Is CPU speed or Memory timings better for Gaming performance?

[trunk]

Disclaimer, I'm well versed in computing but a newbie to actual overclocking... I have a 2 year old gaming rig that is finally starting to meet its match in games. Everthing up to Elder Scrolls Oblivion ran pretty well though of course missing some eye candy. Unfortunately I just got Rainbow Six Vegas and ever on stock settings with 1024x768, it is very choppy. Until now I have used the standard motherboard settings except for some manual settings for the memory timings and Nvida's auto overclocking settings. I'm hoping to now squeeze whatever I can out of this machine to hold out until 2008 when some better DX10 cards (2nd generation) are out along with AMDs next chip version and/or DDR3 since I have an AGP socket 939 board with DDR memory and will have to pretty much replace everything. That said, what is generally better to improve game performance, higher CPU speeds or memory timings? My rig's specs:

 

XP Pro SP2

AMD 3400 socket 939 Newcastle .13um core 2200 mhz 800 HT (its a slight oddball OEM CPU tiger direct sold a while back)

Thermaltake silent boost copper heatsink (normal CPU temperature is around 32 C/89 F now)

ASUS A8V Deluxe board with all kinds of possible OC settings, VIA K8T800 & VT8237 bridges

Corsair PC3200 2x512mb 2-5-2-2 matched ram with heatsinks in dual channel

EVGA Nvidia AGP 6800 GT 256 with Artic Cooling heat sink (currently at 427 mhz core & 2.13 mhz memory ~48 C)

Antec Neo 480 power supply

2x 120mm fans

WD SE 80gb 8mb cache IDE HD

 

My current motherboard settings are:

CPU FSB = 200

CPU voltage = 1.5

CPU multiplier = 11

AGP freq = Auto (whatever that is)

DDR voltage = Auto

AGP voltage = Auto

Vlink voltage = Auto

Memory = 800 mhz HT

Memory settings = manual 2-5-2-2 to match the memory

Memory voltage = Auto

AGP 8x, 256 mb window

 

I've heard this chip can get up to around 2.5-2.6 ghz but I'm looking for some recommendations on changing the settings above to maximize overall gaming performance, not necessarily a high OC. The system is defragged, spyware & virus checked, and all unnecessary services are turned off (software I do know). Any suggested settings to squeeze alittle more out of this computer? Thanks beforehand!!!

[kingdingeling]

CPU voltage is about right already, up the FSB until unstable, check by using programs like prime95.

 

You said the A8V has lots of OC settings, did you ever look into a DFI BIOS?

[trunk]

I loosened up the memory to 3-6-3-3 and ran the FSB up to 220 with no sweat (could go higher I think) but had problems at 2-5-2-2 and 210. I just don't know if that is going the right way, basically is memory timings or CPU speed better? What should I open the memory timings to? I haven't even tried bumping up voltages for the CPU or memory from the default settings though the board can do it.

 

Secondarily, would bumping up the AGP voltage and/ore frequency allow me to OC the video card more also? What do the timings there do?

 

And is DFI bios better than the American Megatrends bios that came with the board? Again, I'm kinda new to overclocking.

[hardnrg]

you need to be more specific than "Corsair PC3200 2-2-2-5" because there are EIGHT products on this page matching that description:

http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/xms.html

 

at those timings the modules could be micron, winbond, or samsung... and each needs different oc approaches (e.g. some just loosen the timings, some keep timings about the same but have HIGH voltage, etc)

 

i'd put the timings at 2.5-4-3-9 (tCL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS), you should manually set the memory voltage (DDR voltage, so wth is "memory voltage"????), because auto is rarely the best option for overclocking, what options do you have for "DDR Voltage" (also list those of "memory voltage" because i find that very odd that you have DDR and memory voltage settings)

 

put the AGP Freq on 67 because some NF3 boards (like my MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum) need the AGP speed set at 67 to lock it at that speed instead of running relative to the fsb/htt

AGP voltage doesn't make too much difference, you might get a touch more stability later, but can leave it on auto for now

 

download and run Prime95 (torture test: blend) or OCCT (1/2 hour test) or SuperPi (32M test) and see what the cpu temperature is after around 5-10 minutes... that's the load temperature, and the temperature that you should be most concerned about... if you can run those tests and keep the cpu under say 55

Edited January 22, 2007 by hardnrg