2-2-2-5 at ddr400 or 3-2-3-6 at ddr520?

Associate
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Hi,

Running an X2-4400 at 2600 (260 x 10) and using Corsair XMS Pro 3500LL.

Would it be more beneficial to run at 2-2-2-5 1T at DDR400 or 3-2-3-6 1T at DDR 520 for this type of system?

I think Stock is 2-3-2-6 at DDR438.

Cheers
 

str

str

Soldato
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AMD 64 always runs asyncronous even with memory at 1:1. I don't have any experience of such good ram but from what I've read DDR520 with CAS 3 probably won't be enough to beat the DDR400 at CAS 2.

Maybe SuperPI 1M will show you the difference so give that a try on both settings and post back with the results. :)
 
Associate
OP
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Hey tried super pi with both.

2-2-2-5 ddr 400 gave 32.781 seconds
3-2-3-6 ddr 520 gave 31.984 seconds

Is this applicable to real world stuff?

Does CAS make a huge difference? Highest I can get CAS 2.5 is about 250 Mhz
 

str

str

Soldato
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That's a good result for DDR520 at CAS 3. I wasn't expecting such a good showing in SuperPI.

For gaming performance you could try a benchmark in Doom 3 or another game that relies on high CPU speed and low memory latency.

I'm still relatively new to AMD 64 systems so I can't really say much else but hopefully someone with more knowledge/experience will be able to give some advice on the differences between DDR400/tight timings and DDR500+/loose timings.
 
Man of Honour
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Personally I'd go for the DDR520. While latencies are important on the A64 they are not the be-all and end-all as some would have you believe.

As an example a while back I did some tests (using Quake3 at 640x480 to focus on cpu/memory performance) and found that 2.5-3-3-6(?) DDR470 was faster than 2-2-3-6(?) DDR423. I can't test CAS3 because my Twinmos RAM hates it.

The bottom line it depends on each persons setup and how much extra FSB they can get by relaxing their timings - best thing is to test as you have done and choose the fastest option.
 
Soldato
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Some games like memoryspeed, others like tight timings but the difference between them is under 10% in almost all situations so it really doesn't matter all that much.

But out of the choices you have I would run at DDR520 as the timings are still quite good, normally RAM needs to run at 3-4-4-8 at >DDR500
 
Man of Honour
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I have noticed absolutley no difference running xp with 2 gig 3500LL 2-3-2-5 to 2 gig gskill @3-4-4-8. 3dmark06 scores were higher with the gskill running @ above timings @280mhz(1:1) than running the 3500LL's @220 mhz(/166). So I would choose slacker timings with a higher bandwidth.

Oh and the 3500LL's will not run 438 stock, they run @ 400 unless you increase the fsb by 17 ;). I found the 3500's to be excellent memory but would not clock higher than 446 (223@2-3-2-5) without using a divider and even then it had to be a 166 divider coz they didn't work well with a 180 divider. Even relaxing the timings failed to increase stability. I recommend putting 2.8v through them as this was a sweet spot for my set.
 
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Ok, well by stock I meant the DDR438 2-3-2-6. (actually did DDR440 and 220x10 on the cpu). Everything else I agree with you although i've had them stable 260 at 3-2-3-6 for over a week (Memtest, Prime, SnM etc).

I'm finding in general that things are marginally quicker using relaxed timings and a higher fsb. Only talking 1 fps if that. Makes you wonder whether its worth spending all that money on quality RAM at all. I guess it depends on what revision you get.

Bit disillusioned but hey ho. Lesson learned!

Cheers everyone

Gommsta
 
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So what would be an ideal choice. The 3500LL and overclocking to run at 500mhz or Mushkin Redline XP?

Both are fairly pricey. But I feel they would be an upgrade over my corsair value select. Don;t get me wrong I find the value select fairly good value and performs well at the price point but I am trying to squeeze more speed out of my system and I think my memory is holding me back.
 
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