RAM speed vs timings

[JunK]

Alright this is HEY GUESS WHAT
a thread about ram speed versus timings, which is better, how much performance will it really net you, and is it worth it??

Well im going to base my portion of this thread on my personal experience and what i've researched. I'll also give you my conclusion right off the bat. Upgrading RAM is not worth it, and tighter timings yields better results.
My experience? Well i bought a computer years ago, and upgraded it here and there over the times however i still had my old ram, good ole ddr2 667 ram. Thinking it would be best (and since my mobo supports it) i went out and grabbed up some ocz 1066 ram (on sale plus MIR = 25 bucks for 2x1gb).
Now the tests. I used PassMark Performance Test in order to benchmark my ram and came to an astonishing conclusion. My old 667 ram was much better than the ocz 1066...wtfhax?
Using CPU-Z and just the BIOS for configuring, i found out i had my lowest passmark test # with the OCZ ram at its auto timing config on 1066 speeds (5,7,7,24,30 - CAS lat, RAS to CAS, RAS precharge, +RAS, +RC). The score being 581.8 purely for the memory. Noticing that this ram was capable of running 5,5,5,15 timings at 1066, i changed it in the bios, improving the score to 613.2.
I was curious how much of an increase my purchase had been, i had installed my old ram again with everything set to auto and tested it out. It was auto set to 267 hmz with 4,4,4,12,16 timings and set a score of 614.7. WHAAT? That surprised me, but even more so was the discovery that this ram could run 333 mhz at the same timings, setting it as such upped the score to 629.8. Quite a significant raise, or so i thought. Until i actually researched how much it would change anything, if anything.
Researching the differences in ram speeds and timings and improvements, i basically found out in every day life it isn't worth any added cost in the least. The only way it would be worth it is basically bragging rights.
From my current ram, if i were to get even the best ram, overclocked, highest speeds at lowest timings i would gain a difference of most likely under 10% for every operation. Meaning if it takes 10 seconds to do an operation now, like compress a file (for example) it would only take me 9 seconds with better ram!! Oh is that worth the added 100 bucks or however much people spend on ram now-a-days?

Well i guess everybody can answer that for themselves. What do you think?

 

[Die Geheimwaffe]

I think I'll do what I usually do and find a module that uses the same PCB and chips as it's bigger more expensive brother. Then up the voltage, drop the timings, and crank up the clockspeed in order to get the better performance and bragging rights without breaking the bank.

 

[UnderLord]

Alright this is HEY GUESS WHAT
a thread about ram speed versus timings, which is better, how much performance will it really net you, and is it worth it??

Well im going to base my portion of this thread on my personal experience and what i've researched. I'll also give you my conclusion right off the bat. Upgrading RAM is not worth it, and tighter timings yields better results.
My experience? Well i bought a computer years ago, and upgraded it here and there over the times however i still had my old ram, good ole ddr2 667 ram. Thinking it would be best (and since my mobo supports it) i went out and grabbed up some ocz 1066 ram (on sale plus MIR = 25 bucks for 2x1gb).
Now the tests. I used PassMark Performance Test in order to benchmark my ram and came to an astonishing conclusion. My old 667 ram was much better than the ocz 1066...wtfhax?
Using CPU-Z and just the BIOS for configuring, i found out i had my lowest passmark test # with the OCZ ram at its auto timing config on 1066 speeds (5,7,7,24,30 - CAS lat, RAS to CAS, RAS precharge, +RAS, +RC). The score being 581.8 purely for the memory. Noticing that this ram was capable of running 5,5,5,15 timings at 1066, i changed it in the bios, improving the score to 613.2.
I was curious how much of an increase my purchase had been, i had installed my old ram again with everything set to auto and tested it out. It was auto set to 267 hmz with 4,4,4,12,16 timings and set a score of 614.7. WHAAT? That surprised me, but even more so was the discovery that this ram could run 333 mhz at the same timings, setting it as such upped the score to 629.8. Quite a significant raise, or so i thought. Until i actually researched how much it would change anything, if anything.
Researching the differences in ram speeds and timings and improvements, i basically found out in every day life it isn't worth any added cost in the least. The only way it would be worth it is basically bragging rights.
From my current ram, if i were to get even the best ram, overclocked, highest speeds at lowest timings i would gain a difference of most likely under 10% for every operation. Meaning if it takes 10 seconds to do an operation now, like compress a file (for example) it would only take me 9 seconds with better ram!! Oh is that worth the added 100 bucks or however much people spend on ram now-a-days?

Well i guess everybody can answer that for themselves. What do you think?

I think that coupled with good ram and a good processor with a excellent motherboard is all you should ever need. I do overclock my CPU but other then that nothing else gets touched. DDR2 1066 with a dual or quad core or even the Phenom II X2's and your looking good.

I think if you want a machine with monster capability's you need to buy ram with excellent timings to begin with. Then your CPU has to have a large cache size a L3 cache of 6MB's is a monster performer. L2 caches usually around 512KB's for each core and then a 128KB L1 for each core is a mid-range if not better CPU, but what can make that work with each other even better? A excellent motherboard that has all the features you'd need. Oh yeah and a fast FSB speed will help keep your computer from bottlenecking.

 

[JunK]

DDR2 1066 with a dual or quad core or even the Phenom II X2's and your looking good.

thats exactly my point tho, you don't even need ddr2 1066, 667/800 with great timings is better/cheaper

and die you say that you can up the voltage, lower the timings and jack the clock speeds...im just curious bout overclocking ram in general...
so my ram is 667 (333x2) and the timings right now are again 4,4,4,12,16...do you think i can possibly drop the timings if i up the volts?

also i hear a lot about running 1:1 fsb:ram frequency....what exactly does that improve/benefit? should i possibly try to gain that, by overclocking my fsb with a lower multiplier, but underclocking my ram freq...doesn't sound helpful

 

[s14sh3r]

The RAM you need depends on the speed of your processor. I can't use DDR2 800 in my rig, my FSB is too high for it. Right now I'm using 1066mhz memory, but I could really use 1100mhz. My benchmark scores take a performance hit when I run at a lower divider and slower memory frequency. my 3DMark Vantage score drops about 200 points and Far Cry 2 drops about 2 fps when I run my memory linked and synced (890mhz) and tighter timings vs running at the lowest stable divider for my board 6:5 which gives me 1068mhz. I actually would benefit from 1100mhz ram, because it would allow me to run tighter timings.

Basically, getting the most performance means having all your components working together. Every day I see someone install a better processor/memory/graphics card and wonder why they aren't getting the performance they expected. It's usually because they didn't change anything else, just dropped the new part in and expected it to run. High Performance takes planning.

 

[FreakingHell]

It depends on the application really.

L4D benefits from lower timings where as other games benefit more from higher frequencies.

 

[bakerthree]

Underloard a big question to ask is you said your mother board supports 1066 ram but you had 667 installed. does your motherboard run at 1066 or will it support 1066 speeds when its overclocked. Also if your old ram was left in the board it will run both sets at the lower speed. my computer uses DDR 400 ram but I can install DDR 800 ram but it will run at 400 until I overclock it. The reason why is that my boards frontside bus is 200 and ddr ram doubles the through put to 400MHz