Memory timings

[omgfaso]

Hi everybody, so the thing is: i've just managed to reach a 3.72 Ghz OC on my i7 920 (stable). BUT whitin the guides i've read i havent found any well explained memory timing optimization section (maybe i have but just didnt get it, lol)

 

So im not really sure on what to do, if it will be safe or even if i do so, if it will improve performance. (pc mainly intended for gaming)

 

So if anyone could help me by suggesting any good guide, or tell me what to adjust, i would be more than thankful. Or maybe i just dont need to adjust anything

 

 

System Specs: i7 920 @ 3.72 (177*21) / ASRock x58 Extreme Motherboard / 3 * 2GB DDR3 1333MHz kingston "KVR133D3N9/2G"

Vcore: 1.2562v, VTT: 1.27v, DRAM V: 1.564v.

 

uploading the "DRam Timing control" menu of my mobo, and a CPU-Z memory section cap. (if any other data is needed please tell me, ill upload it gladly)

thank you all for your time and help.

 

 

[ebarone]

Here is an old and very short breakdown of some of the timings.

 

Memory timings are fairly straightforward. The lower the better! Simply lower tCL, tRCD, or tRP by one, try booting, and see what happens. When you cant lower one of them anymore, move to the next. Dont lower the fourth number, tRAS, too much though. The general rule o thumb is tCL + tRCD + tRP = tRAS (+/- 1) however you can go lower. Just thats the range you should be looking at. I would also set "DRAM Command Rate" to 1, so it never tries to go to 2... thats a huge performance loss.

 

The other route you can go, and its up for debate which route is better, is you could simply raise your memory clock speed via the divider and run it faster than 1333. IMO it provides better performance, but again, plenty of people would argue that. After doing that then you can again try to lower the timings and push your sticks to their limit.

 

I would advise against raising the DRAM voltage on those though, especially without proper cooling. Raising the DRAM voltage for higher end sticks does the same as for your processor- allow you to squeeze out some more performance, but also at the cost of heat, wear, and tear.

 

Hope that helped some =)

[IVIYTH0S]

Here is an old and very short breakdown of some of the timings.

 

Memory timings are fairly straightforward. The lower the better! Simply lower tCL, tRCD, or tRP by one, try booting, and see what happens. When you cant lower one of them anymore, move to the next. Dont lower the fourth number, tRAS, too much though. The general rule o thumb is tCL + tRCD + tRP = tRAS (+/- 1) however you can go lower. Just thats the range you should be looking at. I would also set "DRAM Command Rate" to 1, so it never tries to go to 2... thats a huge performance loss.

 

The other route you can go, and its up for debate which route is better, is you could simply raise your memory clock speed via the divider and run it faster than 1333. IMO it provides better performance, but again, plenty of people would argue that. After doing that then you can again try to lower the timings and push your sticks to their limit.

 

I would advise against raising the DRAM voltage on those though, especially without proper cooling. Raising the DRAM voltage for higher end sticks does the same as for your processor- allow you to squeeze out some more performance, but also at the cost of heat, wear, and tear.

 

Hope that helped some =)

 

I try not to think about it too much and just lower them until it shows errors, back up one number then move onto the next latency

[omgfaso]

Thanks a lot man, got it clear now.

[El_Capitan]

It's also a bit tougher with an unlocked CPU. As your BCLK goes up, so does your memory speed. The lower your memory speed, the tighter your timings can get.

 

For example: My i7 950's BCLK is 190, and my FSB:DRAM ratio is 2:8. So 190 x 8 = 1520MHz. My memory is rated to run at 9-9-9-24 at 1.5v at 1600MHz. By bumping it up to 1.65v, I'm able to tighten the timings. Since I'm also running at a bit lower than the rated memory speed, I'm able to tighten it to 7-8-8-24-1T. It wasn't stable at 7-7-8-24-1T so I just left it at that. I could have gone 7-8-7-24-1T and if that worked, done 7-8-7-23-1T etc until I got the tRAS down the furthest, but I'm too lazy.

 

Another example: My 1090T has an unlocked multiplier. So I can run it with a x20 multiplier and 200 Bus Speed for 4GHz, making my memory run at 1600MHz, or x25 multi and 160 Bus Speed for 4GHz, making my memory run at 1066MHz. Since the lower memory speed allows tighter timings, I'm able to get 7-7-7-24-1T on my Crucial CT2KIT25664BA1339's rather than 8-8-8-24-1T.