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Dual Channel and OCing...

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Zoilo

Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Joined
May 20, 2003
Location
L.A.
I heard on these boards a while back that the way to get the highest FSB overclock (assuming everything else is fine) is to have only one RAM module.

Dual Channel requires 2 modules. I also heard that the performance increase of dual channel isn't good enough to warrant an overclocking limit with more than one RAM module(ties in nicely with the above. :D ).

So...
Does RAM really not overclock as well when you have more than 1 module running?
If it doesn't then is it enough of a decrease to stay away from dual channel?
 
it is true that ram doesnt overclock as well with two sticks, and dual channel is much less effective on amd rigs than intels, but still worth while in my opinion. just buy an nf2 board with good vdimm options (nf7 abit probably, not my damn msi with a lousy 2.7 limit) and some pc3500+ ram and your motherboard will probably limit you before the ram does
 
Thanks for the input Rob. Now the big question I forgot to include: Why doesn't 2 modules overclock as well as 1?

Oh, and since you mentioned it: Why doesn't dual channel work as well on AMD rigs than on Intel rigs?
 
I think the issue is not so much that the memory does not oc as well in dual channel. Really its a limitation of the motherboard typically. On the nforce2 boards the average seems to be ablout 5% increased bandwidth if you take into account the decrease in max FSB but then the increase in performance because of DC.

The other issue with OCing with 2 sticks of memory though is that when you hit the ceiling of 1 of the sticks you will have problems. It is generally easier to find 1 stick that will oc well than 2.
 
The main reason is that the bus for AMD chips is DDR, same as the memory. P4 chips have a quad-pumped bus with DDR RAM, so with dual channel the P4 chip can access much more data per second, whereas the AMD bus is already pretty much saturated.
 
Deathknight said:
The other issue with OCing with 2 sticks of memory though is that when you hit the ceiling of 1 of the sticks you will have problems. It is generally easier to find 1 stick that will oc well than 2.

Alright just confirming what I thought. :)
 
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