q9550 with ddr2-800 best overclock?

[jakeface1]

I overclocked my cpu to 3.4 with the ram still at 800mhz. What will be most efficient, leave it 1:1 or should i overclock my memory as well? I would like to get to 3.6. The voltage for the memory is 1.8v-1.9v, but I have it set at 1.85v. What do you think? :confused:
Thanks for the help!

[Wiggy Fuzz]

mine's set to 961mhz, running 1:1 with my q6600, at 5 4 4 15.

8gb ocz nvidia sli ram (because it was cheap)

[RoadWarrior]

800Mhz chips were "binned" at 2.5ns, where as 1067 chips are binned at 1.9ns. If you have "early" DDR2-800, the chips might have only just met the timing spec at 2.5ns @ 1.8V so may need a significant voltage increase to go much further. However, if they were later chips when the fab plant was well tuned up, they might have only just fallen short of making DDR2-1067 spec by a small amount, so may run very close to it at 1.8V or may even run fine at 1067 at the upper side of the voltage spec 1.9V. Sometimes you just get plain lucky and they might put 1.9ns chips on the modules anyway, your average computer schmoe gets nervous when the dealer offers him DDR2-1067 modules for a computer the manufacturer said needs DDR2-800.

[Gmofftarki]

RoadWarrior: DDR2-800 CAS4 is the 2.5ns per the Anandtech article I was just reading.
E8400 is the chip in question, running at 400x9.

My chips right now are running DDR2-960 CAS5 on the 333strap of my ASUS P5Q (5:6 divider). 5-5-4-12

I've also confirmed that they can run DDR2-800 at the cited 4-4-4-12 timings. Performance level right now is 10, but I'm going to try to tighten that a bit.

CAS5 with 480MHz gives me 10.4ns per the formulas here. http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3184&p=8

CAS4 with 400MHZ gives me 10.0ns with the same.

Obviously, the 10.4 is on a tighter memory strap, but I'm going to have to play with the tRD to see if I can't get it any tighter than it already is.

By your "gut feeling" though, do you think I'm better off going with the tighter FSB strap and increased memory bandwidth rather than the minimal increase in CAS access time (4%)?

[RoadWarrior]

Depends on what you want your rig to do, some things run quicker with tighter CAS some things want bandwidth. I guess it depends on whether they're using multiple small transfers almost back to back, or need large blocks of data ASAP.

Good article there, I need to give it a good read through, some stuff I'm foggy on there for sure.

[18 is # 1]

Some of us have locked tRD. My mobo sets it according to the rated speed of the RAM and the ratio they are run at. Running 4:5 will usually have PL6 (unless it's 667 which will run PL5!).
Regardless of these settings...won't the optimum settings result in better Everest scores?