Overclocking the E6300 with cheaper memory... bad idea?

[Megiddo7s]

I'm building a new system, and have my eyes set on the E6300, but unfortunately, due to fund issues, the best I can get is 2GB of memory with timings of 5-5-5-12-T1 (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85025-5). Would this seriously screw my ability to overclock, or would it still be okay?

If overclocking would be seriously difficult with this and/or not worth it, I'd much rather just buy the E6600, so I can have at least a little faster speeds (and with a larger cache!).

Also, the sticky says not to use boards using the nVidia nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition chipset... but I have my heart set on a motherboard that uses this. Is it impossible to overclock on this chipset, or why is it not recommended?

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[aequalsb]

Huh, I thought you could overclock as long as your bios let you and your memory was better than the min. ddr2 533. I don't oc at all cause everytime i push this ddr2 533, it restarts the computer.

Crap, why didn't i plan better......

 

[Megiddo7s]

Anyone have any answers? I'd like to buy the parts ASAP!

 

[rwaritsdario]

That memory will allow you to run thr FSB at 400Mhz, wich in an E6300 equals to 2.8Ghz. And CL4 will let you go to 500+Mhz CL5 wich is 3.5Ghz.
All of these given that youve provided excellent cooling to the CPU of course.
But that memory seems overpriced for CL5.
You can get this CL4 kit for $15 more.
Overall I dont recommend recommend DDR2 800 CL5 because DDR2 667 with 4-4-4-12 timings has the ability to OC to 800 CL5 with just a tiny voltage bump.

 

[peetul83]

I think it depends on the brand of the memory. I have a E6300 as well. I ordered a gig of GEIL ddr2 533 and had the rig running at 900 Mhz with relaxed timings. I returned it and got 2 gigs OCZ DDR2 900 and its stuck at 900 Mhz wtih stock timings. You can get lucky with ddr2 533, but to insure a good overclock, you have to pay premium.

 

[rwaritsdario]

I think it depends on the brand of the memory. I have a E6300 as well. I ordered a gig of GEIL ddr2 533 and had the rig running at 900 Mhz with relaxed timings. I returned it and got 2 gigs OCZ DDR2 900 and its stuck at 900 Mhz wtih stock timings. You can get lucky with ddr2 533, but to insure a good overclock, you have to pay premium.

It depends on the overclockability of the chips. The OCZ 900 where probably conked out, you can tell this by the timings and voltage.

 

[Crashman]

I'd go with the 5400C4 To begin with, it's called CAS4, which should make you happy, and it's probably the same stuff as the 6400 CAS5.

Both sets will run 800 data rate CAS4 if you push the voltage up a bit, you ARE overclocking after all!

Let's think about what 800 gets you...your CPU to 400 (FSP1600), which is 2.8GHz at 1:1.

Oh yeh, these modules (which are probably the same thing under different labels) will go higher, 880 at CAS4 shouldn't be too difficult at 2.1V (2.2V if it hangs on you). That takes you past 3GHz at 1:1.

 

[rwpritchett]

Overall I dont recommend recommend DDR2 800 CL5 because DDR2 667 with 4-4-4-12 timings has the ability to OC to 800 CL5 with just a tiny voltage bump.

I agree, if you get really good DDR2-667 you can easily get DDR2-800 speeds. I'm running my DDR2-667 @ DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 and I haven't even touched the voltage from stock.

 

[rwaritsdario]

Overall I dont recommend recommend DDR2 800 CL5 because DDR2 667 with 4-4-4-12 timings has the ability to OC to 800 CL5 with just a tiny voltage bump.

I agree, if you get really good DDR2-667 you can easily get DDR2-800 speeds. I'm running my DDR2-667 @ DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 and I haven't even touched the voltage from stock.

Just out of curiosity, what modules are they?

 

[rwpritchett]

Here they are:

Patriot 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC22G5300LLK - Retail

Right now they're running at 409.4MHz and 4-4-4-12. I left the voltage setting on "auto" in the BIOS, I assume it's running at the SPD stock 1.8V, but its possible that 'auto' bumps up the voltage for me. I've run memtest for 4 hours with no problems, haven't had time to test longer but since I've been running them like this for 6 weeks with no problems I figure I'm good.

Here's the best part, when I bought them 6 weeks ago they were only $179. 😀

 

[rwaritsdario]

Awesome, thx