Just bought OCZ PC4000 for IC7-G P4 2.4C

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nickdigital

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• Oct 12, 2003

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Hi guys...I recently purchased a IC7-G and a 1gb matched pair of OCZ PC4000(non gold). I intend to overclock the P4 2.4C. I decided to save money on the gold because of a review I read on Tom's hardware...

http://www6.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030812/index.html

What I basically got out of it was that aggressive memory timings are not as valuable as higher synchronous bus speed. Poking around in this forum it seems many of you feel the opposite. Have I made too rash a decision? The steep price of this memory was indeed hard to swallow, but is it more than overkill, is it actually a worse buy than say a some better timed PC3700? My goal from this OC is to push the processor to it's max with synchronous bus speeds.

Any one have experience with this particular brand and model? What are the odds I will be able to push it past its modest timings?

My goal from this OC is to push the processor to it's max with synchronous bus speeds.

 

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nickdigital

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Ooops...here are a couple specifics. I bought the OCZ Enhanced Latency (doesn't seem that "enhanced" to me now) dual channel kit. Thats 2 512mb sticks. Rated to run CL 3-4-4-8

 

JKeefe

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• Oct 12, 2003

• #3

I'm not familiar with OCZ, but 3-4-4-8 is anything but "enhanced latency".

From what I have gathered, despite memory bandwidth going through the roof with ever-increasing memory speed, more actual performance benefits can be seen from lower latencies at the expense of sheer speed. So, I'm guessing, although I have no personal experience, that your statement that this memory would be "a worse buy than say a some better timed PC3700" is correct.

 

batboy

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• Oct 13, 2003

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That OCZ usually will do a little better than the advertised timing, especially if you're running it slower than max DDR speed. But, I really doubt you'll make full use of the DDR500 speed with a 2.4C. To run DDR500 using the 1:1 mem ratio, you're at 250 FSB which is only a wimpy 3 gig. To hit DDR500 using the 5:4 ratio means you are running 312 FSB which is 3.74 gig (not very likely).

 

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nickdigital

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I'm new to OC'ing on anything other than the historic 440BX platform, but couldn't I keep the ratio 1:1 and just raise the FSB to increase the total OC? I realize that it would be pushing the memory past it's rated speed, but isnt that was this is all about?

 

Gregory_WE

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• Oct 13, 2003

• #6

Yes but your RAM might not be able to go above that.

 

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nickdigital

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I guess it's just wishful thinking on my part...the couple of reviews on the OCZ site said they were able to push to 270-281 stable. Propaganda, maybe? I'll soon find out...I'll post the numbers when I get all my hardware, probably within the week.

 

batboy

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• Oct 13, 2003

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I've heard that sometimes you can get up to DDR550 too (that's 275 FSB using the 1:1), but anything above the rated speed is a gamble, especially with the i875 chipset which is hard to run RAM overclocked in dual channel.

 

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SeanOMatic

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• Oct 13, 2003

• #9

Actually, from what I have seen, the overclock depends a lot on which board you are using as well.

The IC7-G has known problems when running above 255 FSB 1:1, although Abit has a BIOS fix that is supposed to address the issue.

Your OCZ PC4000 memory should go above its rated 500 MHZ at least a little bit. Every module that OCZ sells is tested above it's rated speed to ensure absolute stability.

If you need any help or have questions, please feel free to PM me.


-Sean

 

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nickdigital

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Ok Ok.....looks like to give me the best headroom I should go with the OCZ PC3700 Gold (If I want to hit 3.5 ghz 5:4). I was debating between that set and a set of Mushkin PC3500 level 2 black(aiming at 3.3 ghz 5:4, tight timings)

What do you guys think?

 

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nickdigital

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Screw it, I'm giving two buffalo 3700 sticks a try.

 

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flapperhead

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• Oct 14, 2003

• #12

im kinda interested how fast that stuff will run 1-1 and what u paid for it?

 

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nickdigital

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Well....I actually canceled that order and went with Mushkin Level 2 black PC3500. I'll post my results though.

 

extremecorvette

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• Oct 25, 2003

• #14

So would Buffalo PC3700 with 2-2-2-5 be better than GEIL PC4000 with 2.5-4-4-7. Has any one tried putting PC4000 on a AMD system?

 

JKeefe

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• Oct 27, 2003

• #15

Yes, that's the idea - tight timings will do you more real-world good than execssive speed.

PC4000 on an AMD system... will NF2 boards run at 250 FSB?

 

wannaoc

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• Oct 27, 2003

• #16

PC4000 on an AMD system... will NF2 boards run at 250 FSB?

Click to expand...

Some yes, mainly the ones with a chipset volt mod but they are out there.

The problem with running pc4000 ram in an AMD setup is the timings. Almost all PC4K+ sticks use Hynix chips or similar and they run high speeds but with high timings. To an AMD setup this is a killer, for Intel its not as bad because they rely more on the bandwidth.