Originally Posted by
Phil_P
Hi,
I need a little advice on choosing some RAM for a Q6600 Quad Core overclocking system.
I'm planning on high end air cooling, so a fsb of 333 (333x9=3GHz) is probably realistic but I'll be very unlikely to get anywhere near 400fsb that a core 2 duo might hit. If you get a q6600 like mine that runs hot, its unlikely that youll get that far using air cooling.
Thus, is it worth going with faster ram (DDR2-800) or is it better to go with DDR2-667 and run the memory synchronous (1:1) ?? Remember that with a 9x multi, you can theoretically hit 3.6ghz on PC2-6400 ram without overclocking the ram. With faster ram, you can always use a divider and run the ram faster, the benefits of this arent huge, but they are ok.
Possible contenders are (2x1GB):
Corsair XMS2-5400C4 (DDR2-667) ~£50 No, will possibly limit your overclock.
Corsair XMS2-6400C5 (DDR2-800) ~£70 Theres as good or better for cheaper if you shop round
Corsair XMS2-6400C4 (DDR2-800) ~£94 Too expensive for what it is, shop around.
OCZ Platinum XTC rev2 (DDR2-800) ~£80 OK but Still overpriced.
I'm assuming here that the Q6600 is multiplier locked at x9 and I can't turn it down to x8 or x7 to get the fsb up to 400 - is this correct? The multi is upwards locked, so you can use 9, 8, 7, 6, but not 10, 11, 12 etc.