Is high speed memory worth the price for C2D?

I found this an intresting read.. And it has me reconsidering my ram selection process, to the tune of possibly $100 less spent.

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=1&artpage=1962&articID=472

Can anyone see a flaw in this logic?

Here is the most interesting part of the article from my perspective.

By running the memory synchronous to the FSB you have the least amount of latency and thus performance is at its best.

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But, I didn't see any overclocking going on in the article. If you are just planning on running at default speeds, then by all means save some cash and just get RAM that will run in spec at stock speed.

On the other hand, if you plan to O/C, then you probably want to pick some RAM that will run 1:1 at your FSB goal. The E6400 Core 2 Duo can easily run at 400 FSB. Common sense suggests that if you plan on running at 400 FSB, then maybe you should get DDR2-800 RAM or at least some DDR2-667 that overclocks very well. The E6300 can easily run at 450 FSB. If you use cheap low speed RAM and try to O/C, you'll have to use a lower ratio. Go back and read what I quoted. I think the moral of the story is you need to match up RAM speed to your overclocking goals. But, you don't have to spend extra money for tight timings with Conroes.

Naa.. I had it in my mind I needed ram that could overclock to DDR2 1000+ speeds before reading this ROFL..

I originally wanted to get Mushkin Redline DDR2-1000, but the more I looked at that price tag, the less gungho I got. Now, I just plan to get some good DDR2-800 with D9 chips that will O/C nicely and save a bunch of bucks.

yeah I started a thread about this and then I ended up getting the gskill D9's anyway for $245 shipped lmao ddr2 800 stock and the skies the limit, I dont really care about high fsb I just wanna have all the overclocking options at my disposal.

What really got me about the artical was the RW gamming performance at higer res in Fear. the DDR2 400 and the DDR2 800 not making a lick of differnce at stock FSB

wich makes the concution sound a bit... made up by common sence rather then taking the actuall results into consideration.

btw.. decent PC2 5400's can OC over 400 from what I remember of what Ive been told.

And the new D9 sticks would be massive overkill for mid 400's

Wow, very interesting artice. I am planning to build a new rig in the next few months and I was starting to look at ram possibilities. After reading the article I am very happy to limit my search for a good pair of DDR2-800 sticks.

As with most repsonses, it depends on what do you run on it and are you running stcok or max stable oc.

Workload like folding does respond very well to tighter timings. since i run multiple rigs on the folding farm, I find that running better memory is cost effective in order to get the same production out of fewer rigs.

But unless you do a lot of stuff like me that benefits from the better memory, it is hard to imagine the average single pc user getting as much 'measurable value' out of the faster memory.

I am sure my value equation is a biit different from others' ... howver, I do enjoy riding a fast car or boat more than a slow one, and am sometimes willing to pay extra something for it ... even tho i don't really 'need' it and my only measure of its value is that it makes me happier.

the article was only done to point out that expensive ram for a default running system will not make difference worth the extra $$$ you spend. for overclocking where you try to keep FSB:MEM at 1:1 higher rated memory will pay off. But in real world gaming it will still only cause a very very minor impact, as the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU or memory.

jmke said:

the article was only done to point out that expensive ram for a default running system will not make difference worth the extra $$$ you spend. for overclocking where you try to keep FSB:MEM at 1:1 higher rated memory will pay off. But in real world gaming it will still only cause a very very minor impact, as the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU or memory.

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Depends on the game, but mostly true. BF2 is getting CPU limited, for instance.

Just snatch some good DDR2-800 or some DDR2-667 that will do like 400ish FSB (unless you get lucky and get a crazy *** chip, or are using some crazy cooling like a Prommie). It will serve you well. DDR2-1000 or whatever is definately overkill I'd say.

Nice article with good qualifications of 'for stock speeds.' But it looks to me that even at stock speeds for the USD prices some higher latency DDR2-800 is the best choice, decent gains for not much more cost and the potential to run a higher FSB for oc'ing.

greenmaji said:

What really got me about the artical was the RW gamming performance at higer res in Fear. the DDR2 400 and the DDR2 800 not making a lick of differnce at stock FSB

wich makes the concution sound a bit... made up by common sence rather then taking the actuall results into consideration.

btw.. decent PC2 5400's can OC over 400 from what I remember of what Ive been told.

