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6GB vs 12GB -- impact on overclocking?

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davision

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Jun 2, 2008
I'd like to build an i7 overlocked rig at 4+ ghz. I'd also like 12gb ram. I was reading on the OCZ forums where they were saying the memory controller takes a beating with 12gb when overclocking.

The question is this: If I put in 6 2GB sticks, vs 3 2GB sticks, am I making it much more difficult to overclock? I've read about some people using 12gb and hitting at least 4.0 -- but it seems that some people with 12 are having a hard time getting above 3.6 or so.

I wish I could get 3 4gb sticks (if that would help?) but those don't seem to exist.
 
Hm well tell us more about what you'll be using your rig for. I don't know of that many applications that would benefit more from having more and slower memory vs. a faster CPU. 6GB of memory is still a lot for almost everything, save some extreme cases.

There aren't 4GB sticks....yet. Samsung is working on 4GB sticks, but they are a long ways off from being released.
 
I'm contemplating going to 12gb (I run a lot of VM's) But I'm concerned about what it might do to my OC
 
The answer to the question about intended usage --

Running After effects, 3d animation, and other **** at the same time. I need a lot of memory so I can multi-task effectively. I have 8gb now, and I fill it up pretty quick.
 
I think that the 12gb and oc problems were from early bios revisions and then it was if all the dimm slots were populated, thats when soem problems have occured. I could be wrong as I dont have 12gb of memory, but I remember reading about oc issues and all dimm slots being occupied.
 
Isn't memory speed more important than its capacity when overclocking?
Click to expand...
A lot of RAM in capacity "overloads" the northbridge pretty fast, taking extra volts from it instead of letting them be used for the OCing. Especially when all the slots are occupied.. For the actual question, can't really say. Look up for threads with actual comparison between using 6 and 12 GB? Ask someone to compare those two ways? Good luck with the new build :up
 
That's respectable.

Have you tried pulling out 6gb and overclocking higher?
 
davision said:
I'd like to build an i7 overlocked rig at 4+ ghz. I'd also like 12gb ram. I was reading on the OCZ forums where they were saying the memory controller takes a beating with 12gb when overclocking.

The question is this: If I put in 6 2GB sticks, vs 3 2GB sticks, am I making it much more difficult to overclock? I've read about some people using 12gb and hitting at least 4.0 -- but it seems that some people with 12 are having a hard time getting above 3.6 or so.

I wish I could get 3 4gb sticks (if that would help?) but those don't seem to exist.
Click to expand...

Davison and the rest: Read this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-module-upgrade,2264.html
Yes 12 gig ram is an oc'ing issue in my case, I believe it is limiting me somewhat. What I have observed is the IOH temp in PC-Health section of my bios is significantly hotter that the CPU and System temp. I think that the IOH has to do with my 6 phase power regulation on the MOBO. To summarize the article Tom's compared 3gb to 6gb to 12gb and saw absolutely no noticabe perfomance gains with increase in ram quantity. What was seen was a 10 watt increase in power consumption from 3 to 6 and another 10watt increase from 6 to 12. I am seriously considering pulling 3 of my 2gb sims. I had 6 slots and I filled them thinking it would rachet up my perfomance. It would appear not.... :bang head Thoughts?
 
Don't get me wrong guys, all my ram works fine albiet with my board it apparently has the power regulation chips loaded up and running warm. I am wondering if you guys have read the Tom's article stating that that much ram is not really needed or helpful.
 
Well, of course you aren't going to see a performance increase solely due to having more RAM if you don't actually make USE of all of that RAM. That's like trying to improve your shower's flow rate by getting a bigger water heater - it just won't help unless you actually NEED the extra capacity.

I guarantee though, as soon as your system starts reaching above 6GB of memory usage, those 3GB and 6GB configs will most definitely fall behind the 12GB config. The point is, don't waste the money if you don't need it. If you do need it, you'll probably have to settle with a lower OC unless you get a good chip and motherboard.

EDIT: That Tom's Hardware article is methodologically atrocious - every time I go there they prove to me why I stopped reading that site ages ago. They basically put all of those systems under scenarios that use less than 3GB of RAM and then said "Nope! No performance difference!" like they actually used tests that would show a difference if one actually exists. Absolute trash - do yourself a favor and stop reading that site.
 
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Ah you read it then, I read it last night. I am not much of an expert and it kind of bummed me out. I do see the high temp on my power regulator chips. like 87 to 90 degrees C. Would that in your opinion, be due to running all six ram slots full thus consuming another 20 watts or so of power?
 
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