Question 1066mhz tri-channel vs 1600mhz dual channel ram? also different timings

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realflow100

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I have 2 computers. different board/socket and cpu

but once is tri channel 1066mhz and the other is dual 1600mhz

I have 4 ram sticks installed in both. CPU-Z reporting correctly in both cases.

800mhz base ram frequency in dual channel system (1600mhz)
533mhz base ram frequency in tri channel system (1066mhz)
I'm running patriot viper III CL9 type gaming memory

Dual channel system ram timings are
9 9 9 24 37 and 1T command rate
Tri channel ram timings are
6 6 6 18 120 with 2T command rate
I dont know if that makes much difference with the timings though.

How much of an overall performance difference between the 2? is it even worth considering?
 

KananX

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z400_3_slashgear-540x359.jpg

Pretty sure thats 4 ram slots there. Same pc as I have. I dont see a 6th slot. This isnt my photo clearly but thats what I see in my case!
Maybe I'm just blind?? Or my computers weird?
Well it’s fine now. So are you choosing which one to use or what’s up? I would clearly use the Ivy Bridge system it’s way faster.
 

realflow100

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I have to swap out the ram and graphics card between them though. so I guess that at least confirms the GPU and ram are working fine
dont have spare ram for both at once.
I just hope the motherboard survived the psu dying/shorting itself. I pressed the power button once. saw a green led flicker for like a nanosecond. and the fans didnt spin up. it just wouldn't work anymore.
 

KananX

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I have to swap out the ram and graphics card between them though. so I guess that at least confirms the GPU and ram are working fine
dont have spare ram for both at once.
I just hope the motherboard survived the psu dying/shorting itself. I pressed the power button once. saw a green led flicker for like a nanosecond. and the fans didnt spin up. it just wouldn't work anymore.
No experience with dying PSUs myself, I hope your system is ok.
 

Karadjgne

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Cpu-z doesn't have a notation for flex channel, only single, dual, triple or quad.

The Intel Xeon W3503, W3505, W3520, W3540 and W3570 are triple channel capable cpus, but require a triple channel capable motherboard. Even using a motherboard with dual processor capability and full 6 channel use, cpu-z will still report triple channel as that's limited to each processor individually.

The 4-slot HP Z400 mobo uses individual channels per DIMM slot, so is capable of upto triple channel config plus an extra single channel ram. If all 4 slots are populated, you get flex channel, 3+1, since the cpu is not quad channel capable. But since cpu-z cannot report Flex, as it doesn't have that capability, it'll report 3 of the sticks looked at as being in triple channel, the forth stick in single channel.

You can't run 4x sticks in just triple channel, that requires 3 or 6 dimms.

The 3770k will be faster in everything, even triple channel ram with the Xeon can't make up for the ram speed differential, you'll have higher gflops with the dual channel setup.
 
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realflow100

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Is the xeon W3690 compatible actually?
It supports the same socket apparently. and allows slightly higher memory of 1333mhz frequency (if board supports)
wonder if I could get one of those then keep both computers. performance would be closer except the old computer is using an HDD instead of an SSD?
 

KananX

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Is the xeon W3690 compatible actually?
It supports the same socket apparently. and allows slightly higher memory of 1333mhz frequency (if board supports)
wonder if I could get one of those then keep both computers. performance would be closer except the old computer is using an HDD instead of an SSD?
Yea it’s compatible, just don’t overpay for it. And you should strongly consider upgrading that PC with a SSD. It will be faster also for apps that use 6 cores but slower in apps that only use 4 cores or less due to slower architecture and lower frequency.
 

realflow100

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its pretty cheap. from what ive seen.
also an SSD will have to wait. I have a 128GB one but its old and has degraded performance. so I would need to get a new SSD for it.
The nice thing about this computer is upgradability for full size dedicated graphics cards.
I can just slot one right in and it'll fit. I dont have to worry about half height profile stuff.
my other better computer is small form factor/slim half height only. so can only fit a GTX 1650 low profile model GPU in it at maximum.
 

KananX

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its pretty cheap. from what ive seen.
also an SSD will have to wait. I have a 128GB one but its old and has degraded performance. so I would need to get a new SSD for it.
The nice thing about this computer is upgradability for full size dedicated graphics cards.
I can just slot one right in and it'll fit. I dont have to worry about half height profile stuff.
my other better computer is small form factor/slim half height only. so can only fit a GTX 1650 low profile model GPU in it at maximum.
Can you provide a pic of this smaller computer? Just curious.
 

realflow100

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HP 8300 elite small form factor.
Not my picture but I have removed the stock power supply and am replacing it with a better one. doesnt fit in it. but works with an adapter. and I dont mind leaving the power supply dangling out separate.
Also removed the dvd/cd drive and instead have an SSD installed. currently also having an external 2TB USB 3.0 HDD
32gb ram DDR3 1600mhz cl9
and i7 3770k 3.5ghz with 3.9ghz turbo boost.
GTX 1650 4GB OC graphics card.
hp_compaq_elite_8300_small_form_factor_1481442875_36c76ae8.jpg
 

KananX

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HP 8300 elite small form factor.
Not my picture but I have removed the stock power supply and am replacing it with a better one. doesnt fit in it. but works with an adapter. and I dont mind leaving the power supply dangling out separate.
Also removed the dvd/cd drive and instead have an SSD installed. currently also having an external 2TB USB 3.0 HDD
32gb ram DDR3 1600mhz cl9
and i7 3770k 3.5ghz with 3.9ghz turbo boost.
GTX 1650 4GB OC graphics card.
hp_compaq_elite_8300_small_form_factor_1481442875_36c76ae8.jpg
Nice, can you overclock it?
 

realflow100

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Nope. Not possible. The bios is pretty much empty as it is. the board is locked. so all I get from having the k version of the CPU is slightly higher base and turbo frequency.
If the board is indeed dead then I will have to fork up the cash for a new case and potentially look for a Z77 motherboard to replace it.
then I'd have overclocking capability of the CPU and ram.
Apparently my particular ram I got is supposedly very highly overclockable as well.
including the fact my CPU I got came pre-delidded with liquid metal inside it.
Right now I just have a graphics card overclock since that doesnt require any special motherboard.
if it were overclockable I'd probably just slap the CPU to 4.5ghz and leave it there.
 

