Memory Performance Help

[Darkhour]

Which of the following is faster memory and why?

6-8-6-24 G.Skill DDR3 1600MHz

7-8-7-20 Corsair DDR3 1600MHz

Does tRAS factor into performance or is CAS all that matters?

Also, I've heard that anything abouve 1600Mhz has little to no improvement with Sandy Bridge(SB) processors. Would it even be worth it to get 2x2GB 7-10-10-27 DDR3 2200MHZ?

I'm upgrading from 4x1GB 6-6-6-18 DDR3 1333 OCZ Reapers that probably won't work with a new SB CPU due to higher voltage requirments.

 

[ruthless_villain]

mhz doesnt make much difference i think its all about the timings

lol maybe i was wrong then

 

[tinytomlogan]

mhz doesnt make much difference i think its all about the timings.

On sandy bridge its all about the Mhz..... Gen2 CPU's need bandwidth and timings make sfa difference to them really.

Remember SB is 1600 - 1866 - or 2133 speeds though and you will have to set it manually in the bios.

 

[kilobravo]

Speed on ram does make a big difference.When oc cpu also,there will be a significant difference.

I switched my 2x2gb 1600mhz 7-8-7-21-1t corsair doms to kingston hyperx grey series 2x2gb 2133mhz 9-11-9-27-1t.

The increase in ppd was 2k ppd,just switching rams.

 

[Scoob]

Speed on ram does make a big difference.When oc cpu also,there will be a significant difference.

I switched my 2x2gb 1600mhz 7-8-7-21-1t corsair doms to kingston hyperx grey series 2x2gb 2133mhz 9-11-9-27-1t.

The increase in ppd was 2k ppd,just switching rams.

Hi,

Out of interest, when overclocking your memory, exactly where are you noticing it make a difference? I assume we're talking improved numbers in benchmarks or during folding maybe? From a gaming perspective, and really the system in general, my preference (based on cost being significant) would be MORE ram over less but faster ram.

I popped 2x4gb 1600mhz Vengeance in my system because it was at an excellent price point at the time.

Cheers,

Scoob.

 

[kilobravo]

Well i dont game that much.But only a few frames diff wont matter that much.Think more ram is better for gaming.

But read for yourself.This is a recent article about it.

I will say though,the system "feels" smoother with fast rams.

 

[Scoob]

Well i dont game that much.But only a few frames diff wont matter that much.Think more ram is better for gaming.

But read for yourself.This is a recent article about it.

I will say though,the system "feels" smoother with fast rams.

Hi,

I had actually read that article previously, the sweet spot appears to be at the 1600mhz mark. I guess the question is, what degree of increase, be it timing or mhz, does it actually take for you to gain that smoother feel?

Don't get me wrong, I overclocked the memory by a fair amount on my last gaming PC. I saw a difference in certain benchmarks, but that was it. Despite that I let my ram at the higher clocks & more agressive timings for 3 years because there was no down side to doing so.

I'd say my current system feels very nice at 1600mhz ram with default, rather slow, timings. As does my old gamer (Q6600) which is now back down to 800 from 950mhz ram, stock timings and CPU clock down to 3.0ghz from 3.6ghz.

I think more ram is indeed better, however I'd never go for the slowest ram, always the mid-range sweet-spot

At the end of the day, if more agressive timings and an overclock give you what you want and allow you to do what you do better/faster then it's all good

Cheers,

Scoob.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Sandy bridge is better with higher bandwidth than tighter timings - thats what I said above.

They are bandwidth whores and dont really get any performance benefits from tighter times like 1156 and 1366 did.

 

[Scoob]

Sandy bridge is better with higher bandwidth than tighter timings - thats what I said above.

They are bandwidth whores and dont really get any performance benefits from tighter times like 1156 and 1366 did.

Hi,

Yeah, I missed the 1156/1366 generation myself. Considering Sandy Bridge (even the likes of the 2500k and 2600k) is still only Intels mid-range offering with SB-E and the IB shrink still to come, Intel really did do an amazing job on these chips. Ok, I jumped a generation coming from my Q6600 but still, quite a leap.

Funny how things change, I mean didn't tight timings use to be the holy grail of memory overclocking almost?

The mind boggles at the prospect of what Quad Channel memory is going to perform like...

Cheers,

Scoob.