Best oc'ing ddr2 memory under £230

[No.72]

Suggestions anyone?

[shaithis]

I use this OCZ Gold XTC which I have had over 1000MHz on my old P5B with slightly relaxed timings.

[alexpollard]

Whats the deal with 6400 mem? Can I just lower the ratio on the memory:FSB or should I really buy 8500 if I want a decent overclock? From my understanding, you can get a 1000mhz CPU (core duo) and use it in conjuction with 800mhz memory (with a non 1:1 ratio). What are the disadvantages of doing this cos the price difference in the memory is quite substantial.

[shaithis]

Well, the 1066 C2Ds work at 266 MHz FSB (They are quad-pumped buses).

DDR2-800 will work on a FSB upto 400MHz (before you enter the realms of overclocking - They are double data rate...)

So, on an E6600 for example.

Stock = 9 x 266 = 2.4GHz

So, DDR2-800 would allow you to push the FSB to 400 while keeping the memory within stock limits....

So that's 9 x 400 = 3.6GHz (if your E6600 can handle that)

If you then look at overclocking the RAM to 1000Mhz (that's 500Mhz FSB) you could potentially get more gains then from dropping your multiplier and running a higher FSB. I.e. run at 7 x 500. There are very techy reasons why this may be better or worse though depending on what chipset your motherboard has and what revision of BIOS its running tho

Some motherboards will let you run the CPUs FSB lower then the memories but not many C2D boards that I have seen allow it.

[No.72]

What about the dq6, what memory does that work best with?

[Marcvs]

get the £195 DDR2 Dominator Ram @Scan - its 800Mhz and Very Very Good

[No.72]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=MY-002-CK
This looks like a good one
decent chips too

[Hasnath]

gskill BHZ use D9 IC's

got some other gskill memory off this guy from the states, really quick delivery (5 working days even over christmas). Also dont get charged for customs as he puts down the value under $40 or something like that.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/G-SKILL-2GB-DD...QQcmdZViewItem

[Chunkers]

Personally I would value stability and compatibility over out-right speed TBH.

I recently RMA'ed my G Skill CAS4 memory sticks as they didnt run at the advertised timings. Good experience and response by G.Skill - they exchanged it for some really excellent stuff which defaults to run at tighter timings than specced and overclocks really well.

My main point is that from what I can see with my set-up the performance difference between CAS4 / CAS5 and overclocking the memory is miniscule compared to any benefit from ocing the cpu or gfx.

I agree with the point I think shaithis is making, only the extreme oc'ers of C2D need greater than DDR2-6400, for most of us its all you need.

To oc a C2D above 400 Mhz FSB is pretty hard to do and unless you use higher than 1:1 ratio you dont need fast RAM anyway.

Most DDR2-6400 RAM oc's pretty well from what I've read, the Micron D9 chips are highly regarded. I would look here for advice on the extreme stuff :

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php

Cheers

Chks

[excalibur2]

Interesting results from your xtreme link

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=127379

Most members used:-
Asus P5B deluxe
crucial or team memory
E6300 seems to be considered a "loser" now.

[No.72]

gskill BHZ use D9 IC's

got some other gskill memory off this guy from the states, really quick delivery (5 working days even over christmas). Also dont get charged for customs as he puts down the value under $40 or something like that.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/G-SKILL-2GB-DD...QQcmdZViewItem

Wow that seems like a top deal, as they sell for about £250, plus I have never touched ebay!, I am only 16 so I can't!

[alexpollard]

So what's the verdict. If I want to do some nice overclocking I should really pay the price for 8500+ mem and not skimp on 6400?

[No.72]

I think if you have a e6300/6600 pc2-6400 is plenty for a decent oc. But if you want to really go for it get pc2-8000 or maby even pc2-8500 which gives you the extra.