Overclocking mainboard question

[Doug Kinney]

I have a black edition 955 phenom 2 quad core. I have it overclocked to 3.7 in conjunction with 4gb ddr1066 memory. Couldnt get memory to 1066. Instead settled for an overclock of 898mhz with timings of 4-4-4-12 at 2.1 voltz. Stable on memtest and prime 95 for hours.

FBS was raised to 224 to achieve this. Does raising the FBS this high risk damaging the mainboard. I have an asus m3a78-em mianboard fyi.

Also what would run faster for gaming, ddr2 1066 at 5-5-5-12 or 900mhz 4-4-4-12 timings? I ordered another set of 1066 memory to see if I would have better luck.

Does anyone know of a memory benchmark where I could test both timings/speeds for comparison.

 

[jarlmaster47]

well first umm I would say that 1066 is better than 900 even with lower timings on the 900 clock

 

[EarthDog]

It depends Jarl... Im trying to find the nice little article done on this that shows (and this is just an example) that DDR2 800 @ 4-4-4-12 is just as fast as DDR2 1066 @ 5-5-5-15. BUT one HUGE variable here is that those AMD processors have their memory controller on die and they prefer lower timings to reduce the latency vs higher bandwidth and timings. AMD people, please confirm or call me a schmo if I am incorrect.

@ Doug - AMD has HTT (Intel S775 did Front Side Bus). I would keep the 900Mhz 4-4-4-12 personally. You can download evererst and run its memory test and see which is better for yourself to confirm as well.

 

[Doug Kinney]

Ok, thanks for help Earth, I will try everest and see what memory settings show the best results. Yes I thought I read tighter timings were more effective for AMD cpu's. Will confirm through everest.

 

[jarlmaster47]

actually earth makes a good point. I agree