Is it unhealthy to tweak memory timing too much?

[Soulmancer]

Is it unhealthy to tweak memory too much?

My memory bu default spec is pc2-8500 1066 balistix ram. 5/5/5/15/30

I am currently running it at 900 4/4/4/12/auto for overclocking purposes. would it be safe to drop it down to 4/4/4/8/16 or even 3/3/3/9/18 ?? would that work or could I damage the ram? Is there even a point to adjusting trc or is it best left on auto?

[downer]

Adjusting memory timings will not damage memory. Only increasing voltage too much can or excessive heat. If you adjust the memory timings, and they are too aggressive the worst that will happen, is your board will fail to post or you'll have instabilities in windows. You can clear the CMOS if your board won't post at a certain timing, or tweak some more to iron out instabilities. Tweak away I say, the tighter you can get your timings the more memory bandwidth you''ll have.

[Soulmancer]

is the trc value not important? a lot of people never seem to mention that. the 5th number. basicly, 4/4/4/12/24, 5/5/5/15/30 seems to be the defaults ... I've been recommended to leave that setting on auto. But for instance if i went 4/4/4/8 would I not want to change the trc to 16???

[downer]

is the trc value not important? a lot of people never seem to mention that. the 5th number. basicly, 4/4/4/12/24, 5/5/5/15/30 seems to be the defaults ... I've been recommended to leave that setting on auto. But for instance if i went 4/4/4/8 would I not want to change the trc to 16???

The first 4 numbers are going to yield the biggest benefit in terms of speed and bandwidth. You can play around with the TRC setting if you wish. Try different combinations and see what gives you the best performance. Sisoft Sandra is a great tool for measuring memory bandwidth if you weren't already aware.