2GB or 1.5 faster?

[HalfLing]

Ok here is situation, I just built my dream PC (4800+, BFG 7800, fatal1ty A8n sli, 500gb raid)

here is my question...

I currently am using unbuffered ocz ddr500 gold. I have 2 512mb sticks and 2 ddr slots free. I am aware ocz must run @ 3.6v to operate at its best, currently it is only running at 2.67 I think and in my bios it maxes out at 3.4 region. Is this due to my power supply (rosewill 550) or my mobo?

also if I wanted to upgrade, would it be wiser to use all 4 dimm slots with ram (ocz gold 2gb) or use one slot for the ocz booster (upps volatge to ram) and have 1.5 gb at 3.6 volts?

Also is there a way to check in win or bios what the current ram timings are? I can set them myself, but if I boost the voltage I would rather the unbuffered unregistered ocz did it automatically.

Thanks,

Jake-

ps not sure wether this would affect outcome, but I may go sli in the future (what size power supply should I use if I do this any reccomendations?)

[drshdw]

The reason why ddr voltage won't go over 3.4v is because of the motherboard. You can't run 3 sticks of 512mb in dual channel mode, so stick to TCCD ram so you can run it at high frequencies while maintaining a sub 3.0v on the memory.

[ev0|]

Wow they want you run the voltage on those sticks at 3.6 Volts ? The spec for DDR is 2.5 to 2.7. That's just some seriously overvolted memory right there. I wonder how long it will last..

[Draconian Guppy]

This is a question i've been asking for ages an just get the same reply, people say 1.5GB is the sweet point for systems :| But does this mean not even high quality ram will perform well at 2gb :| ?

[fatgirl319]

why not just get 2 1G sticks and the booster

[gummyz]

high quality Ram can usually handle 3.0v+ but personally I stay for default voltage, for longevity.

In order to reach higher o'c or tighter timings, it is usually required to overvoltage the Ram to whatever is specified.

if you want 2GB, then I would go for 2x1GB sticks, than have 4x512MB sticks. I've heard that AMD based chipsets don't like 4 sticks if u want 1T, but it won't be an issue if you're ok to run 2T for your command rate.

for your PSU, if you go SLI I would recommend a minimum of 500W but I'm sure a 450W good quality PSU (OCZ, Antec, PC Power and Cooling, Tagan, Enermax) can do SLI without problems.

[drshdw]

high quality Ram can usually handle 3.0v+ but personally I stay for default voltage, for longevity.

In order to reach higher o'c or tighter timings, it is usually required to overvoltage the Ram to whatever is specified.

if you want 2GB, then I would go for 2x1GB sticks, than have 4x512MB sticks.  I've heard that AMD based chipsets don't like 4 sticks if u want 1T, but it won't be an issue if you're ok to run 2T for your command rate.

for your PSU, if you go SLI I would recommend a minimum of 500W but I'm sure a 450W good quality PSU (OCZ, Antec, PC Power and Cooling, Tagan, Enermax) can do SLI without problems.

586402546[/snapback]

BH-5 works insanely well at 3.6v with active cooling.

[gummyz]

for your PSU, if you go SLI I would recommend a minimum of 500W but I'm sure a 450W good quality PSU (OCZ, Antec, PC Power and Cooling, Tagan, Enermax) can do SLI without problems.

586402546[/snapback]

hope u know I mean 500W good quality PSU :p

[Dom]

Just get 2x1gb ram if you can, but NO DDR BOOSTER, its not that good as people think, my friend used one, and now that DIMM is kinda useless ??

[HalfLing]

Thing about 1gb sticks is the latency is higher than on 512 sticks. Plus I already have 2x512 so I could get another 2 and would have 4x512 with the same speed. Does a higher latency but 2 sticks pose an advatage?

Also the OCZ ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820227205 wants 3.3v (I was wrong about my guess of 3.6) to run at 2-2-2-8 otherwise it has a slower default (2.5-3-3-8 i think). Now if the ram is advertised at 3.3 why not run it there?

Jake-

P.S. I can run it at 3.3v without the booster by tweaking bios uGuru settings? Should I? If I leave the ram to auto settings will it take advatage automatically and run at 2-2-2-8 or do I have to specify that as well?

[HalfLing]

Well I bit the bullet and went ahead and upped to voltage to 3.3 in bios. I then set the ratings to 2-2-2-8.

I just started XP (at least it booted, I had to reset cmos when the first time before i upped voltage). Its running fine right now (knock on wood) gonna do the doom test ;)

the actualy voltage is registering at 3.26 (set a 3.3 in bios) doom3 actually seems a little jumpy (more than it was before) though this could be an effect of settings 4x aa on 1600x1200 ultra hehe.

Jake-

Edited August 20, 2005 by HalfLing