Hi there!

I had a quiet system with Epox 8RDA3I (NForce 2) and Duron 1600 with multiplier unlocked on it. Using 8rdavcore I underclocked the system to 9.5x110 MHz 1.2V and it runs cool and quiet enough. As I like to play some game from time to time I had been overclocking the system to 9.5x220MHz 1.7V for playing without any problems. The board does not allow me to change the multiplier without restart (I do not know if any would allow this), so adjusting the speed by changing FSB is the only way to go.

Later I changed the memory from Infineon 256MB 3200 CL2.5 to Kingston 512MB 3200 CL3. I noticed that I can neither go as low nor as high on the FSB as I earlier could. Only the 120 MHz - 200 MHz spread was available (tested on low multiplier as well to make sure that the CPU is not the problem).

As I am looking to upgrade to 1GB memory - any hints what type/ kind of RAM will be able to work in the widest FSB spread.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

What kind of price range are you looking for?

Price - the lowest possible of course :-)

As it is a budget system I do not want to spend a lot on memory, although I know that it is an important component (as most parts of the computer are). I would like to spend somewhere around 80 bucks on 2x512MB, I was looking for a good deal on PC3200 CL 2.5 and it is possible to fit it into this tight budget. Nevertheless I would like to know what to choose for optimum under/overclocking before I buy.

um yeah
80 bux will get you one stick of bad ram.

You are really much better off asking this at xtremesystems.org forums.

It's an overclocking forum with _huge_ amounts of info on memory modules (esp. overclocking and some undervolting too).

If you want underclocking and silence, find the lowest voltage memory models that your motherboard is still compatible with (TCCD chips based DIMMs seem to be a good item to start investigating at first).

Best of luck in your search!

EDIT: meant TCCD chips, not UTT. Fixed.

lower bounds is a tough one, very few overclockers will ever test for that. tccd would be your best bet - it can often span 200 to 290 or so mhz at cas 2.5 with extremely low voltage, 2.6 volts is common. very few other chips can compare, most require excessive voltage to reach even 250 mhz (bh5, ch5, bh6, etc.) you should definitely post over at ocforums.com or xtremesystems.org and see if anyone's willing to test how low their tccd can go.

for any other ram, it's luck of the draw. the cheap 512mb sticks at newegg are a big mixed bag - i got a pqi stick (nanya chips) that can run cas 2.5 from 100 up to 216 mhz at 2.6 volts, but increasing voltage to 2.85 and cas from 2.5 to 3 only gets it up to 224 mhz. if you're adamant about your pricing, your best bets would probably be this ocz or this mushkin, however i'd be ready for some disappointment.

yes yes, I agree, his pricing is not happening.

I would go either some very nice ocz, or 2 2 2 corsair, or, for OVER clocking a large piece of ram, *which is out of pricerange) Crucial ballistix holds a very high level of latency (low numbers) at high hz ranges.

I personally would go ocz or platinum level corsair. I had great results with corsair and the price for them has dropped a load. Mushkin used to be over priced and I find them difficult to choose/website isnt as streamlined I felt.

Well, my priorities are (in descending order):
- price - the lower the better
- FSB ratio - the wider spread the better
- overclockability

I will not get TCCD or crucial ballistix because of the first priority. I will get a dual pack of a value line of ocz, corsair or mushkin (like yeha suggested). They can be found around 80 bucks.

Thanks a lot for your answers

someone tested on anandtech the relationship between bandwidth and latency on an a64.... turns out, bandwidth takes a big backseat in most cases to timings. 2 or 1.5 cas latency is best, so figure on that first unless you have a really large oc on the ram's bandwidth.

Guys, not to be rude, but this _is_ a silencing forum.

If your only or main goal is overclocking, you are much better off asking about it in an _overclocking_ forum. Like xtremesystems, bleedingedge, overclockers, etc.

Let's try to keep the s/n ratio good, by not making this another overclocking forum as well.

Let's stick to silence discussions here, shall we :)

well along those lines, we should be looking for ram that gets you the most mhz per unit voltage as it'll maximize our performance per watt

to be honest i've never even seen a post here where someone got a single-memory-stick system, wrote down some watt-meter measurements, added a second stick of identical ram and used the difference to see how much power was being consumed by the ram. i've heard anything from 5 to 20 watts per stick of ddr.

it's fairly useful information - if someone asks "what's the fastest ram i can get for a low-power system", it's a safe bet that tccd at 2.6 volts, 280 mhz cas 2.5 will be as fast as and cooler than some bh5 or other volt-hungry chips at 3.3 volts, 240 mhz cas 2. honestly a lot of the questions i see on spcr are the same as those on overclocking forums, they just have heat as an added dimension (hard drives are a bit more particular though).

Should you read my first post you will know, that my main goal is to have a quiet system that I overclock from time to time without a need to restart. That is why I asked for a suggestions for RAM that can be _underclocked_ with a capability to be overclocked, therefore one that has a wide FSB spread...

Thanks for the answers guys.

you know, if ram is pushed to higher timings, you can overclock it without increasing voltage if it is higher quality / namebrand ram. It is when you want to do all at once is when you get a problem: 2 2 2 timings, large sticks of ram, low voltage, higher bandwidth.

now you are talking some sweet ram. however, I would just put it to slightly LOWER bandwidth and push it to like 2 2 2 if its a more value style of the corsair line and etc.

Heat really isnt a factor in ram, it doesnt really build up heat, its kinda already in a configuration that easily dissipates heat, its like already in a heat sink fin shape, simply add some alumnimum spreaders and they never get hot... unless you super volt them, but that is NOT an spcr topic (nor a topic that carries any weight this summer as well, the gains are miniscule for gaming at least when compared to investing in a new VId card.)

smiechoo,

my apologies if I misuderstood.

The overall basics that one should look into when considering most efficient RAM chips:

DDR2 chips draw less volts (c. 1.8V) than DDR (c. 2.8+/-3).

Overclocking chips, esp DDR are almost always high voltage chips (up-to 3.5V if your mobo can give that).

The optimal voltage of each DIMM is often based on the chip type used. As discussed above, old Winbond BH-5/CH-5 and the newer UTT are very volt hungry, esp. if you want to overclock them and try tight timing.

TCCD series chips from Samsung usually get by with much less voltage, hence no need to overvolt the DIMMs as much as with Winbond/UTT.

The number of chips is also important: the more chips you have, the bigger the current draw (i.e. bigger memory size cause higher wattage thermal dissipation).

More voltage and more current mean more wattage draw = more heat, more need to cool the dimms and the system.

These are the basics to consider

It is very hard to give exact recommendations for makers/models as these sometimes also depend on the motherboard and/or cpu type used.

Also, as stated above, for A64 platform super-tight timings aren't that important anymore. The difference between CL2 and CL3 (CAS) is very small in most everyday tasks/games. Only if you are serious about benchmarking, does it really come into play.

With this in mind, it'd be best to try and find the highest quality TCCD chip based (pref. with brainpower pcb on the DIMMs), with no more memory than you need and try to use them at nominal voltage or below that.

For a list of TCCD based DIMMs, see:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/arc ... 43659.html
and
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... hp?t=50010

Again, xtremesystems.org is the best source in these matters.

Now that is what I call a helpful answer. Thanks a million, my system will be grateful!