Max FSB expected on IC7 w/ OCZ PC4200 EL?

I am planning on purchasing 2x256Mb OCZ PC4200 EL sticks for my IC7 and couple it with my 2.8C MO. Without performing any motherboard mods, I would like to get an idea of what max FSB I could expect to achieve? Does anybody have any insight on this? I currently have the IC7 running with an Antec TP 430PSU with plenty of airflow in the Antec 1080AMG case. If it's possible to attain above 250FSB, then I will probably forego any motherboard mods. I just would like to have in idea of whether or not I am going to need these mods to take full advantage of this OCZ memory. Thanks.

Largely depending on your cooling (!), I would say that PS4000/4200 is perfectly suited for your needs to run at 1:1!

I guess what I want to know is if the NorthBridge i875p and IC7 can handle DDR533 (i.e. FSB 266 1:1) without any voltage mods. Using ABIT EQ, my system temperature stays around 21C.

to the best of my knowledge the ocz el is hand tested bt or ct-d43 hynix chips. these are a newer revision that hynix binned to work at better latencies at 5/4 and 1-1. at 5/4 they are good to about 215 mhz at 2-3-3-5. at 1-1, pc4200/266 mhz they are built to run at 2.5-4-4-7. this is probably as fast as they will run at those latencies. at a 250 fsb the 2.8 is going to be running 3.550. at 260 it needs to be able to run about 3.7. So the el pc4200 is probably more than your needs, i would consider some good pc4000 if u want to run 1-1, or some quality pc3200 that will run 5/4 with tight timings. as far as overclocking to 250-260 with the stock nb cooling and voltage, it should be adequate.


WELCOME TO THE FORUMS.....

Thanks a lot for your help. I do know that I want the Enhanced latency version. And the price difference between the PC4000 and PC4200 isn't that much. So I'm thinking I'll just stick with the PC4200 so I have a little growing room if necessary. This recent article from Anandtech really praised it http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.html?i=1972., saying it is the best for the money. Better than the PC4400.

You won't need any voltage mods for the mobo... the RAM and the mobo can handle that speed, but the CPU might or might not.

Yes you are right, the CPU may not be able to handle that. I am aware of that. I just want to know what to expect in case the CPU is capable. And it sounds like you told me. Thank you very much. Also, let me point out that I may not be able to run the PC4200 at is spec'd speed of 266FSB; but hopefully I will be able to compensate for that by tightening the memory timings below their SPD rating....another reason for wanting the higher speed DDR. I do know that I want to run the memory synchronous 1:1 to decrease the latency and provide better bandwidth. That's why I chose the 2.8C instead of the 2.4C, in order to reach higher FSB's in the 1:1 configuration.

The Abit boards don't run PC4000 very well. Even with good sticks, you are likely to max out around 273 fsb. Same sticks do 280+ on the Asus and Epox. Your EL4200s should probably do 273, for the price. I'm using ADATA PC450 with Hynix 4.5B chips.

BTW, bench the 3DMarks to test for stability. Sometimes you will be Memtest clean well above where you can bench 3D.

Thanks for the input. I will definitely make sure it passes the 3DMark03 as well. I'm ok not being able to reach higher FSB's as long as I can tighten the memory timings to compensate for it. I'm hoping this memory will allow me to do that. I've noticed from reviews that you can many times achieve better bandwidth at lower FSB's but with tighter memory timings. In otherwords, if I can run say 2.5CAS 3-3-6 at say 260 FSB, I will probably get better bandwidth than running say 3CAS 4-4-7 at 270 or even 280 FSB. This EL memory is SPD'd at 2.5-4-4-7 at 266FSB. By the way I am working on a watercooling solution. Do you think if I watercool the NB and CPU that I will be able to take the FSB up higher on the IC7?

You will not be able to run 2.5-3-3-6 except under maybe DDR450 or so, with good ram and maybe high voltage of 2.9+. The 4.3 ns Hynix stuff won't run Ras-to-Cas precharge below 4.

If you take a look at my ADATA PC450, which blitzes most of the other brands of PC4000, it will do maybe 283 max at 3-4-4-7, up to 275 or so at 2.5-4-4-7, and with mem ratios, maybe DDR460 at 2.9-3.0 volts at 2.5-3-3-6 using 5:4 (so who needs OCZ PC3700 Golds Rev. 2.0?). From DDR450 to DDR500 it will do 2.5-4-3-6 at 2.7-2.85 volts.

It has amazing range, and with DS 512 MB sticks, I get good bandwidth. I never see anything below 3100 unbuffered or so at 5:4. However due to the density, I can't get much above 283, 1:1 with extra voltage. Some guys are doing 300, 1:1 but with lots of volts and 256 MB sticks, and they don't show their unbuffered memory scores for good reason.