Any point in overclocking DDR4?

[SPL Tech]

I got some DDR4 2400 to pair with a Z270 MSI SLI Plus mobo and a 7600k. I am wondering if there is any point in me trying to overclock the RAM either with lower timings or higher speed. I've always overclocked my GPU and CPU as there are real benifits there but it seems like overclocking RAM is mostly just decreasing the stability of your computer for little or no benefit. Or am I wrong?


RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Intel Z170 Platform / Intel X99 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-2400C15D-16GVR


Mobo: MSI Z270 SLI PLUS LGA 1151 Intel Z270 ATX Motherboards - Intel

 

[Woomack]

In some new games at higher screen resolution there is visible performance gain because of fast RAM. All depends on your setup and expectations. DDR4-2400 is fast enough for everything but if you want to get max out of your rig then memory overclocking is helping.
On OCF you can expect to see users who will overclock memory just because they can, not because it's helping in anything. Most forum users just need something to play with.

 

[R_Pierce]

Exactly what Woomack just said. Why wouldnt you?!?

 

[SPL Tech]

Exactly what Woomack just said. Why wouldnt you?!?

Because it makes the computer unstable and unreliable. Running a bench-test application for 12 hours doesent truly determine long-term stability like most people think. I've been overclocking computers since the Pentium 4HT was the hot money and I can tell you that EVERY time I have ever overclocked a computer it always started out perfectly stable, able to pass any bench for any period of time, but then a few months or a year goes by and then random crap starts happening. You get random errors, display driver crashes, hangs, lockups, ect. Sometimes it's only an issue in one application. For example, I had a game where my GPU overclock would always cause a display driver crash which killed the game. However, in every benchmark and other game the overclock was stable as a rock. I could let it run overnight with no problems, yet the game just wouldent work with the overclock I had set no matter what.

Point being, no matter how long you run benchmarks to confirm stability, the more crap you overclock and the more you overclock it, the higher the chances you are going to start having problems with the computer in the future. This has been true for every computer build I've ever made on every operating system ranging from XP to W10.

 

[R_Pierce]

Because it makes the computer unstable and unreliable. Running a bench-test application for 12 hours doesent truly determine long-term stability like most people think. I've been overclocking computers since the Pentium 4HT was the hot money and I can tell you that EVERY time I have ever overclocked a computer it always started out perfectly stable, able to pass any bench for any period of time, but then a few months or a year goes by and then random crap starts happening. You get random errors, display driver crashes, hangs, lockups, ect. Sometimes it's only an issue in one application. For example, I had a game where my GPU overclock would always cause a display driver crash which killed the game. However, in every benchmark and other game the overclock was stable as a rock. I could let it run overnight with no problems, yet the game just wouldent work with the overclock I had set no matter what.

Point being, no matter how long you run benchmarks to confirm stability, the more crap you overclock and the more you overclock it, the higher the chances you are going to start having problems with the computer in the future. This has been true for every computer build I've ever made on every operating system ranging from XP to W10.

Then why did you ask about overclocking DDR4? Sounds like you already had your answer.

 

[R_Pierce]

And FWIW I'm running my current Vengeance 3200 RAM at 3600 24/7 and having zero issue. No game crashes, no random hangs, no BSOD, nothing. And the PC never shuts off.. zero stability or incompatibility issues.

 

[caddi daddi]

for 24/7 use there is nothing at all in ram clocking, there is some in benchmarking.
with ddr3, intel you work the speed up and amd fx prefers tighter timings.
with ddr4, I'm just getting my first ddr4 rig put together and this early it looks like there in some to be had at higher clock speeds.
as far as being stable, as long as I can save the screen shot, it's stable enough when benching.
win10 seems to get corrupt pretty quickly so for 24/7 use I run ram at default.

 

[SPL Tech]

Okay, well is it better to tighten the timings or increase the clock speed while keeping the timings the same? Does adding more voltage to the RAM chip actually allow you to lower the timings below the stock specification?

Most of what I read said people commonly loosen the timings and then increase the clock speed but that seems illogical as you're just making one component slower to make another faster. Why not keep the timings the same as stock and only increase the clock speed while adding more voltage to make the chip more stable?

 

[wingman99]

Because it makes the computer unstable and unreliable. Running a bench-test application for 12 hours doesent truly determine long-term stability like most people think. I've been overclocking computers since the Pentium 4HT was the hot money and I can tell you that EVERY time I have ever overclocked a computer it always started out perfectly stable, able to pass any bench for any period of time, but then a few months or a year goes by and then random crap starts happening. You get random errors, display driver crashes, hangs, lockups, ect. Sometimes it's only an issue in one application. For example, I had a game where my GPU overclock would always cause a display driver crash which killed the game. However, in every benchmark and other game the overclock was stable as a rock. I could let it run overnight with no problems, yet the game just wouldent work with the overclock I had set no matter what.

Point being, no matter how long you run benchmarks to confirm stability, the more crap you overclock and the more you overclock it, the higher the chances you are going to start having problems with the computer in the future. This has been true for every computer build I've ever made on every operating system ranging from XP to W10.

I know what your saying. My web browser runs at 60% load sometimes when using it and I have to close then reopen to get the usage back down to 3% load. I don't know what is going on?

 

[EarthDog]

Because it makes the computer unstable and unreliable. Running a bench-test application for 12 hours doesent truly determine long-term stability like most people think. I've been overclocking computers since the Pentium 4HT was the hot money and I can tell you that EVERY time I have ever overclocked a computer it always started out perfectly stable, able to pass any bench for any period of time, but then a few months or a year goes by and then random crap starts happening. You get random errors, display driver crashes, hangs, lockups, ect. Sometimes it's only an issue in one application. For example, I had a game where my GPU overclock would always cause a display driver crash which killed the game. However, in every benchmark and other game the overclock was stable as a rock. I could let it run overnight with no problems, yet the game just wouldent work with the overclock I had set no matter what.

Point being, no matter how long you run benchmarks to confirm stability, the more crap you overclock and the more you overclock it, the higher the chances you are going to start having problems with the computer in the future. This has been true for every computer build I've ever made on every operating system ranging from XP to W10.

PEBKAC

When done right it's stable. Is it worth it?? Lol, I hate that question because it's not up to us. What's worth it to me or someone else, may not be worth it to you.

Also, you can search the web for reviews done on ddr4 and games.There are several out...most of which show minimal improvements outside of a few titles.

 

[freeagent]

I'm sure bandwidth isn't an issue these days.. so I wouldn't do it for that. But if it lowers latency then I'm all for it

 

[wingman99]

Here is a video that shows there is not much to be gained in most games with overclocking memory past 2400 speed.

 

[mackerel]

It depends on the application. The compute stuff I do is pretty much ram bandwidth limited on Intel quad core, dual channel ram systems, so I always look for the most bandwidth I can provide in such a system. Latency doesn't make anywhere near as much difference to performance as bandwidth in this scenario, and going 2 rank per channel helps the real world bandwidth also.

Personally, I don't buy slow ram and overclock it though. The price premium to somewhat faster speeds isn't that significant, and isn't really a pain point until pushing past 3200 or so.

Also note that latency could be looked at in terms of absolute time rather than clock cycles. Taking an example of DDR3 at 1600 CL8, that would be comparable in actual latency to DDR4 3200 CL16.

 

[EarthDog]

Somehow i knew you'd hrow in your fringe use...

 

[mackerel]

Just giving an example that ram can make significant differences, even if it wont be significant for most common scenarios. Only way to tell is to test it... and test it some more!