RAM Upgrade

[rikm12345]

Hi,

I was thinking of upgrading me ram for FSX and wanted to know if anyone has recently upgraded and found much difference.

I currently use 2x2gb DDR2 OCZ 6400 800mhz, which i have set in the Bios at 1:1 with the CPU running at 720mhz.

Would i find a difference in performance if i changed the memory for DDR2 8500 1066mhz Memory.

How much of a difference would i get if i choose DDR3 ram which my motherboard can use?

Thanks for any advise

[Celtman]

I', no expert, but here goes:

Would i find a difference in performance if i changed the memory for DDR2 8500 1066mhz Memory

Yes, an increase

How much of a difference would i get if i choose DDR3 ram which my motherboard can use?

With the right speed DDR3, massive

[congo]

There are some circumstances where ram makes a bit of difference, but I disagree with the above post. I don't think you'd notice the difference myself. Depending on the ram, it may even be slower

with the CPU running at 720mhz.

Huh?

[rikm12345]

Doh, i meant the memory is running at 720mhz.

The CPU is set with a FSB of 360.

I agree that there might be a slight improvement with faster DDR2.

DDR3 is quite expensive, but if the results are better it might be an option.

Anybody using DDR3 ram?

Cheers

[Celtman]

but I disagree with the above post.

As I said, I'm not an expert, I'd take congos advice over mine any day

[congo]

Doh, i meant the memory is running at 720mhz.

The CPU is set with a FSB of 360.

I agree that there might be a slight improvement with faster DDR2.

DDR3 is quite expensive, but if the results are better it might be an option.

Anybody using DDR3 ram?

Cheers

Your currrent ram is underclocked, it's got more potential, you aren't getting performance because your not set up correctly?

I don't know your specs or your overclock, but why is the ram running so slow?

400mhz FSB x 8 cpu multiplier = 3.2ghz cpu and DDR800, it should look something like that for a C2D ..... and to me, that's an average CD2 "stock speed" that an overclocker would expect on his first boot. Pushing fsb to 500 with 1:1 ratio gives 4ghz CPU and DDR1000 ram ...... Some decent PC6400 runs happily at 1000mhz, so......
......what kind of overclock did you have in mind with faster ram than you have now?

A 9x cpu multi would give 3.6ghz cpu speed with 400mhz FSB speed and PC6400 running stock speed 1:1 ..... so what's the point of faster ram as long as the PC6400 has reasonably tight timings?

This assumes you chose a cpu with an adequate multiplier range.

Sure, you can run the ram faster on a ratio, but you won't see amazing performance benefits from it, at least not that I'm aware of.

My old DDR1 in the spec below trounces the majority of C2D systems as far as memory bandwidth is concerned, it has extremely low latency and timings and compares to more "advanced" DDR types in real world usage.





While DDR2 and DDR3 are progressions of DDR technology, they don't mean huge real world performance gains over DDR1. It's also about chipset utilisation and architecture and how the architecture responds to ram technologies.

Memory bandwidth used to bottleneck the CPU in the "bad old days" of personal computing. Since then, we moved from memory saturation to memory surplus as far as required bandwidth is concerned. The relatively small ram technology improvements that have come to market in recent times are providing benefits for marketing ram, and not particularly for the benefit of power users of PC's.

Don't believe the hype.

[rikm12345]

Hi,
Thanks for that reply, nice post, much appreciated!

Im currently running fsx Sp2 on WinXP on a P5KC Mobo, Q6600 cpu, 8800GT GPU, OCZ 600Watt PSU & 2x2gb OSZ 6400 800mhz ram.

I find it runs good, just just feel that it could be that bit better, especially with not running my ram at full speed.

I read that running ram at 1:1 was best, i dont know..!? and after some testing i found it to be quite stable at 3.2 ghz but the memory was only running at 720mhz.

I have not tried running the multipier at 8x yet, thanks for the tip on getting the ram at 800mhz with 400 FSB, i'll give it a try, but will probably have to increase a few voltages here and there.

I'm quite new to it all, so your comment, especially from someone who has probably 'been there & done it' is cool.

The only problem i can see with DDR3 is i would brobaly have to have a high FSB overclock to get it running at 1:1, i would hate to spend

[congo]

Only bump voltages if required, don't do it as a "precaution".

I often think people are overvolting when they shouldn't be, and the extra volts may give them some stability when in fact, another incorrect setting (like ram timings not quite right) may in fact be the culprit, and upping voltages is masking the real problem.

I edited my above post to include some pics if you want to read it again.

[quote] i would hate to spend

[rikm12345]

Cheers Congo and thanks for the pics.

I'll take your advice onboard & have another good look at my overclock. Your probably right, i've no doubt got a voltage high where it doesnt need to be.

Im needing an LCD screen, so i'll keep the money back for that instead.

Memory upgrade maybe in the future when all other hardware changes, if its needed.

Thanks again

[Slotback]

I would only buy expensive (DDR3 or DDR2-1066+) if you already have a massive budget and are planning on massive overclocking at a 1:1 ratio. Other than that - DDR2-800 all the way. It's cheap and fast.

_________

If the memory speed is strange, and it's always been running like that, then I would highly recommend you start from the start - who knows what memory settings are strange. Your Q6600 should have a 266.66 FSB and a multiplyer of 9 for 2.4ghz.

Grab the OCZ Box and look on the back, on the bar code or similar, there should be a product code... R22GK800L, or something. CPU-Z can be INCORRECT, so don't skimp and use CPU-Z. Google the product code, and go to the OCZ product page. Find the exact speed, timings and voltage it's designed for, write it down.

Now go into BIOS. Multiplyer to 9. FSB to 266. Memory to those timings and voltage. On my board the frequency of the memory is based off the FSB through a ratio, the 'system memory multiplyer', it sounds as if yours is similar but the terminology is probably diferant. If you're using DDR2-800 then set that memory multiplyer to three. 266 x 3 = 800. DDR2-667. 266 x 2.5 = 667... ect. So for you, set it to three.


Random thought:
It sounds as if your board it like mine, but yours is currently at TWO - 360 x 2 = 720mhz. 266 x 2 = 533mhz, maybe your board defaults to DDR2-533 JADEC settings? I hear it's common for boards to misenterpret OCZ memory.

With everything running at the RATED speed, at the RATED timings and the RATED voltage. Now you can resume overclocking. However, at a 360 FSB with the memory multiplayer at three, it will be running at almost 1.1ghz, and I don't think it will be abled to handle that. You may have to drop it to 2.5. 900mhz should work fine. Or do what congo said, 8 x 400 = 3.2ghz. 400 x 2 = 800mhz... or 9 x 360 = 3.24ghz. 360 x 2.5 = 900mhz.

[rikm12345]

Thanks for the info guys,

Im now running at 9x360 (3.24ghz), 360x2.5 (900mhz) for the ram.

Im happy with the results now.  :)