Higher memory speed or higher CPU speed?

idont

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Apr 23, 2008
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Hello,

I've decided to OC my 4800+ (socket AM2) a bit more today, to 3GHz to be precisely.

Now I've got two situations:
Run my CPU at 11.5x250=2850MHz with my RAM at ~411MHz 4-4-4-12 2T (haven't tried 1T at this speed yet)
Run my CPU at 12x250=3000MHz with my RAM at ~375MHZ 4-4-4-12 1T

My RAM is OCZ Platinum Revision 2 @ 2.00V

Is it better to have situation 1: Slower CPU, faster RAM, or 2, exactly the opposite.

Thanks in advance,
-iDont
 

idont

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Apr 23, 2008
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Thanks for your reply.

If the speed is about the same in both situations, isn't it better to go with the 2850Mhz then? Because I guess the CPU lives longer then and the RAM can take 11MHz on top of its stock speed with no problem :p

-iDont
 

grieve

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Apr 19, 2004
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In my opinion a mild OC is better then an aggressive one. Nice to have the rig last for a while.

If the machine is on its last legs or a plan to buy a new machine is in place ill OC till it cant be OC'd anymore and run it like that 24/7. When its your daily use machine and you dont want to buy another anytime soon mild OC is the way to go.

Of course this is only one mans opinion.
 

Verillion

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Jun 12, 2008
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If your temps on the CPU/mobo are within operating specs, there will be no longevity loss on your components.

The best overclock is the highest you can get both your CPU and RAM to run at, while being stable. The difference between 1T and 2T is barely noticeable, typically less than 3 nanoseconds.

What I would recommend is downloading Everest Ultimate, and using the benchmarks within to justify which way you will run your system. Although they are only numbers, they are usually indicative of how the system will perform in real life applications.