RAM overclocking????

[FEEDTHEADDICTION]

I have 4gb of corsair ddr3 1333 dhx ram installed on my computer (timmings are 9-9-9-24 @ 1.6v).

 

Is it possible to overclock it to say ddr3 1600 memory and perhaps tighten the timings..?

 

If so, what would be the consequences (how much more heat?)

 

Is it easy to fry memory this way?

[ARandomOWL]

If increasing the MHz of ur RAM you u will almost certainly need to loosen the timings or keep them @ stock.

 

On the other hand, u could stay @ stock speed or underclock while tightening ur timings. Which method will give u the most performance depends on what u use ur comp for.

 

Also, RAM is very voltage sensitive, u probably want to stick to stock volts. If u do increase the volts, be sure that there is good air flow over them.

Edited March 27, 2009 by AJW256

[Verran]

People talk about "frying" stuff while OCing WAY too liberally. If you fry something, you screwed up BIGTIME. If you're careful, it doesn't happen. "Frying" happens when you turn up the voltage too much. That's really the only way. If you leave voltages alone, you're going to be fine.

 

If you do increase voltages, just monitor temperatures. It's that simple. For memory, stay within reasonable voltage ranges or find a way to actively cool your modules.

[ebarone]

The generally accepted consensus on these forums is dont run your memory at higher voltages than whats on the package. Using the stock or recommended voltage levels will not only be safest, but also allow you to achieve any and all overclocks that actually increase performance, so that would be my advice. While memory generally is more sensitive to overvolting, Verran is right... its tough to "fry" components without trying pretty hard.

 

As far as your first couple questions, yes they are possible. Its possible, but improbable, that you can both increase clock speed AND tighten timings, but without a doubt you can do one or the other to some degree. That degree varies based on the quality of the RAM you have.

 

I would recommend if you're really a performance junkie (I think you are, I remember you asking a couple pretty in-depth questions a couple weeks ago) look into the sub-timings of your memory. Performance Level, things like that. Changing the main timings by one or two values more often than not wont give noticable improvements, but tweaking the sub-timings actually can be seen when it comes time to bench or game.

[FEEDTHEADDICTION]

I played around with a few frequencies and got it working at 1600 (highest i tried) without touching the other timings or voltages.

 

I noticed a performance in everest memory bench, but have the impression other tasks are not as fluid (some unexplained sluggish loading of certain apps at startup - like everest sidebar gadget and everything internet was just WAY slower

 

What would be good ways of checking stability of my memory (aside from the boot disc mem check)?

 

What are signs that my memory timings need to be loosenned up?

How about voltage increase need?

 

Also.... When I first read the OC guides and tried my hand for the first itme on my rig, I noticed my bios had decided to run my memory at 1.84v rather than the stock 1.6v that I set it back to. It worked fine for those first few months on auto... does that mean 1.84 is indeed a safe voltage for my current memory or did it use it up that much more for that first overvolted period???

[Turophiliac]

as for a way to test your memory, other than Memtest, I like to run a couple instances of Prime95 with the max amount of memory for each one, usually 2GB a piece.

[FEEDTHEADDICTION]

All right!

 

One more thing before I get into testing the stuff

 

-What is best for gaming? (lower clock tighter timings or vice versa?)

 

I just tried going from 9-9-9-24 to 8-8-8-20, saw a major boot slow down, then went to 9-10-10-25 and got one of the cleanest fastest boots ive ever had... Clear sign of better timings/clock/volt settings? or just coincidence?

Edited March 27, 2009 by FEEDTHEADDICTION

[Kingfisher]

I used to worry about what my RAM speed was.

That was several years ago.

RAM speed doesn't add much to your performance, certainly not enough to even worry about real world performance in my opnion.

Better to get your cpu up to as high as you are comfortable with rather than adding 100 or several hundred mhz in gains for your RAM.

 

Just get a resonably priced set of RAM that can run with your cpu either 1:1 or on dividers.

It's really not that much of an increase that is noticable unless you like to compete in bragging contests.

Edited March 27, 2009 by Kingfisher

[ebarone]

I'm going to venture a guess as to what happened. I assume that you only tweaked the main timings- the 9-9-9-24 ones- and left everything else on auto, if indeed there was anything else, including the "Performance Level" timing. Again, this is 115% speculation, but if thats the case, your motherboard may well have decided that the best Perf. Lvl was one or two notches higher (as in slower) because of the tighter main timings. With the looser mains, your board (speculatively) lowered the Perf. Lvl number thereby increasing the speed of the whole shebang. To test that out, instead of setting auto on any timing, set it manually to whatever number the board would, then tweak the main timings.

 

What you should see is.... nothing. When you're gaming, having a CAS of 10 is for all intents and purposes the same as having a CAS of 9. When people say theres no real world gain, they're not exaggerating... there is zero real world gain. Increasing the clock speed will net you MAYBE a little noticable gain, which should answer your clock vs timings question, but again, without the speed you'd be playing the same game.

 

There are a few key subtimings, on the other hand, that will infact provide noticable impacts to your performance. (A link to some of them explained will follow shortly) As for the mains... clock speed >>> timings for gaming.

 

What type of motherboard and memory do you have?