Memory question - high quantity vs better timings

[behappier]

I have just purchased and installed a pair of 512 Mb DDR 3200 from Scan and installed it in my system along the pair of Crucial 512Mb sticks I already have. The system would not boot if I left the memory timings "read by SPD", I have had to reduce CAS from 2.5 to 3 and now everything works.
Question : I am better off running 1Gb at CAS2.5 or 2Mb at CAS 3 ?

No expert in memory timings as you can figure out...

[Russ]

Hows the rest of your system set up? for speed, stability or both? personally i'd go with the 2GB at cas 3

[behappier]

Rest of the system is

Abit IS7-E M/B
Celeron D 2.4 @ 2.9 stable
C Drive - WD 80Gb 8Mb IDE
Cache drive - Seagate 160Gb 8Mb SATA
Ti4200 AGP @ 275/580 - getting old

I am tempted by upgrading to a Asrock Dual and Opteron/Athlon64 and keep the Ti4200 - ideally I would go all PCI-E...

[MSIC]

Well, it's mostly to do with what you want to do with it.
More system RAM gives you more breathing room to open up either much larger files (RAW photos to edit, or the latest newest largest games) without having to go back to virtual memory which is alot slower.
So if you are doing the above, go for 2 gig.

That said, your current setup, notably the Celery, will be the major bottleneck even overclocked, if you are looking at having just a generally faster windows envronment.

It's also noted that quite often boards dont like all 4 slots of memory filled if you push the memory 'fast' (even you have found at CAS 2.5).

In sunnary. there's no clear answer to your question without spending more money on better components. You chose what you are most bothered about (games, editing or whatever), do some benchmarking, and post back with results!

[kempez]

Well did you try giving the memory a little more voltage to see if it can run at CAS 2.5? Might be worth a go to get the best of both wqorlds

[Thorsson]

kempez, what voltage are you giving your RAM, and are you using a divider (from your sig)?

[behappier]

Now increased Voltage to 2.6V and it booted up on CAS 2.5

Ram running at 5/4 of FSB = 155/4 * 5 = 194Mhz in dual channel mode

[kempez]

kempez, what voltage are you giving your RAM, and are you using a divider (from your sig)?

Running it at 2.8v 1:1 3-3-3-8 mate - 280 x 10

Check this thread for full details EDIT: Bottom post has a large clickable thumb with A64 tweaker settings in it:

http://www.rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish.com/showthread.php?t=2965

and @ behappier - is that any better than before?

[Butcher]

More will generally be better. You're only get a couple of percent at best from CAS2.5 vs CAS3.

[Thorsson]

Running it at 2.8v 1:1 3-3-3-8 mate - 280 x 10

Check this thread for full details EDIT: Bottom post has a large clickable thumb with A64 tweaker settings in it:

http://www.rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish.com/showthread.php?t=2965

and @ behappier - is that any better than before?

Thanks!