And the new D9 sticks would be massive overkill for mid 400's

Click to expand...

yeah your right massive overkill but if I have to spend $200 for ddr2 667 that oc's to 400s why not just kick in a few extra bux and go all the way lol, people are paying $180-$255 for overclockable ddr2 667, now if I wanna drop multi and top put the board and ram I can do that too...I can run 400 and up to 600 probably, just incase the board dont like to OC with 9 multi haha

An interesting read alright...

Please LMK if it's off-topic, but would appreciate some advice re a PC doing video encoding that will have 4 x 1Gb sticks.

I am getting organised now, but essentially the PC will be a P5B/E6600 )hopefully running at around 3.2 - 3.3 on air) with 4 x W/D 250Gb drives in Raid10. Totally unsire on what sort of video card to put with it, but I am trying to sort out what memory to put in it.

All the parts will be gathered in Manilla, and Kingston is readily available there, so am wondering about 2 x 2Gb kits of HyperX. 2Gb 675Mhz/4.4.4.10 is avail, as is 800Mhz/5.5.5.15 & 900/5.5.5.15. Price diff between the 675 & 900 is like 25% more.

Id get 667 cas3 if there availble

I read a similar article and was wondering the same exact thing :-D

jmke said:

for overclocking where you try to keep FSB:MEM at 1:1 higher rated memory will pay off. But in real world gaming it will still only cause a very very minor impact, as the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU or memory.

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Any chance of an artical were overclocking, 1:1 vs downward dividers and real world gaming performance would be doable?
Some testbed graphs to look at would be extreamly helpfull.
TIA jmke

didnt mean to knock on this artical at all

greenmaji said:

Any chance of an artical were overclocking, 1:1 vs downward dividers and real world gaming performance would be doable?
Some testbed graphs to look at would be extreamly helpfull.
TIA jmke

didnt mean to knock on this artical at all

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I've actually been pondering this a while now but keep forgetting to ask:

What the hell computer are you running Greenmaji?

I mean I haven't the slightest idea LOL!

rainless said:

I've actually been pondering this a while now but keep forgetting to ask:

What the hell computer are you running Greenmaji?

I mean I haven't the slightest idea LOL!

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Running a laptop till I get my parts together.

Case, PSU, GFX, CPU & NB aftermarket cooling on the way or here already. Still need to deside on (already heavly leaning tword E6400, air or non top end water IMHO this is the overclocker for you) and get the rest.

greenmaji said:

Running a laptop till I get my parts together.

Case, PSU, GFX, CPU & NB aftermarket cooling on the way or here already. Still need to deside on (already heavly leaning tword E6400, air or non top end water IMHO this is the overclocker for you) and get the rest.

Click to expand...

E6400 is running like a DREAM right now. Even on this temporary board.

So you haven't decided on a motherboard yet? That Biostar board seems interesting... but finnish is REALLY difficult to fake.

jmke said:

But in real world gaming............as the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU or memory.

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I don't understand where this mentality has come from as I see it more and more these days, I'm assuming a review somewhere is saying the GPU is more important. To me this is just plain silly as the entire system should be built from a balanced approach. I can only think the reviewer meant that if you had to make a choice spend more money on the GPU. Suggesting a cpu like the A64X2 3800 is as good as a E6700 for gaming when paired with a 1900 OR 7900 series card is rediculous. My own experience is that moving from a dual core P4 at 3.8Ghz to a E6600 clocked to a mild 2.9Ghz (for now) is like going from 1996 to 2006 while playing Oblivion, which is obviously one of the newer generations of more demanding games, but none the less is an example of where the gaming industry is headed. I went from studdering frame rates to smooth and total enjoyment of the game by changing nothing but the CPU. Clearly the CPU was bottlenecking the game.

As far as the thread topic, I would say buying the best parts you can afford makes sense for any component in your rig. The difference might be small or even unnoticable between a high end machine or a machine with compromises made, but you have to live with the knowledge that some performance was left on the table. This would be particularly damaging to the benchmark hoar in all of us