[Phil_Boggild]

For my new Q6600 rig, I've earmarked 4gb of OCZ Reapers, at PC8500. I've noticed that a lot of people with this CPU have PC6400 RAM. Is performance not greater when you can sync the FSB and the RAM, or is that no longer the case? In short, what RAM speed, ideally, should I be getting for use with an overclocked Q6600?

 

[flowtek]

for my ddr2 6400.. i found 8x400 / 9x400 cpu speed with ram at 1000 5-5-5-15 wouldnt hurt the system.. and also doesnt need insane voltage for nb and ram

flo

EDIT: speed is all it is.. much better with unlink 1000 5-5-5-15 than link to sync 800 4-4-4-12

 

[Phil_Boggild]

Thanks for the reply, but should I be striving on a p45 based board to sync the FSB and memory speed, or is it unimportant?

 

[Monst3r]

Anything with 5-5-5-15 loose timings as higher MHZ the better

 

[error10]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil_Boggild Thanks for the reply, but should I be striving on a p45 based board to sync the FSB and memory speed, or is it unimportant?

P45? Bah, go get a nice X48 board like the P5E Deluxe or Rampage Formula.

Anyways, the big deal is not so much the RAM speed but the timings, and one in particular. Read this.

 

[lothar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil_Boggild For my new Q6600 rig, I've earmarked 4gb of OCZ Reapers, at PC8500. I've noticed that a lot of people with this CPU have PC6400 RAM. Is performance not greater when you can sync the FSB and the RAM, or is that no longer the case? In short, what RAM speed, ideally, should I be getting for use with an overclocked Q6600?

Probably you can get to 3.6GHz with this CPU. That is 9x400MHz
I recommend getting some Ultra Low Latency DDR2-800 sticks...
with CAS3 you will get huge memory performance gain

 

[chessmyantidrug]

Right now I have my RAM at 1000 MHz, but I know it works at 1066 MHz. I plan to see how far I can push my RAM today. I think 3.6 GHz is as far as my Q6600 will go. I tried upping the FSB to 410 MHz and Windows wouldn't load. Good luck with your OC.

 

[phillipjos]

With my old quad i was running 1068 mhz with pc2-8000 witch is 1000 mhz it ran fine @3.6 so any where around 1000 should be fine,imo just up your ram voltage to 2.0 or 2.1.

 

[Phil_Boggild]

Ok, the rep is flowing chaps.

Correct me if I'm wrong, please, but I think I'm starting to understand that I have two main options. I can increase the multiplier on the CPU which will keep the FSB at 400, so DDR2 800 RAM would be in a 1:1 ratio with it.

OR, I can increase the FSB, in which case having faster RAM like the DDR2 1066 I originally had in mind would be more appropriate.

Assuming I'm right, which of these two routes is most appropriate with this hardware?

Also, I can't afford an X48 board like the P5E Deluxe, and was recommended to go with a decent P45 board like the P5Q Pro.

The funny thing is that this isn't my first build or my first OCing venture. I've got an old Prescott on WC, and at the time knew exactly what I was doing, but it's been so long and I've been so out of the loop with how the tech has developed that I can't remember how to do things. It's like having to learn it all over again.

 

[Phil_Boggild]

Bump.

 

[reezin14]

IMO go with the faster ram,that way you don't have to worry about the ram being able to keep up.I can hit 3.7 stable with 1066(not oc'ed).

 

[CorryBasler]

I use 4GB of OCZ Platniums 1066Mhz! But i Overclocked it to 1397Mhz Stabley! I have a link if you like at home!(I am at school)

 

[error10]

No, you don't really have to worry about whether it's synced or not, only whether it's able to keep up at least a 1:1 ratio. And go back up and read my other post, despite your not being able to buy an X48 you missed some critical information.

 

[Gunderman456]

Phil Boggild, I have my Q6600 at 3.2 GHz, my RAM Unlinked at 1033 (once I set my Q6600 at 3.2 GHz, it automatically set my RAM at 1033 MHz when I went with Unlinked) which was close enough for me at stock timings of 5-5-5-15-2T and all are running stable.

 

[Phil_Boggild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by error10 No, you don't really have to worry about whether it's synced or not, only whether it's able to keep up at least a 1:1 ratio. And go back up and read my other post, despite your not being able to buy an X48 you missed some critical information.

I really appreciate your help, but I'm not clever enough to digest most of that article. I still don't really understand what I need to be looking at. I fear I'm out of my depth.

I suppose I just want to know what to buy, and why. If I overclock just by increasing the multiplier then the FSB won't increase at all, will it. In that case, I don't understand at all what the ideal divider should be.

If I overclock by increasing the FSB, again, I don't know what divider I need to be at ideally, so again I don't know what RAM I should get in either case.

Surely there's a definitive divider that works best with this CPU, and therefore an ideal speed of RAM for each depending on the speed of the FSB. I suppose I need to go back and read up on actual tests and benches done with the Q6600.

 

[Vlasov_581]

why don't you try 450 x 8...see how that works

 

[error10]

In short, how you clock your RAM is going to depend on what you end up with for your FSB/CPU overclock. So do that first.

 

[Gunderman456]

As error10 suggested, for stability, worry about overclocking your CPU first and either keeping stock RAM or overclocking your RAM, after a stable CPU overclock.

As reezin14 suggested, the higher the RAM speed, for example 1066 MHz, the better able the RAM to keep up with an overclock.

As I suggested earlier, when you go unlinked it will auto adjust your RAM based on the CPU FSB overclock, so again don't fret about RAM MHz too much.

Once you have a stable CPU overclock, then you may tweak MEM MHz, timings and volts from stock settings.