A few questions about memory timings

[Raoul_Duke]

I downloaded CPU-Z and now im not sure if my ram timings are set right.

the memory page shows what I think my ram is set at :




but the SPD tab confuses me....it shows some slower timings and mhz:



i believe the voltage is set to 2.65 v as specified here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820134039 thats what im running....

also I'd like to put 2 more sticks in....any idea if a different (cheaper) brand that had the same timings and voltage would work?


thanks in advance!

[DMB2000uk]

Hello, welcome to the forums.

The second SPD tab on CPUz just shows timings that are programmed into your RAM, so what different speeds and timings it should be able to run at.

The one to read off what it is running at is the first screen you showed (like you thought in the first place ^_^)


If the memory has the same speed/timings/voltage then it should all work fine. I've not tried different memory brands together, but unless you have a picky mobo/memory combo then you should be ok.

Dan

[hercules71185]

Dan definitely knows what hes saying. He has helped me pretty much every question I've posted on the forum. haha. But, ram timings is the only thing I ever get confused on. For example whats better
4-4-4-12 or 5-5-5-10
But, your numbers do look funky. I've never seen that before. So I'm raising a question on your post if someone can help out.
why is your typical first 3 numbers the same? Is it ok if they are not?

[DMB2000uk]

Generally DDR/DDR2 kits do have the same first 3 numbers, this makes it easier for manufacturers to guarantee that it actually will work.

But if you notice, the recommended voltage for these kits is above the DDR standard (2.65v vs 2.5v), so they have been found to be tweakable (in this case by the manufacturer), lowering one or two of the subtimings like this will give you slightly better performance over the standard timings. Sorry, i don't have a tangible % improvement though.

So it is fine to have strange subtimings.

If you want to get a little bit more performance out of your memory then you could try lowering some of your subtimings yourself. Normally, this will require more voltage, and there will probably be one or two of the subtimings that wont want to move without making the RAM unstable.

My current RAM is running at [email protected] (rated at [email protected]). So you will probably have varying levels of success.

Dan

[Raoul_Duke]

Thanks for the reply DAn. When I first installed them i had to adjust things so they would run at the speed advertised( i did that with the help of Kingston tech support; which was good)
that spd thing really confused me....

Im trying to decide if its worthwhile too add another 2 gigs to squeeze a bit more life out of my 939 chip.....or just spend the money on new ram, mobo, and chip.

any tips on speeding this ram up would be great....or a link where i can read how to change it.

cheers!

[JohntechUPi]

In many MB's now if you add more than two modules you might have to run the memory at more relaxed settings and or a slower frequency because of strain on the memory controller. If it were me and you have not decided yet I would save the money for a new MB and Memory, maybe going to a new DDR2 or DDR3 system.