Overclocking memory?

Hello all,

I have a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P and I want to purchase Memory that will allow me to get the full benefits of the board's overclocking potential with a Q9450. I assume that I should get memory that is ddr2 1066 but how do the operating voltages effect overclocking? 2.1V vs. 1.8V? Also, how do the timings effect overclocking? 5-5-5-15 vs. 4-4-4-12? Thanks for any help you can give.

PS. These are a few memory kits I'm looking at. Any suggestions?

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231209
3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220314

whats the fsb of the cpu you have?
higher voltages will mean higher clocks/lower timings.. but with reduced lifetime

i like the gskill pi's for the price, but you could probably get some 1066 ram for a bit more

The CPU is 1333fsb

GMdoubleG said:

The CPU is 1333fsb

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On air you should not go past 450x8
Get a good cpu cooling
Your cpu multiplier is locked so you can only go up by fsb

At 450x8 you can run good dd2 at 1:1 ratio with the cpu fsb at 5.5.5.15 at 900 mhz 2.19v no prob. Good ram to oc ussually operates at 2v so no prob
4.4.4.14 800 mhz is p much the same that 5.5.5.15 c
900.
1;1 ratio is the best bandw/ you can get bt fsb / ram so keep it as a goal

If you plan to go past 450x8 then get dd2 faster ram since ocing ddr800 to >900 mhz can be an issue and reduces life spectancy of ram

With 450x8 in the 9450 your getting >33% o.c. Enough , plus it run stable and fits for a everyday config

Anything let me know

Thanks for the input. I am actually running a dual loop water cooling setup on this board with the CPU and N/B being water cooled by a XSPC triple radiator. I think that will be plenty to effectively cool the CPU and NB. Is going over 450x8 pushing the Q9450 to hard for everyday usage?

its not really the speed you should worry about, its more about volts
generally most people would say to stay under 1.4v on these intel 45nm quads for 24/7 usage

i would go for some 2x2gb 1066 dominators.. but if price is an issue, either ocz reapers or pi would do fine

e6600 said:

its not really the speed you should worry about, its more about volts
generally most people would say to stay under 1.4v on these intel 45nm quads for 24/7 usage

i would go for some 2x2gb 1066 dominators.. but if price is an issue, either ocz reapers or pi would do fine

Click to expand...

Correct
Going over 450 fsb would need more than 1.368 v effective vcore, thus breaking security levels on 45n....

Also, you need to increase fsbt (vtt) to more than 1.4v that is even more dangerous........ In 450 fsb with vtt 1.33v (1.4 in bios) you are fine with that cpu

Like i said, 450x8 should be your everyday config
Now, if you want to bench and crazy stuff get 1066 ram, break your own record once in a while and go back to a safe config

With 1066 you can downclock to keep 1:1 ratio while at 450, plus lowering vram a bit...... And when you need it you can overclock it

I always thought as long as temps were in check, then you can do 1.4v+ all day with no ill effect to the life of the processor.

I used to run my 5000+ BE at 1.45-1.5v for everyday use and never had one problem with at all because my temps didn't go above 60-65c while under load. And it is still kicking, actually I am using it right while waiting for my rma.

henzo said:

I always thought as long as temps were in check, then you can do 1.4v+ all day with no ill effect to the life of the processor.

I used to run my 5000+ BE at 1.45-1.5v for everyday use and never had one problem with at all because my temps didn't go above 60-65c while under load. And it is still kicking, actually I am using it right while waiting for my rma.

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Well, that's a very general statement, that (partially) works. BUT the fact is that you need to address your SPECIFICS before beliving that "as long your temps are ok your CPU is safe".

Take it like this, you'r sure your CPU is in good temps, overclocked like hell .. your cooling kick *** and you're so stable..... then you didn't realize that you are over-volting your cpu off the limits... not (only) in the vcore but in the vtt... since your in s FSB +1900 you needed to up it up (vtt) a little bit.......

This is what happens.... you kill your CPU without even getting to 70c ........

You end up with a 1000$USD CPU R.I.P

As stated in this thread... there are limits to be taken into account when ocing 45nm chips, just like evething else in life. Of course, everybody likes to take risks

Life its all about risks......

Do you really need to run your rig with all that horse power 24/7??

Don`t think so.

I have a PC for email, internet, movies, dwlding torrents, play music , etc .......
Then I have my rig, only used to GAME or to ENCODE/DECODE stuff ... (you know.....). I never game more that 2 hours in a row (wish i could) so I am pretty sure that my rig would last even more OCed, but I find that from the actual O.C. up I do not get any benefit for gaming, only for benching.....
SO I keep the rig under some limits, to make sure I get the most and I do not take unnecesarry risks.


Anyway, its not like you're going to keep the same CPU for 3 years, so wtf....

GMdoubleG said:

2.1V vs. 1.8V? Also, how do the timings effect overclocking? 5-5-5-15 vs. 4-4-4-12? Thanks for any help you can give.

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Some RAM doesn't scale with voltage. Most Intel processors like higher speed vs. lower timings. You should measure both ways. The Pi Black won't go very high.