Overclock Problem

OK I am running the setup in my sig belwo and got wondering about the MB and the memory I picked. I choose to go with PC-4000 as I could run tighter timings at higher FSB. Was this an incorrect assumption, or is this memory just fine for my setup?

Right now I have the memory in slots 1 and 2. Would the MB respond to overclocking better if I ran it in slots 1 and 3 or should I switch to single channel and go with slots 2 and 3?

Thanks in advance!

BC|Wulf said:

OK I am running the setup in my sig belwo and got wondering about the MB and the memory I picked. I choose to go with PC-4000 as I could run tighter timings at higher FSB. Was this an incorrect assumption, or is this memory just fine for my setup?

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Lets compare PC3200 rated for CAS2 and PC4000 rated for CAS2. With the PC3200 you are guaranteed up to 200MHz at CAS2, and perhaps up to 230 to 250MHz, although not necessarily at stated timings. The PC4000 however will go up to 500MHz at CAS2, guaranteed, otherwise the RAM is faulty.

Long story short: PC3200 or PC3500 RAM may reach the same top speed as the PC4000 but the PC4000 will likely do so with better timings.

Right now I have the memory in slots 1 and 2. Would the MB respond to overclocking better if I ran it in slots 1 and 3 or should I switch to single channel and go with slots 2 and 3?

Thanks in advance!

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Try with dual channel first, and if you hit a wall memory wise then try going single channel and see if it makes a difference or not. Dual channel can sometimes limit overclocking.

You should have gone with Tight timing PC3200. You need a stellar board to do 250Mhz. I do believe that most PC4000 ram is rated at 2.5,4,4,7 or 3,3,3,7 and 3,4,4,8.

Either way, the AXP and NF2 like fast timings over high FSB with slack timings. Plus Tight timing PC3200 can usually do up to 220 with the tight timings and 250 with 3,4,4,8.

Keep with dual channel. The feel of the system is snappier than single channel.

If you already have PC4000, set the ram to 200Mhz and tighten the timings as much as possible then start to crank up the speed. The key to speed with an AXP and NF2 is tight timings.

David said:

The PC4000 however will go up to 500MHz at CAS2, guaranteed, otherwise the RAM is faulty.

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I wouldn't say it's a guarantee (in every scenario). None of my sets run stable using CAS 2.5 @ DDR500 (as rated) on my nForce2-mobos, but I don't exactly think they are faulty. The rated tRP is 4 at that speed, but they run flawlessly at 2. They also behave quite different on my Canterwood-mobos. As you know different memory controllers run best with certain chips. Especially A64s are known to be picky on the RAM. However the ratings typically have some headroom, so with a good PSU and mobo one will usually get quite better timings than the ratings.


You could try to use the other slot (still running dual channel), as it is a possibility you will see a bit higher overclock. However if you've been using the currently populated slots for some time, they are probably the best ones to use.

here's my 2 cents:
the way i've seen it recommended to load the ram chips for the nf-7 is the furtherest mem slot, then the middle one.

also, when i was doing the research on getting ram for mine (nf-7 & xp-m 2400), the recommendations were not to go above 3500. the nf-7 & xp-m's wouldn't be able to take advantage of the headroom & the timings were going to be looser. now even though some of the timings on the newer ram have been tightened, i think they are being made for the 64 bit chips.

as i found out later, the ram that i have(ballistix 3200) works better with the 64 bit chips.

what i would do is look at the higher fsb's in other peoples sig's for the nf-7 & xp-m 2500-2600's and see what ram they have. sen also has a guide for memory.

good luck!