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I'm not convinced by the benefits of faster memory...

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Wam

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2001
I'm toying with the idea of getting a 2.8C that will do 3.6 to replace my 2.53 in sig. But I'm trying to justify the extra cost in terms of speed.

The 3.6 would be at 260FSB with 208Mhz on the memory with the 5:4. At the moment I'm running at 181FSB with my memory @ 3200 at 226Mhz on the 4:5 ratio.

How much benefit would I see in getting some memory to run at 1:1 ratio (260Mhz). This memory cost almost twice as much but I'm not sure if I can justify the extra expense in terms of overall improvement to speed. I do a bit of everything on my PC, Game, Encode, etc.
 
Memory that is able to run at 260MHz generally has loose timings. Conversely, at 208MHz you can find low latency memory that will run the tighest timings (ie BH-5/6). On an Intel system, there really isn't a whole lot of difference performance wise between running your memory at 1:1 with loose timings versus 5:4 using tight timings. Also, giving the scarcity and pricing of BH-5/6 these days, you won't see much of a difference in price either way. Note: at 208MHz I said memory with tight timings. It's a given if you use cheapo memory that does garbage timings using the 5:4 divider, you'll definitely take a substantial hit performance wise as opposed to running 1:1.

As to your proposed setup. I think you're being highly optimistic with the 2.8 @ 3.6. If you do manage to hit 260FSB with the 2.8c, then either choice in memory will be fine. However, if you're unlucky and get a poor clocking 2.8c, you'd be taking a hit if you had bought the fast memory with loose timings. So, in order to be safe, I would recommend you stick with BH-5 or BH-6 if possible for your proposed setup.
 
Thanks, the CPU is pretty much guaranted to 3.6. (getting off a guy) Now I've got decide whether it's worth getting over my present CPU @ 3.4! :(
 
Your current RAM will be fine. The price difference in RAM that will do 1:1 is not worth the tiny performance gain. Like was said, the RAM that will do 1:1 will have more relaxed timings.
 
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