of real performance that can be expected from the memory? Is putting in the extra investment to really get the low latency going to make a noticeable difference? I figure that, if I'm going to be dropping money on good memory, I might as well not slack to save a few bucks after all is said and done if there is going to be a sizeable.difference.

Also, what difference does "registered" memory make?

 

[Spike23]

Yea dude...the extra money does make a difference if ur OCing.
Nuff said. It was even discussed in the stickys. If you just want ram thats the speed you still shouldn't stick with crap ones. Just my opinion though i would never buy crap..cuz down the road what's the use with crap ram.

 

[Mortankas]

The latency is the time it takes for RAM to make data accesible to the CPU, taking into account address decoding latency. Obviously, the quicker this is performed by the memory, the more data the CPU can process in a given amount of time.

You'll certainly see the difference when you benchmark your system over various software platforms, but if you're talking about gaming, i doubt you'll notice much difference, possibly iron out a few laggy bits here and there, gain 5-10fps. If you have a high end system, buy the better memory to complement your rig, if not for stability and overclocking potential if you dabble in those areas.

Registered memory uses additional registers for error checking and correction purposes. This type of memory is slower, as it holds the data for a tad longer before making it available to the CPU. This is why it is used mostly in servers, where data integrity matters highly.

Hope this helps.

 

[Progenitor]

That's helpful. Thanks for the info.

 

[msny]

The latency is the time it takes for RAM to make data accesible to the CPU, taking into account address decoding latency. Obviously, the quicker this is performed by the memory, the more data the CPU can process in a given amount of time.

You'll certainly see the difference when you benchmark your system over various software platforms, but if you're talking about gaming, i doubt you'll notice much difference, possibly iron out a few laggy bits here and there, gain 5-10fps. If you have a high end system, buy the better memory to complement your rig, if not for stability and overclocking potential if you dabble in those areas.

Registered memory uses additional registers for error checking and correction purposes. This type of memory is slower, as it holds the data for a tad longer before making it available to the CPU. This is why it is used mostly in servers, where data integrity matters highly. Tweaking these settings in your BIOS with the right kind of ram is just as important as a good OC...

Hope this helps.

This is why I have PC3500 ram, my timings are very lean and mean and I can see a difference in real intense gaming situations. Not so much in gaining any FPS but things just seem smoother.Tweeking the settings in your BIOS is just as important as a good OC...IMHO

 

[Lord of Shadows]

Registered memory uses additional registers for error checking and correction purposes.

Registered memory puts the address signal into a register instead of directly to each chip reducing address loading. Registered memory has nothing to do with ecc, you can have unbuffered ecc and buffered ecc memory. As for memory timings, they will make a slight difference, but the cpu cache will keep memory reads to a minimum. You will be better off going for higher frequency memory, but ram with great timings at 200mhz will likely run at higher frequencys. Then you get into that weird area if cas 2 is better than 15 exta mhz.

 

[joethemole]

why do we see super high ram speeds but not super low timings like cas 1?