Memory timings Vs Clock Speed...

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tamislan

Weaksauce
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Aug 10, 2004
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Not being rich, I faced the choice of buying either decent timing RAM at 3200 or RAM rated at a higher clock speed (3500, 4000, etc). I chose the former. I've read all the memory FAQs I can lay my hands on and I believe I understand the basics, but can someone please explain to me what the difference is between a 3500 stick running slow timings at say 250 MHz (I'm talking Intel) and a 3200 stick running the same slow timings at 250 MHz ? Admittedly I haven't tried doing this with my 3200 sticks yet. I have some 3rd quarter 2003 Corsair 3200 LLPT TwinX factory rated at 2,3,3,6, though I'm running them at 2,3,2,6 and I've just purchased some Kingston HyperX 3200 factory rated as 2,3,2,6.

Should respectable 3200 like the above, on paper at least, do 250 MHz at the slow timings of a 3500 stick? I'm not too worried about the real world application of this but I am curious how people's milage goes.
 
This is really trial and error, you need to try your memory and test it. Even if someone else has the same spec system and memory each stick has different limits and performance. Also the bios has become so complicated and the drivers setup has so many variables and possible version of chipset drivers your mileage may vary even from identical setups depending on order or installation and if you started with a clean install. In theory the Corsair should beat the Hyper X nine times out of ten because kingston uses very lose timmings and normaly cannot take any tighter settings. While Corsair gives a low speed rating with tight timmings but can really open up mhz wise with looser timmings and increased voltage.
 
Also define slow timmings, in general they are refered to as tight or loose.
 
I don't have some specifics for you, but honestly I think your answer has satisfied me i.e. that on paper my theory _should_ be true. I understand that it varies from RAM to RAM though.
 
I will tell you that Corsair for me has really been a good buy.
 
If you cannot get the corsair to clock well the first thing to try is to set everything to the factory settings just in case your SPD is not reading it right. I use SiSoft Sandra to read the memorys actual timmings. It normally tells what it was origionaly manufactuered to run at not what the end manufactuer actually rated and tested it at.
 
With intel the memory timeings are not that important but clock speed is. So lax the timeings and run that cpu fast as you can.
 
MLF - I didn't realise Sandra could read the SPD settings. I know that neither of my mobos read the SPD correctly on the Corsair. I'll give that a try.
 
Timmings are not as important but remember to benchmark and compare your system configurations, because even on intel you maybe suprised how tighter timmings at lower mhz can change actuall game benchmarks. Certain games perform best at tight timmings.
 
Also dont run the 5:4 memory... lax you memory timeings on a 1:1 ratio and go high as you can on the fsb. For most applications I have noticed the 1:1 vs 5:4 ratio is about a 300-400mhz difference so not worth the gain in cpu speed going a 5:4ratio.
 
Shane - well, I won't be able to play with my rig until about 10 days from now as I'm in the US at the moment (I live in Ireland). I'm wondering though, seeing as the Corsair I have will do 22x MHz at good timings, shouldn't I still use the 5:4 and run the overall bus at ~280 MHz? (i.e.~3.4 GHz on my Pentium 2.4 C, assuming I can get it that high)
 
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