- Jul 12, 2002
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Ok, before I bite the bullet I need some advice...
I'm planning on upgrading my system with the following:
DFI Lanparty NF4
A64 3500+ Venice
2x1GB Geil Ultra DDR400
Those components will replace the following thats currently in my system:
Asus A7N8X-E
AXP 2500+ @ 2.3Ghz (11.5x200)
3x512MB Corsair Value Select DDR400 (2.5-3-3-6)
Now, I'm shooting for a 2.9Ghz overclock on the Venice 3500+. Obviously I cant do that 1:1 with the RAM I'm getting (and I'm not wild about the idea of spending $350 on RAM to do it). Instead I'll be using a RAM divider.
Here is my question. How much would a 150 RAM divider hurt performance with a 2.9Ghz Venice as opposed to running a 166 divider and a command rate of 2T. For what I use my computer for, I need more than 1GB of RAM. What I'm trying to decide is whether to use 2x1GB sticks or 4x512MB sticks. From my research, what I gather is that even with the new Venice memory controller, I'm still stuck at 2T if I use 4 2-sided dimms. However I can run 1T if I use 2-1GB dimms.
To simplify things a bit, here are the two scenarios I'm describing:
2x1GB Geil Ultra (2.5-4-4-8 1T) @ 198Mhz
150 RAM divider
Venice 3500 @ 2.9Ghz (264HTT x 11)
COST: 2x$95.50 = $191
4x512MB OCZ Value VX (2-2-2-6 2T) @219Mhz (can I do this with 4 sticks?)
166 RAM divider
Venice 3500@ 2.9Ghz (264HTT x 11)
COST 2x$117 = $234
Now, to tie up some loose ends and answer some questions I already know are coming, here goes:
1. I plan to use the 2GB of RAM and processing power for heavy browsing and editing of photos (Canon RAW files). For what I do, it can put a serious strain on my current system.
2. As far as cooling, I'm using a Zalman Reserator, which by my approximation cools about as well as a Thermaltake SLK-900u w/ 92mm fan. (I have owned both). I have seen 3Ghz+ Venice overclocks in quite a few of the reviews I've looked at - even 2.8Ghz OCs on stock cooling and voltage. Deducing from this, I believe that a stable 2.9Ghz OC is a realistic goal.
3. The RAM speeds and timings are estimates of what I believe I can get with the DFI board and each particular RAM. With a little voltage, the Geil should do CL 2.5 and the OCX value VX should hit 220 2-2-2-6 easy (see the Anandtech review on value ram).
Keeping in mind that I would really rather not spend loads of money on RAM, as well as the performance hit of the 2T command rate and the upgradability issues with 2/4 dimms, which really makes the most sense?
I'm planning on upgrading my system with the following:
DFI Lanparty NF4
A64 3500+ Venice
2x1GB Geil Ultra DDR400
Those components will replace the following thats currently in my system:
Asus A7N8X-E
AXP 2500+ @ 2.3Ghz (11.5x200)
3x512MB Corsair Value Select DDR400 (2.5-3-3-6)
Now, I'm shooting for a 2.9Ghz overclock on the Venice 3500+. Obviously I cant do that 1:1 with the RAM I'm getting (and I'm not wild about the idea of spending $350 on RAM to do it). Instead I'll be using a RAM divider.
Here is my question. How much would a 150 RAM divider hurt performance with a 2.9Ghz Venice as opposed to running a 166 divider and a command rate of 2T. For what I use my computer for, I need more than 1GB of RAM. What I'm trying to decide is whether to use 2x1GB sticks or 4x512MB sticks. From my research, what I gather is that even with the new Venice memory controller, I'm still stuck at 2T if I use 4 2-sided dimms. However I can run 1T if I use 2-1GB dimms.
To simplify things a bit, here are the two scenarios I'm describing:
2x1GB Geil Ultra (2.5-4-4-8 1T) @ 198Mhz
150 RAM divider
Venice 3500 @ 2.9Ghz (264HTT x 11)
COST: 2x$95.50 = $191
4x512MB OCZ Value VX (2-2-2-6 2T) @219Mhz (can I do this with 4 sticks?)
166 RAM divider
Venice 3500@ 2.9Ghz (264HTT x 11)
COST 2x$117 = $234
Now, to tie up some loose ends and answer some questions I already know are coming, here goes:
1. I plan to use the 2GB of RAM and processing power for heavy browsing and editing of photos (Canon RAW files). For what I do, it can put a serious strain on my current system.
2. As far as cooling, I'm using a Zalman Reserator, which by my approximation cools about as well as a Thermaltake SLK-900u w/ 92mm fan. (I have owned both). I have seen 3Ghz+ Venice overclocks in quite a few of the reviews I've looked at - even 2.8Ghz OCs on stock cooling and voltage. Deducing from this, I believe that a stable 2.9Ghz OC is a realistic goal.
3. The RAM speeds and timings are estimates of what I believe I can get with the DFI board and each particular RAM. With a little voltage, the Geil should do CL 2.5 and the OCX value VX should hit 220 2-2-2-6 easy (see the Anandtech review on value ram).
Keeping in mind that I would really rather not spend loads of money on RAM, as well as the performance hit of the 2T command rate and the upgradability issues with 2/4 dimms, which really makes the most sense?