tRAS and AM2/nForce5

[TomMe]

I learned that with nForce4, the optimal tRAS setting was around 7. Is there anything similar going on with AM2/nForce5?

I have my eyes on this memory for my future AM2 build. I can get it fairly cheap and it has a lot of headroom left, if I am to believe the reviews.

The only problem is the tRAS 8 timing (site says 12 but reviews and shops say 8). I can't find information on what should be optimal, though I notice a lot of AM2 reviews use RAM with a tRAS of 12..

I can get these for a bit more money and they should have the same headroom, but a tRAS of 12.

Anyone any ideas?

 

[cjsketchy]

AT had a good article that explored tRAS a little bit (on the Xpress 3200 chipset). They found that memory bandwidth kept increasing with a higher tRAS but the stability got flaky at higher values. The best mix of bandwidth and stability was reached at tRAS = 13. Here's the link.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2767&p=10

 

[TomMe]

Strange that they didn't include it in the nF5 review.. Thanks for the link! Hadn't read that one yet.

My guess is they didn't use tRAS 12 in those AM2/nF5 reviews for nothing. Anyone know if I'd be able to run the above OCZ memory at this timing? If not, I think I'll just buy the second kit I posted for a couple o' euros more.