Adjusting CAS Latency timings.

[B1gg3stN00b]

I understand this increases the speed of the RAM, but can it be done safetly? Does it increase the heat, damage the lifespan or anything of the RAM? If not, why do RAM manufacturers not just have a stock CAS latency of like .5? I just got 8gb CAS 5 Black Dragon RAM, can I drop it to 4 safetly?

What should I adjust? I'd be using Nvidia control center and have 2gb of 1066 Patriot to experiment on that give random BSODs anyways.

 

[DarkEgo]

Lowering your CAS latency will not shorten the lifespan of your memory at all. The thing tat would shorten the life of your memory wold be the heat that would come with increased voltage to get it stable. As a rule of thumb keep your voltage at ~2.2V for DDR2 ram. I would not go over 2.2V.

 

[sneekypeet]

I say the biggest thing is testing with a bootable version of memtest86+, that can be found here.

Burn that to a CD with nero or whatever burn software you have.

When you set the timings and voltage in bios to try out, be sure to set the boot priority to CD first. Then boot the PC. If the burn was a sucess, you should be looking at memtest in action. If the program errors it means one of two things usually. The ram or NB may need a bit more volts to make it run stable, or you have hit the limit of the ram at that CAS setting.

 

[B1gg3stN00b]

Sounds complicated.

I'll see how the 8gb works initially and maybe bump it up later if I need, thanks guys!

 

[Bundy]

Agree with Sneekypete - you need to use memtest to get the timings right. I'd suggest you do some research before trying though.