Quick question about RAM Overclocking

[jonathan1107]

Hi guys, Look @ my specs...

I have 2x 4gb Gskills Ripjaws sticks (the red ones...) they're rated @ 1600mhz 9 9 9 24 with 1.5v...
With my current Mobo and setup... I can either have it run @ it's stock speeds (1600mhz 9 9 9 24 with 1.5v) or I can push it to 2000mhz with 9 11 9 27 timings...

Considering I have an i7 874k OCed to 4Ghz, and that I have 2x 6950 in crossfire and that I do a lot of gaming... which is best ???

1600 mhz with the stock timings or 2000mhz with the other timings ??? (9 11 9 27)

 

[JrRacinFan]

2k, no questions asked.

 

[jonathan1107]

can you give me more details plzzz Why is 2000mhz better ? I've heard that timings matter more than speed... I've heard that if you can manage decent timings @ 1600 that would be better than 2000mhz with very loose timings...

I know what timings do, but how does OCing the RAM to 2000mhz influence the gaming performance ???

Also, when I do set my RAM to run @ 2000mhz I don't "feel" the difference in the performance in games that much (of course not every performance increase can be felt or seen...) but... I'm thinking about either keeping this ram kit @ 2000mhz or buying a new one...

I've got a newegg gift certificate... should I use it to buy new RAM or do you think the RAM kit I have right now is convenient...

Would there be a big difference in performance if I would increase my RAM quantity (like switching from 8GB to 12 or 16GB...) ???

 

[cheesy999]

can you give me more details plzzz Why is 2000mhz better ? I've heard that timings matter more than speed... I've heard that if you can manage decent timings @ 1600 that would be better than 2000mhz with very loose timings...

[COLOR="rgb(139, 0, 0)"1:]I know what timings do, but how does OCing the RAM to 2000mhz influence the gaming performance ???[/COLOR][/B]

2:Also, when I do set my RAM to run @ 2000mhz I don't "feel" the difference in the performance in games that much (of course not every performance increase can be felt or seen...) but... I'm thinking about either keeping this ram kit @ 2000mhz or buying a new one...

3:I've got a newegg gift certificate... should I use it to buy new RAM or do you think the RAM kit I have right now is convenient...

[B][COLOR="DarkRed"]4:Would there be a big difference in performance if I would increase my RAM quantity (like switching from 8GB to 12 or 16GB...) ???[/COLOR]

1: not much, most games do not require that much memory bandwidth, and on that platform what you already have should be more then enough for most modern games to run

2:you won't, memory bandwidth will only really matter on a platform where bandwidth is restricted such as AM3 or 775

3:spend it on something else, you don't need better RAM

4:Not unless your maxing it, and no game will even max 4gb out at the moment, highest i've ever got is around 2GB of ram usage out of civ 5, and even then i was only at 3.2GB total usage, you only need more then 8GB if your doing heavy video editing or REALLY high quality photo editing

On most intel platforms the memory controller prefers higher MHZ over lower timings, the opposite is true for AMD rigs if your interested, this is because the Intel CPU's have a larger, faster cache, but a higher access time to the memory controller as opposed to the AMD CPU's

 

[LagunaX]

Answer your own questions.
Run any modern graphics test and see if your frames per second is better or not.
It will probably feel like it is loading faster and you might feel like it is faster, but for gaming purposes it probably won't move you more than 1 FPS.
That being said, I would still run it at 2000.

 

[JrRacinFan]

You get a difference when running multi threaded applications. also your not changing timings any and p55 based platforms like the extra bandwidth. Ram speed effects gaming very very little, where it might help some is in multi gpu configurations.

2k no questions asked.

About more ram, depends on your daily usage. Is this just a gaming rig?

 

[jonathan1107]

Well......... I did ask you guys to look @ my specs first didn't I? I do use multi gpu... I have crossfire remember?

As for my timings not being changed you're wrong... when I OC my RAM to 2000mhz, I have to loosen the timings from 9 9 9 24 to 9 11 9 27 instead...

But it's true I've heard i7s like higher RAM speeds... Also in your last reply, you ask me if I use my RIG to game a lot... Well if you look @ my first post... I say "Considering I have an i7 874k OCed to 4Ghz, and that I have 2x 6950 in crossfire and that I do a lot of gaming... which is best ???"

I was curious to know what are the best 2000mhz kits out there... are there any that beat the 9 11 9 27 timings ?

 

[gaximodo]

your case, go 2k definitely, 9-11-9 makes not much differences than 9-9-9, but if I were u i'd try to tighten your timings than overclock higher, something like 7-8-7-24 will be a better choice imo than both of the states you gave, or 8-X-8 around 1800mhz something like that.
I'm running mine @6-8-6 1700hmz, i can feel the system snappier than when i run them @8-9-8 2100hmz

 

[JrRacinFan]

Well......... I did ask you guys to look @ my specs first didn't I? I do use multi gpu... I have crossfire remember?

As for my timings not being changed you're wrong... when I OC my RAM to 2000mhz, I have to loosen the timings from 9 9 9 24 to 9 11 9 27 instead...

But it's true I've heard i7s like higher RAM speeds... Also in your last reply, you ask me if I use my RIG to game a lot... Well if you look @ my first post... I say "Considering I have an i7 874k OCed to 4Ghz, and that I have 2x 6950 in crossfire and that I do a lot of gaming... which is best ???"

I was curious to know what are the best 2000mhz kits out there... are there any that beat the 9 11 9 27 timings ?

Didn't even need to look at specs to answer your question. Even if there was a lower cas @ 2k kit out there and available it would be a nanoseconds difference in performance(very minimal), same goes for 9-9-9-24 vs 9-11-9-27. Now if you could get maybe a 2300mhz kit, that would be totally different. Then again, it would provide a snappier feel but hardly switching your current sticks.

Only way there would be a difference is in benchmarks and only some gaming. Remember, s1156/P55 based love memory bandwith but up to a certain extent the returns are quite small.

Also when I asked, "Is this just a gaming rig?" I didn't mean "Is all you do on this rig is game?" meant to ask do you do more than gaming, but you answered that compellingly.

@gaximodo

Post some benchmark screenshots please showcasing both. SuperPI/Wprime/MaxxMem preferably.

 

[jonathan1107]

yup, I agree, it'd be cool to achieve tighter timings, but man that is so hard !!
My current mobo doesn't seem to like me tightening the timings.
Every combination I've tried didn't work, I can't even bring my current set from 9 9 9 24 to 8 9 9 24 or something of the like...

Even if I increase voltage... I did find some nice 1600mhz kits that beat my current sticks timings... The ones I've seen were rated @ 1600mhz 7 8 7 24... so I guess there would be a good chance that I could OC these up to 1800 2000 mhz ish with tighter timings...

But since RAM doesn't seem to bring a big boost of performance to the table... I think I'll focus on other parts of my rig...