KananX

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Nope. Not possible. The bios is pretty much empty as it is. the board is locked. so all I get from having the k version of the CPU is slightly higher base and turbo frequency.
If the board is indeed dead then I will have to fork up the cash for a new case and potentially look for a Z77 motherboard to replace it.
then I'd have overclocking capability of the CPU and ram.
Apparently my particular ram I got is supposedly very highly overclockable as well.
including the fact my CPU I got came pre-delidded with liquid metal inside it.
Right now I just have a graphics card overclock since that doesnt require any special motherboard.
if it were overclockable I'd probably just slap the CPU to 4.5ghz and leave it there.
If you can find a good mainboard cheap it would be good, but that’s hard since they are pretty rare now, CPUs never die but mainboards do often enough and that’s why the used market isn’t great with these things.
 

KananX

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any suggestions for one on ebay or amazon thats a reasonable price??? being so old they really shouldn't be that expensive.
also no auctions/bids
just buy it now options please lol
Probably better if you save that money for something newer. I don’t recommend it and don’t recommend old used hardware either. Too much risk you’re buying abused or used up stuff that’s just too long in the tooth to work reliably. Especially for OC, nah, it will be too old for that.
 

realflow100

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I just got the replacement/new power supply
:eek: my computers motherboard is dead too :( The green light on the mobo doesnt even come on.

I just chucked 60$ + 149$ at getting a new case and motherboard. but I have to wait 3 MORE DAYS :( I hate waiting so much!

I got a z77 board. I dont have enough money to get a whole new system. its way too expensive for a new 2022 motherboard or cpu.
 
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Karadjgne

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being so old they really shouldn't be that expensive.
also no auctions/bids
That's a timing thing. 3rd/4th gen stuff is still very viable for a no-frills web surfing pc, especially paired with a halfway decent gpu so people can play more than just Solitaire.

So the demand is still somewhat there, cheap stuff is snapped up quick, so ppl are raising prices or maintaining higher than standard prices.

Ibuypower and Cyberpower PC are still sticking FX cpus in their 'gaming' builds, which does just fine at 1080p 60Hz in CSGO, minecraft, lol etc.

Cpus are hard to kill when left unmolested, everything with a cpu comes from someplace else, ram, VRM's etc. If your cpu dies, it's usually caused by a failure elsewhere first. Typically the mobo.

So demand ends up higher than supply, and pricing is reciprocal.
 

realflow100

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when I get my new Z77 motherboard will I need to do anything with xmp profile?
OR is there no point with my ram. as the xmp profile is not really any different than completely stock?
patriot viper III 1600mhz CL9 memory. (thats the brand and type I got)
32GB total
4x 8gb modules
 

Karadjgne

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You won't have an xmp profile with that ram, or if you do it'll be to set from a 1333MHz to 1600MHz. But I'm thinking there isn't one. 3rd gen Intel really likes 1866MHz, but with 4x sticks at cl9 that's already taxing the memory controller. You could try bumping the system agent to @ 1.15v or set an offset voltage, or add 0.05-0.1v to the dram voltage. DDR3 can handle upto 1.8v and normal DDR3 is either 1.5v or 1.65v, so you could easily do 1.55v to 1.7v depending.

If that's not possible, then 1600 try 8-9-8-24-1T or so, if it's 9-9-9-27-2T.
 

realflow100

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So no reason to increase the ram frequency at all? no point?
in CPU-Z
the only difference between xmp and normal is the tRC is 38 instead of 39
frequency is the same.
it runs at 1T command rate already without any xmp
would a regular CPU overclock be more effective than doing anything with xmp or the ram?

sdfgsdgsdg.png
 

Karadjgne

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Yes.
A single stick might see command rate of 1T, but with 4x sticks you'll be running dual channel, dual rank, so a rate of 1T will most likely be unstable, if not problematic, which is why XMP is set to 3. You might get that to 2T. XMP does a whole lot more than just change the tRC from 39 to 38, check the Secondary and Tertiary timings. ASRock has a good little app for that. You'll notice many of those timings will be tightened up to give better ram performance.
 

realflow100

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CPU-Z shows all 4 sticks were actually running at 1T in the Memory tab. I didn't have any issues. it seemed to work fine never crashed no instability at all.. unless that value is completely inaccurate and not correct?
the memory was running at the non-xmp profile but still 1T memory rate.
I dont know what isnt being shown in the CPU-Z SPD tab though.
I'm still waiting for the new motherboard and case to come in before I can get my pc running again.
but I think I might need to temporarily cobble together a heatsink option. slapping a fan in front of the heatsink or something. I dont know what adapter/socket bracket the new motherboard has. it probably wont fit my old heatsink so I may need to find a new one. or use the one out of my other pc (which is way bigger. and has a copper cpu plate. so I could even do liquid metal with it if I wanted. instead of an aluminum one)