N00b Question: Ram Speeds.

[Quattro]

Sorry about thid folks, but I need it answered. . .

My mobo says it can support up to DDR400, meaning the highest FSB I can have is 200Mhz what would happen if I put some DDR500 in? Would my mobo support it and would I be able to get a higher FSB?

Thanks a lot!

 

[DeathAngelLST]

DDR400 support doesn't mean you can't put something faster. If you look at members' sigs, you'll notice most of 'em hit 220(DDR440) or even higher. Of course you need good quality ram to reach those speeds, you'll need something able to hit, let's say, FSB220 at 2-2-2-11 timings for maximum bandwith. IMO if it needs latencies like 2-3-3-11, you're better off with a lower FSB and tighter timings.
Motherboards with the nForce2 chipset are good for overclocking as they have AGP/PCI locked at 66/33. Your overclock depends of everything else: cpu, power supply, mobo, ram, good cooling, etc. Don't you ever buy a mobo with VIA chipset, it doesn't have AGP/PCI locked and could destroy your HD or something else.

 

[Quattro]

So with my RAM it will not go over 200MHz FSB then?
I need to keep the latenies tight as can be.

BTW how hot does RAM get, is it worthwhile to invest in some RAM coolers?

 

[Quattro]

Just re-read your reply and I think I understand it better now.
So the best thing to do if I wanted to go over 200Mhz FSB would be to get some DDR500 RAM or something? Use that on tight timings, would that give the best performance?

 

[DeathAngelLST]

For AMD, timings do matter. DDR500 will give you crappy timings, like 3-4-4-8. DDR433 seems to be best, if you're lucky enough the fsb can go as high as 220 with tight timings 2-2-2-11 or 2-3-3-11.
For INTEL, DDR500 will do pretty good, timings don't seem to do a major hit on performance.

 

[Quattro]

DDR433 is PC3700?

 

[Biznatch]

Get something like Mushkin Black lvl2 3500 or anything else with BH5 chips. I have the 3200 and I can pass memtest at 225 FSB with 2-2-2-5 timings on 2.9v. And this stuff is supposed to run at 200 FSB. You should get 3500 though as it starts of at 217 FSB.

 

[DeathAngelLST]

DDR433 is PC3700?

DDR433 = PC3500
DDR466 = PC3700

 

[Quattro]

Okay what does Winbond or TwinMOS RAM have the BH5 chips?

 

[Top Hat Theater]

Winbond makes BH5 chips. The only guaranteed sticks you'll find it on are Mushkin PC3200/3500 Black Level 2 sticks and they're the most expensive on the market.

~THT

 

[deeppow]

Okay what does Winbond or TwinMOS RAM have the BH5 chips?

They have stopped making the BH5 chips, replacing them with CH5 chips. Thus the BH5 based memory is becoming harder to find these days as the BH5 chip supply dries up.

As Top Hat Theater notes Mushkin is one that still uses the BH5 and their memory is expensive. In talking to one of the Mushkin folks when I bought mine, he indicated that Mushkin had bid on one of the last production lots and it cost them big bucks so as you might suspect, they do pass the cost along to the buyer. The Mushkin PC3200 and PC3500 L2 memory is being made with that supply till it is gone, if it isn't already.

Independent of the BH5 story, I bought my Mushkin memory because they make quality memory and provide excellent costumer service. It didn't hurt they used BH5 chips either.

As the old saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." So is the best brand of memory at times. You can find good memory besides that using the BH5 chips. You'll just need to do some checking to see who has had success with it, whatever the brand. Good luck.

 

[Quattro]

Right, I have heard good things about WinBond and I can't say my TwinMOS is bad, it is okay. But we'll soon find out when my Barton arrives, with +200FSB.

 

[CCW]

The A7N8X never really liked running at high FSBs without extra vdd (chipset) voltage so how far you fast 200FSB you will be able to go is uncertain but I dont think to be honest that it will be fast. Ideally, you need some good quality PC3500. PC3700 and PC4000 are designed for high FSB and as such do not do as tight as timing as the PC3500 will do. Pentium 4 system dont take as much as a performance hit with slacker timings as mentione dabove but they do still need tight timings, particulrary the RAS-to-CAS timing, as this is the most important timing for Pentium 4 systems. On AMD, the most important timing is the CAS Latency. Make sure that you always run the memory in sync with the FSB as this increases the performance, this is called sync or 1:1 or sometimes by SPD depending on which BIOS your notherboard uses.

Craig

 

[Quattro]

Thanks Craig, that was pretty imformative.
So what I could do is.
Try to Run as close too 200mhz FSB as I can, then up the multiplyer on my new Barton to 11.5 or 12, would that be okay.
I need to keep the CAS down, whats the best setting for an nforce board?

 

[CCW]

On the nForce 2, your timings need to be 2-2-2-11. 11 isnt the tightest timing, 5 is, but 11 gives the most bandwidth i.e. best performance on the nForce 2 chipset. BTW, I was in Essex earlier, in braintree, just noticed your location.

Craig

 

[Quattro]

Cool. Do you live locally, in Essex?
So I need good DDR433 RAM.
I also need to set my tinings!

 

[CCW]

I live in Suffolk, 5 minutes drive to get to the Suffolk/Essex border, nearest Essex town to me is Sturmer. Yep, good DDR433, definetly Corsair, Corsair will usually go further than its rated speed and should do the tight timings easily.

Craig