Elixir memory + Overclocking

[lazlow]

I've got 2 gb (2 x 1gb) of Elixir 3200 from Aria (http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductsList.asp?Name=elixir+1gb+3200), which is going in my next rig. I hope to be putting this alongside a Athlon64 3800 X2.

What I want to know is if it is any good for overclocking? My budget wont stretch to the bigger brand stuff, and I would rather spend the £100 (or so) saved somewhere else.

It will all be sitting on an Asus A8N SLi SE, which from reading reviews isn't a bad overclocker. I hope to get the CPU up to 2.2ghz from the standard 2.0ghz at least. I realise the more expensive RAM will benefit an overclock.

Anyone have any experience with using elixir ram whilst overclocking? Any tips?

[Belso]

Elixir aren't known for good overcloking results.

So dont expect anything great from them.

But you should have no trouble getting up to 2.2Ghz, just make sure you have good cooling!

[lazlow]

I guess I should expect it, seeing as they're half the price of a stick that will overclock well.

I'll see what they can do and post back in the near future with what I achieve.

[mac124]

First off it isn't going to cost anything like another £100 to get some good overclocking memory. Shop around and you can get the same memory as i have which will goto 250mhz guarenteed for less than £50 mor than what you will pay for the Elixer.

Any memory will overclock to a certain degree, i would expect the Elixer to MAYBE hit 210 to 220 mhz tops which might be enough to do what you want. I am guessing its already running CAS3 so i suspect you wont be able to loosen the timings so you can only up the voltage, which i wouldn't recommend on memory without heat spreaders.

[lazlow]

Thanks for the tips.

It may be that I overclock with the elixir and see what I can achieve. Then afterwards I'll replace the RAM with a better set and see what they can do.

Ideally I'd need 2gb, as I'm already filling up 1gb easily when Video Editing and the likes.

EDIT: I see what you mean Mac - for £50 more, I could pick up some decent OCZ sticks (http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=21575).

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[Belso]

Im not sure about the limitations but....

As the memory controller is part of the processor, its sensitive to memory speed and timing changes.

The better the ram the better timings.

The better the timing's the more succesful overclock you can get.

So if you have cheap generic memory, it has poor speed and timing's.

Hence the processor is limited by the ram.

[Firerat]

The RAM runs at the same relative clock as the CPU


CPU:MEM Ratio is 1:1

if CPU FSB is 200 then mem is 200 ( DDR400/ PC3200 )

When you OverClock CPU to 250 your mem runs at 250 (DDR500 / PC4000)
If your mem can't handle this it will be unstable or simply won't post


you can get round it by setting ratio to 5:4

so you get
250:200

I have a P4 2.4 clocked at 3.2 ( FSB 270 ) mem is PQI 3200

Ratio is 5:4 so mem is running at 216

I could probably push this CPU further with better cooling, but would need better memory ( mind you I did have it running at 250 for a bit )

NB setting the ratio down is not ideal for overall performance, you want it as close to 1:1 as you can

[mac124]

For the most part i tend to agree with Firerat BUT you can also increase the speed of \"better\" memory ie ocz, gskill, corsair, etc etc by loosening the timings and upping the voltage a bit, i had some ocz platinum rev2 that was rated for 200mhz @ 2-2-2-5 timings but i got it to run at 250+ by upping the voltage to 2.8v (still within the memories rated limits) and loosening the timings to 2.5-3-3-8.

There is always a debat whether tight timings are better or mhz, and to a certain extent both are good as loosening the timing for a small speed increase 10mhz for example isn't worth it imho but a large speed increase is worth it eg 50mhz as the bandwidth you lose by loosening the timing you more than make up on the speed.

[Firerat]

[quote:f7aca3c777=\"mac124\"]For the most part i tend to agree with Firerat BUT you can also increase the speed of \"better\" memory ie ocz, gskill, corsair, etc etc by loosening the timings and upping the voltage a bit, i had some ocz platinum rev2 that was rated for 200mhz @ 2-2-2-5 timings but i got it to run at 250+ by upping the voltage to 2.8v (still within the memories rated limits) and loosening the timings to 2.5-3-3-8.

There is always a debat whether tight timings are better or mhz, and to a certain extent both are good as loosening the timing for a small speed increase 10mhz for example isn't worth it imho but a large speed increase is worth it eg 50mhz as the bandwidth you lose by loosening the timing you more than make up on the speed.[/quote:f7aca3c777]

Yeap :)

Memtest86+
http://www.memtest.org/
Is very usefull for testing your timings, as you can change them 'on the fly' and find out what works best