Overclock DDR-400 or Underclock DDR-500?

[twolfe18]

i was looking into a new 2 gig memory kit for my pc, and i wanted the ability to overclock a bit. i have an amd x2 4200+ (stock at 200x11 = 2200mhz) and i was looking for somewhere from 2420mhz to 2750mhz (ram ranging from 220mhz to 250mhz). My first inclination was to get a set of DDR-500 sticks at 250mhz, and underclock if i need to, but i was wondering how this would affect performance, and if i would be better off just overclocking some high quality DDR-400 ram. So my question is, what do you think is better, overclocked DDR-400 or underclocked DDR-500?

 

[twolfe18]

one last thing, at what speed do you think i will need to bump up the stock voltages on my 4200+?

 

[a1ien]

i was looking into a new 2 gig memory kit for my pc, and i wanted the ability to overclock a bit. i have an amd x2 4200+ (stock at 200x11 = 2200mhz) and i was looking for somewhere from 2420mhz to 2750mhz (ram ranging from 220mhz to 250mhz). My first inclination was to get a set of DDR-500 sticks at 250mhz, and underclock if i need to, but i was wondering how this would affect performance, and if i would be better off just overclocking some high quality DDR-400 ram. So my question is, what do you think is better, overclocked DDR-400 or underclocked DDR-500?

There would never be any reason to underclock DDR500 ram, that is just a waste. What you can do is bump up the HT speed and reduce the multiplier like so:
250 x 9 = 2250 mhz, here you have achieved your DDR500 and you are still at 2.2Ghz. If your HT speeds will go that high, which the most likely should, Although I don't know too terribly much about the x2 series.

Here's a good link for OCing:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=gethowto&howtoID=58

 

[kolemunky]

One factor is price....ddr500 will be a little more expensive but youre guaranteed to reach 500, everything higher is just a bonus. ddr400 can be found relatively cheap, but only a few will reach 500 and maintain stability. Your best bet if youre wanting more performance is to go for ddr500, set a target clock speed your processor is capable of (probably 2.4-2.6 on air) , and find the max fsb of the ram you choose. youll probably run great at 250 x 10=2500....lastly... dont up the vcore until you have to.....when prime95 starts failing.......or when compy wont boot up it .05.....still nothing up it some more....SLOWLY....and watch temps.
Most mild overclocks dont even need an increase in voltage. It usually just adds more heat which adds instability. good luck and letus know what u come up with.

 

[bront]

If you go with the brand name memory with tighter timings, you usually have pretty good play with overclocking because you can relax the timings. I'm just begining to fool around with my Corsair XMS CL2 pair, but I took it to DDR500 stably at 2.5-3-3-7 with no problems so far. Haven't done much on overvolting yet.

On a side note, you get more out of tight timings than overclocking with the Athlon, and you get a lot more out of overclocking the CPU even without overclocking the RAM.

 

[WOWchamp]

True that, run a ram divider and forget about OC'ing the ram... no good reason to.