Do I need to fiddle with my memory?

[billbruen]

Well, it certainly would be 'fiddling' because I don't understand anything about overclocking memory.

Shall I start at the beginning?.....I've just built myself a new machine, basically following Mr. Clunk's advice (Spec as shown).

By playing with FSB and VCore I was able to boot without problem at 4.0GHz, but couldn't get Prime95 stable here, so eventually settled for 3.9GHz, which has been Primed and Orthosed to within an inch of it's life.

I'm very happy with this: I'm not after the 'ultimate' overclock. However, I read somewhere that I needed 1066 memory to get the best match to my processor, so that's what I bought.

But have I set it up right and am I using it to best advantage? I haven't a clue......

I set it up manually in the Bios per Clunk's advice - 5,5,5,15 at 2.1v running 1:1 and didn't touch it after that.

As I've now reached a speed that's stable and I'm happy with.....is there anything further to be gained by 'fiddling' with my RAM or should I retire to a nice game of Crysis, well pleased with myself?

I'm talking significant gains here, not something only benchmarking software would notice.

If you can see something I've done wrong, or, see a way I can improve things....do tell, but remember to use child-like language!

[billbruen]

Shucks, I entered my spec into 'extra details' and saved the changes, but they're not showing here.....why??

Hang on I'll post my spec...........

[Kelainefes]

You could have minor benefits using the 333/800 strap wich will give you a DDR speed of approximately 1040 MHz.
You should be able to get there with the same timings you have now, maybe a touch more voltage.

[billbruen]

E8400
Asus Triton 77
Asus P5K Premium WiFi AP
Sapphire HD4870
X-Fi Extreme
3 x Samsung F1 Spinpoint 750GHz
2Gb Corsair Dominator PC2-8500 DDR 2
Corsair HX620W
Dual-boot XP Pro/Vista 32 Ultimate

[billbruen]

Now you're talking dirty....333/800 strap???

Assuming I could find out what you mean.....I'm sure I can..:-)....how 'minor' would the benefits be?

I really don't want to fiddle, just for the sake of it.........

[billbruen]

Oh dear, I've just noticed the member's System Specs button......so embarrassing.......sorry.

[Clunk]

I was just going to say that the system specs thing look ok to me and then I read your last reply

Some people see better gains than others by running their memory a bit faster. In gaming, you may be able to achieve a few extra FPS, or maybe some image/video processing might speed up...all depends.

Have a read of the guides, theres a bit that explains about memory...it's based around an Asus P5K Deluxe, but the principles are the same.

[Kelainefes]

Aw you got a asus board... to get the 333/800 divider you should set the FSB strap to NB to 333, then manually set the appropriate memory speed.
I think benefits in average frame rates could vary from 0 to 3%, so it's really up to you if it's worth it or not. But you could always try and see for yourself, as i said a 1040 MHz frequency should be very easy to get, and it's within both your modules and motherboard's specifications.

Edit: Clunk beat me again.

[Clunk]

Originally Posted by Kelainefes

Edit: Clunk beat me again.

All those other times, I let you win

[billbruen]

Thanks for the comments guys: my interpretation of Clunk's comments is that improvements (if any), are likely to be relatively minor.

However, Kelainefes says try it and see, (which like so much in life), probably makes sense, so I'll give it a go.

I have read the guides Clunk....just didn't understand the memory bits.......I'll try again.