AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (754) upgrade or Faster DDR Memory?

[Pheonix_789]

Hey My fellow AMD comrades!

I would like to know if I should upgrade my CPU to the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0ghz 512 L2 cashe or If I should Upgrade my memory with faster timings and more mhz?(DDR 4000 perferably 500mhz) Iam currently only using Kingston Value ram and I would like to see the most performance gain on my system. I have only the money to make 1 of the upgrades! it cost roughly $170 for each upgrade.Will I see a dramatic increase in performance from either of these upgrades?Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ink]

well, with the 64 bit system the best thing you can do is get a bigger cpu or overclock it. i have a mobile 3000+ 1.8ghz with water cooling on a dfi nf3 250gb pushing the 2.7ghz mark. i had 2x512 of samsung pc2700 mem and now i have 2x512 geil pc4000 mem, the only diff i can tell is i had to run the samsung at ddr260 to get my overclock and im running the geil at ddr360, i score the same in benchmarks with either mem and still cant beat my 33 sec pi score with either mem. hope this helps

 

[Pheonix_789]

It looks Iam going with this Processor! Iam just wondering what can over clocks can I get with this particular processor?

AMD 64 3000+ 2.0ghz ClawHammer (754)

 

[Ink]

your overclock will depend on ur mobo and mem aswell list ur system specs and maybe we can help u more. now so u know i have a mobile 3000+ with 1mb l2 and stock at 1.8ghz, to get my overclock i am running with watercooling aswell, and i am hitting almost 2.7ghz.

 

[Ink]

ok i forgot how the system specs r in this forum sorry. anyway i dont know the mobo that u have but knowing asus id say u should be able to get between 2.2 or 2.4 maybe more.

 

[spectre440]

clawhammers generally are fantastic overclockers... as long as you got enough cooling on it to keep it from melting down... hehe...
my socket 754 2800+ (1.8ghz stock) clawhammer can hit 2.6ghz without breaking a sweat. (and probably more, i just havent really bothered testing it to its limit...), but it is watercooled...
so if you're planning on doing any overclocking if you get a new CPU then you should definantly consider getting a better-than-stock cooling solution

with that said, most issues you'll have will probably arise from your motherboard and memory.
its a matter of finding a "compromise" between what your CPU can do, what your board can do, and what your memory can handle.

anyways, to the point: if i were you i'd go with the CPU upgrade, and try to tweak the RAM to tighter timings... athlons love tight memory timings. most kingston VRam come with 3-3-3-8 timings, but some of them can go lower if you put a bit more voltage in 'em...
most of em can hit 2.5-3-3-7, which isn't especially tight, but its better than keeping it at 3-3-3-8...

anyways #2, and to make long story short: i think you'll get more of a boost in performance if you get that clawhammer and tweak your existing memory a bit than you would if you get just better memory.

 

[Pheonix_789]

hey do have any stable voltage figure/numbers for Kingston 3200 Value Ram? I have never overclocked memory? that is just increasing the voltage in the bios correct?

ASUS K8N4-E deluxe Nforce3 mobo
Kingston 3200 Value Ram

Oh wait I found something interesting and I decided to post it up! take a look!

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/152/2

 

[wazzledoozle]

Dont bother with a clawhammer

 

[spectre440]

hmm... that's odd...
i didnt know they made venice's for the 754's...

in any case... for 120$ that's a pretty damn good deal... if you're budget's 170$ you still have 50 bucks to spend on a cooling solution... or hookers and booze... whichever way you slice it, that's pretty decent.

edit:
regarding the memory, the stock voltage of kingston VRam is usually 2.5v, and the stock timings are usually 3-3-3-8, although i have seen some that were sold at stock 2.5-3-3-8 and even 2-3-3-7 timings...
but 99% of them are usually timed at 3-3-3-8. and most of these will usuaslly hit 2.5-3-3-7 and if you get lucky and really twiddle around you can get em to go as low as 2-3-3-6. but that usually requires more volts to be put in the modules, and a good rule of thumb is that if you put more volts to anything is to get additional cooling for it.

 

[Pheonix_789]

wow I just did what i said I i got an impressive gain on my value memory!

450mhz 2.65 volts timining 2-5-3-3-3!

wow I had this potential in my memory all along and I didnt even know about until a year of having this ram! lol

Thank-you AMD comrades!!!

 

[spectre440]

2.5-3-3-3?!?!


and with 2.65 volts to the RAM you should definantly consider getting some additional cooling for the modules (like spreaders or RAM sinks) or you'll run the risk of overheating and burning them out...

 

[Pheonix_789]

AMD comrades!


Kingston Value Ram!

well anyways I did what you said and I got amazing overclock on my kingston memory!

CAS timing 2-5-3-3-2 @ 2.65 voltage core!@ 250mhz(500mhz)

My computer is booting up and loading way faster!
I just hope my memory doesnt just engulf in flames right now
but I have decent cooling so heat shouldnt be a problem!

however I was only able to increase my CPU 50mhz LOL 2050mhz 920FSB

 

[Pheonix_789]

2.5-3-3-3?!?!


and with 2.65 volts to the RAM you should definantly consider getting some additional cooling for the modules (like spreaders or RAM sinks) or you'll run the risk of overheating and burning them out...

The memory modules seem fine they arent over heating one bit! I have great side kooling blowing cold Canadian winter air on the memory hey us Canadian know hot to keep our hardware kool!

eh eh eh eh eh!

checked every half side intakes fans seem to be providing enough kooling for the memory modules

yeah I so surprised I managed this memory overclock considering this is my first time but I experimented in bios several times!