Check memory frequency? - Page 2 - Overclock.net

bigal1542 · 01-10-09

Thanks for the help so far!

Is the base FSB related to the processor's speed (like GHz) or is it related to the motherboard?

And on another of our computers, its pretty old, I have some PC3200 sticks in it and CPU-Z says they are 200 MHz stable, but they are only running at 153.5 MHz. Is this good or bad? Should I change this, or can I?

superon · 01-12-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigal1542

Thanks for the help so far!

Is the base FSB related to the processor's speed (like GHz) or is it related to the motherboard?

And on another of our computers, its pretty old, I have some PC3200 sticks in it and CPU-Z says they are 200 MHz stable, but they are only running at 153.5 MHz. Is this good or bad? Should I change this, or can I?

The FSB is the link between the CPU and the northbridge (chipset on the motherboard) and the speed of the FSB is the speed that all the other components are based off of (with multipliers)-- including the processor's speed -- so if your FSB is at 250Mhz and the multiplier on your processor is set to x13, then your processor will run at 3.25Ghz (3250Mhz). Same goes for the memory -- but the memory uses dividers instead of multipliers.

bigal1542 · 01-12-09

Ah gotcha, thanks for the help!

bigal1542 · 01-12-09

So how would I change the Memory timings?

Also, I have heard that in order to fully get the benefits of DDR2, you need two identical sticks. Is this true? And if so, with DDR3, do you need three identical sticks?

TwoCables · 01-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigal1542

So how would I change the Memory timings?

Also, I have heard that in order to fully get the benefits of DDR2, you need two identical sticks. Is this true? And if so, with DDR3, do you need three identical sticks?

With a pre-built pc, it may not be possible to adjust anything. However, go into the BIOS then look around as thoroughly as you can. It's possible that the system just might be new enough that you can do some sort of overclocking. I say this because I've noticed here on OCN that pre-built pc's are just now beginning to have some overclocking abilities whereas just a year ago or two, overclocking a pre-built with the BIOS was absolutely impossible but could be done modestly with software (which isn't really recommended).

I don't know if there's a correlation between DDR2 and 2 sticks, but the reference was made to dual-channel. It's better/faster to use 2 sticks of 2GB to get to 4GB instead of 4 sticks of 1GB each. But now there's triple channel, but I don't know much about it yet.

But I hope my reply bumps this up to give you a better answer than mine.

superon · 01-13-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigal1542

So how would I change the Memory timings?

Also, I have heard that in order to fully get the benefits of DDR2, you need two identical sticks. Is this true? And if so, with DDR3, do you need three identical sticks?

It doesn't have anything to do with DDR2 or DDR3, it's the memory controller that is being used and whether it can run in dual-channel or tri-channel (like Intels i7 chips). I'm still running off good old DDR and I have have it running in dual-channel with matched sticks of RAM. Dual channel changes the memory bus width to 128bit from 64bit in single channel, and tri-channel is 192bit. So, Core i7 has the only triple-channel memory controller that I am aware of, everything else will dual-channel capable unless you go way back.

bigal1542 · 01-13-09

Okay sounds good, thanks again for the help! Ill post more questions if needed

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Check memory frequency?

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