5-5-5-15/1000 or 4-4-4-12/800 - which is better for gaming?

[somegeek]

Working to tweak my system a bit(in sig)... OC'd my e8400 C0 to 3.6 via FSB increase to 400. Relaxed my memory settings from 4-4-4-12 to 5-5-5-15 with a 2.4 multiplier so I am at 1000Mhz memory freq.

Memory is specifically G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400).

Memory voltage is at 1.8V and happy a the moment.

Curious which is better for gaming given my setup? Faster timings or faster speed? I read in some older posts that speed is better but curious if this might have changed?

Appreciate any input.

 

[redduc900]

Normally a higher frequency w/ looser timings is preferred to a lower frequency w/ tighter timings. You could perform a memory benchmark in either Sandra or Everest at both the lower and higher freq's, which will give you an idea of how each performs. Of course these are only benchmarks, but they can give you a pretty good idea of which settings are going to offer better gaming / all around performance.

 

[somegeek]

Nice - thanks for the info redduc... will go download/fireup sandra now.

 

[MadMan007]

I recall various tests like this a while ago on C2Ds...and the results were that they were more or less the same when using actual programs. It went something like Cas3 DDR2-667 = Cas4 DDR2-800=Cas5 DDR2-1000. You can use synthetics to see what differences there might be but tests that run actual programs are always better imo, unless you're a benchmarker it's what you'd actually run on your computer.

 

[Evilsizer]

this explains alot
http://www.thetechrepository.com/showthread.php?t=160

 

[somegeek]

Thanks for that link, Evilsizer. It's coming back to me... heh.

Sandra results show ~500MBps increase in bandwidth when clocked at 1000Mhz... (8058MBps vs 7556MBps) or 80ns vs 90ns with regards to the timing being tighter.

Company of Heroes is a game I play often... it'll take about 1.5gig of memory when running.

Think I'll stick with the bandwidth for now.

 

[nd4spdbh2]

that is very intresing... cas 4 800mhz and cas5 1000mhz have the same latency intresting!

 

[freeagent]

that is very intresing... cas 4 800mhz and cas5 1000mhz have the same latency intresting!

as you start pushing your fsb, the combination of that, and the fast ram make for some interesting results. i prefer higher fsb and higher mem speeds over 1;1. it also depends on what board you are useing.. i only say that because my p5k deluxe is faster then my rampage formula. but i need to do a lil more testing before i draw any final conclusions..

i only say that because this board is performing alot better at 1:1 with cas4 then my rampage.. alot better. stupid perf. levels..

/ramble

 

[terran2k]

yeah I got better performance with 5-5-5-15 @ 1000Mhz than 4-4-4-12 @ 800Mhz with my current set of Ballistix. This was using Sisoft sandra to measure my results.