RAM: Latency vs Speed

[asteldian]

Hi guys,
I was wondering if anyone could help answer what is more important for performance (mainly gaming) regarding RAM speed and latency. I know ideally high speed and low latency is great, but which is a priority?

Which is better?

1) 1600mhz 9-9-9-24
2)1066mhz 7-7-7-22

How big a difference is there between them?

I can actually run my RAM at 1600mhz 7-7-7-22 but that requires 1.7v, which while my mobo says it is a safe setting, the Intel i5 750 chip claims higher than 1.65v damages the chip.

Is it worth boosting to 1.7v? Will it really damage the chip that much? Given that a CPU tends to last far longer than anyone keeps a computer, will its life being slightly shortened by slight excessive voltage be significant?

 

[Maziar]

Hey
For gaming,there is no difference,timings and speeds are mainly important for OC'ng,and if you want to OC,then go for the first one(because 1066 is a little low for i5/i7 CPUs IMO),or you can get a 1333Mhz one with CL7/8 timings.
As for the voltage,anything higher than 1.65 is not recommended,so i wouldn't suggest you setting it @ 1.7 because it may damage the CPU and if it doesn't,it will shorten its life time.

 

[asteldian]

Ok thanks. The RAM seems more stable at 1066 so I will stick with it for now. Will buy some decent RAM eventually, although if for non OCing it makes no difference it probably isn't worth it?

 

[Maziar]

No its not

 

[rojodogg]

for both amd and intel, the highest speed with the tightest timing possible would provide the best results.
now there are a few limitations, amd x4 will crap out around 1900mhz, so you would need ram that can get the lowest timing e.g.7-7-7-21 at round 1800mhz. the best ram for this would be some good micron D9KPT @ 2V.


amd x6 will go to about 2200-2300 depending on how good its imc is
for that you want timings like 8-8-8-24, or you can try for 2000mhz 6-6-6-18. the only ram that can do this is elpida MGH-E.

now intel quads have a probem running high voltage memory. unlike the amds, so its pretty much limited to 1.9V if you know what your doing and 1.65 for the nub cakes. its also limited on how much voltage you can give the imc without killing it ~ 1.45V. most D0 stepping intel chips can run 2000-2600 unless your one of the few unlucky people or you just dont know what your doing. for the 2000-2300 range elpida MNH-E/MGH-E are the only ram that can do it with reasonable voltage and timing. there is also the cheaper samsung HCH9, and Elpida BBSE that can do about 2200-2300 with 8-9-8-24 timing with 1.7-1.85V for the ones feeling brave. and last is PSC that can do 2300-2600 with some ugly loose timing that end up being slower than the others in the end, but they are cheap.

the intel 6 cores are the same as above only its not worth going higher than 2000-2300 due to the 1.5x multi on the imc.