RAM Questions

[deadlyseven]

I have been trying to overclock my 4800 recently and get it up to about 2.53ghz from 2.40 before it crashes(yes i know 4800s dont give much of a gain). Ive done this many times on different processors (3500++ and an opteron 165 (1.8 to 2.66ghz)) and got fed up with my RAM. its valuram DDR400. Im thinking of upgrading to either GSkill (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231021) or the Crucial Ballistix DDR4000. My questions are 1) Will my motherboard GA-K8NXP-SLI support PC4000 (DDR 500) and 2) Will the price be worth it? For Gaming/Photoshop etc or will there be not much of a difference? 3) Is either RAM im looking at even good for overclocking? Ive read the GSkill isnt the best but its support for OCing is pretty good and is good for beginners. And crucial seems to enjoy a good reputation.
Thanks for any help, let me know if more info is needed
System:
AMD 4800
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI
250g hd
300g hd
7800GTX 256
Emerson 480W PS
XP Pro SP2
4x 512 DDR Kingston ValuRam (dual Channel)

[deadlyseven]

bump. gave it 2 days. any suggestions? thanks :)

[Janus]

I have that g.skill ram and it rocks. I can hit 275 with it at 2.8V. As long as your motherboard can configure all of your ram timings I think you will have some fun with it.

[Fusion]

From my understanding about ram yes your motherboard will be able to handle it. It will run it at DDR400 speeds until you manually change it. The advantage is that it is rated at a higher speed so you can be more comfortable with increasing the speed of it.

Read this thread

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=320351

It has everything you need to know about RAM. Even if you know a lot, you will probably learn something from reading it.

[deadlyseven]

thanks for the link, gonna check that out now. and man 275 is pretty sweet, thanks.

[ass*assassin]

kingston valueram is good, honest ram. it will work as advertised.. however, for overclocking, it is on my verboten (forbidden) list.. it won't.. don't bother..

your picks for ram aren't bad, read the above links.. your motherboard will handle it all and then some.. consider additional cooling because heat is directly proportional to the amount of overclocking you are or going to do.. the more you overclock, the hotter things get.. i would go thru the math, but it isn't worth the time..

remember this, in overclocking, the faster you can get your ram going, the faster your processing is going to be. you can move your data around much, much faster.. so, for photoshopping, yeah, go fer it.. for gaming, yeah.. for servers, no, don't overclock.. you need reliability and stability there. the faster you push the ram, it would be almost proportional on how much more faster you can do your things on your computer..

[Dave]

kingston valueram is good, honest ram. it will work as advertised.. however, for overclocking, it is on my verboten (forbidden) list.. it won't.. don't bother..

your picks for ram aren't bad, read the above links.. your motherboard will handle it all and then some.. consider additional cooling because heat is directly proportional to the amount of overclocking you are or going to do.. the more you overclock, the hotter things get.. i would go thru the math, but it isn't worth the time..

remember this, in overclocking, the faster you can get your ram going, the faster your processing is going to be. you can move your data around much, much faster.. so, for photoshopping, yeah, go fer it.. for gaming, yeah.. for servers, no, don't overclock.. you need reliability and stability there. the faster you push the ram, it would be almost proportional on how much more faster you can do your things on your computer..
Everything I’ve ever read about OCing A64’s has said that faster memory gets you very little in terms of real world performance, and that’s why most people just use a memory divider. I’ve never tested that, I just accepted it and used a divider. If memory speed past ddr400 really does get you a big performance boost, I know a boat load of people who will be upgrading

[deadlyseven]

yeah heat isnt as much as a problem, i got a good airflow and some good fans along with a nice CPU HSF too. the link was really informative and helped me out. i think i will go with the G.Skill because of its 40$ instant rebate. ive also read about the divider and it confuses me, ive been using the divider with my valuram when OCing too, but i figure some performace ram should let me test different ways out. thanks again for all the help :)

[ass*assassin]

Everything I’ve ever read about OCing A64’s has said that faster memory gets you very little in terms of real world performance, and that’s why most people just use a memory divider. I’ve never tested that, I just accepted it and used a divider. If memory speed past ddr400 really does get you a big performance boost, I know a boat load of people who will be upgrading

the problem with 'real world performance', is that many people are using 32-bit operating systems, drivers and programs yet.. therefore, you have yet to truly unleash the power of the 64-bit processor.. even if you were to go to a 64-bit operating system, if your application is still 32-bit, you are still going to get the slower speed, because the operating system will 'emulate' the 32-bit operating system as a subset of the 64-bit.. hence, no performance gain..

however, if you do this with all 64-bit parts and software,then you will see some jumps.. the same thing if you are on a 32-bit processor.. it will take off like a ferrarri..

[Janus]

are you saying that because he used a divider before? I am missing the point about the 64bit hardware/software issue.

but yeah, you won't need to use a divider on the ram.

[Dave]

are you saying that because he used a divider before? I am missing the point about the 64bit hardware/software issue.


Me too. I thought the only thing 64 bit did was give you access to huge amounts of ram.

[ass*assassin]

Me too. I thought the only thing 64 bit did was give you access to huge amounts of ram.

umm...no, 64-bit processing, TRUE 64 bit means that all the registers and the ops of the processor, can and will process data 64-bits at a time, and in some cases, will do 128-bits if time-sharing or bit-slicing two 64-bit registers.... instead of 32-bit slices.. this is a HUGE leap in the abilities to process massive quantities of data. this isn't only accessing huge amounts of ram or hard disk space/data..

here is an example of something i was working with.. i did a 32-bit 3d rendering of a machine part for an M1A1 abrams tank.. (one of my local customers makes a few of the parts for them).. in 32-bit mode, the rendering took almost 2 hours of processsing time on a 2.8ghz pentium 4 with 2 gig of memory.. on a similar machine, a 939 pin 64-bit Athlon, with 2 gig of memory, it took only 8 mins.. now, you get the idea?

[deadlyseven]

haah damn holy shit. thanks again for all the help

[Janus]

umm...no, 64-bit processing, TRUE 64 bit means that all the registers and the ops of the processor, can and will process data 64-bits at a time, and in some cases, will do 128-bits if time-sharing or bit-slicing two 64-bit registers.... instead of 32-bit slices.. this is a HUGE leap in the abilities to process massive quantities of data. this isn't only accessing huge amounts of ram or hard disk space/data..

here is an example of something i was working with.. i did a 32-bit 3d rendering of a machine part for an M1A1 abrams tank.. (one of my local customers makes a few of the parts for them).. in 32-bit mode, the rendering took almost 2 hours of processsing time on a 2.8ghz pentium 4 with 2 gig of memory.. on a similar machine, a 939 pin 64-bit Athlon, with 2 gig of memory, it took only 8 mins.. now, you get the idea?
I understood, just didn't see what it had to do with the ram type.