Go for faster FSB or faster RAM?

Hi guys,

I've been trying to find the best way ot oc my e5200 and there's a few things that I can't figure out.

I thought it would be best to set the FSB to 400MHz and leave RAM at 800MHz, but for some reason I couldn't make the computer boot with those settings. When I tried to change mobo voltages it refused to boot comletely! Had to remove the battery and put it back in. So now I guess I have 2 choices:
- set FSB to 266MHz, leave the multiplier to 12.5 and set RAM speed to 1066MHz, or
- set FSB to 333MHz, set the multiplier to 10 and set RAM speed to 666MHz.

Both settings seem to work ok, as long as I don't mess with memory timings. So which one will result in better performance? Any advice on memory timings?

My system specs:
e5200 with stock cooling
asus p5ql-pro
4x1gb kingston hyper-x 1066mhz cl5
hd4670 512mb

Any help would be much appreciated.

Faster FSB hands down. You wont even notice a difference in your ram speeds. I didn't notice a drop from 1600mhz to 1066mhz on my 4GB DDR3 kit. You wont either! But you'll notice for FSB thats for sure.

If you want to see a visible different run some 3dMark06, you can gauge it yourself if its worth the ram speed or the FSB, but i can almost guarntee its the FSB your after =)

Thx, will do some testing.

I run my system at 200x21, my ram is 1600mhz cause of the 8.0 divider. If i want to go above 200 Bclk I need to drop my ram down to divide of 6.0 which is roughly 1333mhz for the memory. Not only do I not notice a difference but the higher Bclk boosts my bench scores up. Unless their ram specific operations/benches I doubt you'll see any difference at all in real world apps.

Loosening your memory timings can help boost them up but then your at war with do i go lower mhz ram with tighter timings or higher mhz ram with loose timings? I've always seen people say tighter timings for sure, I personally can never get the hang of tweaking ram timings. I fail pretty bad at it =)

I always opted for faster FSB.

Faster fsb gets the mem controller working faster, wich decreases overall system latency, adding faster ram will add to that even more. You already have some 1066 stix, so thats good. If you can find a cpu with more cache, and run that at around 500-550 fsb, you would have a fairly well rounded system. It would be nice and snappy thats for sure.

Sure it wood, but it's not really an option. I'm trying to get the best out of what I've got. And E5200 seems to be one potent motherf*cker. I was able to oc it to 3Ghz with the voltage reduced to 1.1V, only reached 63C with orthos, 61C with GTA4 (I used realtemp with TJ max set to 100C). We'll see how far it can go on a diet voltage.

Well I assumed since you were willing to shell out for new stix, Im sure you could have found an e8400 or something for around the same price. If the e5200 is working for you, then enjoy But you will not come near 500fsb with it. So with that said, I would run your fsb as fast as you can, and run your stix as fast as you can and call it a day.

OK, if anyone cares, I'm running the e52 @3.0GHz (333x9) undervolted to 1.075V (1.040 cpuz), looks stable