2 Ram overclocking questions in 1 thread

DDR 2700

could i buy ddr3000 ram and then set it to ddr2700 speeds so then I can get a higher overclock?

or would I be better off getting ddr2700 and just overclocking that.

woulden't I be able to get a higher overclock that way?


Right now I have pc2100 and windows don't boot after the fsb gets up to 152mhz. I know that it might be my ram because on my motherboard I can set the divider for my ram. I think I am sure that my ram is my limiting factor cause I can set the divisor so that the ram runs at 333 instead of 266 and at the same time i underclock my fsb to 119 which makes the ram run at 304... So the result is that my whole system is running slower than stock speed and my ram is running overclocked. IS THIS A GOOD WAY TO TEST RAM?

*edit* and no I don't run my computer with that setup

Hello?

could i buy ddr3000 ram and then set it to ddr2700 speeds so then I can get a higher overclock?

Click to expand...

Okay....that whole post doesn't really make a lot of sense to me the way you said it, but I'll try and help you out.

pc2700 is rated for 333mhz (166mhz) bus speed
pc3000 is rated somewhat faster, 333mhz (183 mhz) bus speed

Your best performance option is to have the memory running at the same speed as the fsb (at sync), and to have that front side bus speed as fast as possible.

Changing the divider to run it faster isn't a bad way to test how fast the ram bus speed will go.

Overall, faster ram will let you increase the fsb more, allowing for a higher overclock (as long as the other parts of the system can take it) In some cases, the manufacturer is more important than the rated speed, in that somethign like corsair pc2700 will probably be able to go further out of spec than no-name pc2700

Ok, here's a simple explanation, and an answer.

DDR266 aka PC2100 - rated to run at double pumped 133mhz speed for 266mhz data rate.

DDR333 aka PC2700 - rated to run at 166mhz physical / 333 data

DDR400 aka (I forget, PC3200, right?) is rated to run at 200mhz, 400mhz data rate.

If you had, for example, a KT333 chipset, that required PC2700 to run properly, and an Athlon 2000+ (or any other processor with a 133mhz fsb) you would have ram running at 166mhz and processor communicating at 133mhz - this is called 'asynchronous', meaning simply that they are timed differently.

If you unlocked your processor to lower the multiplier (ensuring stability only) and increased the FSB to 166, you'd have SYNCHRONOUS memory/processor interaction - they're both running at the same speed.

But wait, you have a KT333 motherboard that says it supports up to 220mhz fsb, and an now you have an unlocked processor... will your PC2700 do 220mhz? Probably not. It MIGHT do 200 mhz, but that depends on the quality of your ram.

However, if you had bought PC3200, aka DDR400, you would not have any worries about your ram surviving and being stable at 200mhz, because that's what it's RATED at. Follow me?

Now for the simple answer -

Yes, you can use ram rated better than what your motherboard is spec'd for, and if you can afford it / it's not a hassle to buy it, it's a simple step to ensure stability, or at least remove a possible source of instability from the overclocking equation.