using 800 mhz memory on 1066 speed mb

ABRAND888

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I just put together a DP35DP Intel mb with the Q6600 quad cpu that I bought from Micro Center. I know that the Q6600 CPU is a SLACR CPU but a really good mb is too expensive for me at this time..

I have a lot of 800 mhz 2 GHZ memory sticks and was wondering how much will it slow down the computer or might it be negligible ? I can put in 4 gb of memory 4-4-4-12 CAS memory from Corsair.

Will 800 mhz memory slow down the XP 64 bit operating system ?

If I have a 32-bit Windows XP drive, might it be possible to install it over the 32 b bit and be usuable ?

Thanks
 

4745454b

Titan
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Seeing as the Q6600 only needs DDR2-667, the DDR2-800 you have is fine. Yes you can use it, no worries.

If I have a 32-bit Windows XP drive, might it be possible to install it over the 32 b bit and be usuable ?

??? Sorry, that makes no sense to me, perhaps you should try again?
 

ABRAND888

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Hi,

I think I might of giving wrong info. In my bios it states system bus speed is 1066MHZ and system memory speed is 800 mhz. Does your answer still hold taht 800 mhz is more than adequate.

Thanks
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Yes. Right now you are simply using a different FSB:RAM ratio other then 1:1. (I'd say 4:3) You need at least DDR2-667, but by changing the ratio you can run faster ram.

Here is what most people do. Set the ratio for 1:1. (if you only have clock speeds listed in your bios, I'm not sure which to use.) Set your FSB to 400MHz, or 1600 if it only lists effective FSB. This will run your CPU at 3.6GHz, which is probably to high. Put the CPU multiplier down to 8 so that you are at 3.2GHz. If you are lucky, your ram is now running at 800MHz with a 1:1 ratio. Your CPU will be overclocked by 800MHz, and your FSB will be running at 1600 effective/400 actual instead of 1066 effective/266 actual.

If all of that flew over your head, then leave it alone. Your RAM is running fine, as is your system.
 

ABRAND888

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4745454b.

Thanks for your answers. I have a Intel DP35DP motherboard with a Artic 7 cooler. Can I make the changes in the Intel Bios as you just outlined ? I would like to try it but would like to make certain what you say above is actually in my bios setup. Might I be right in stating that the lower the CPU multiplier, the lower the frequency of the CPU ?

Can the DP35DP motherboard be overclocked ?

Thanks a lot.
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Oops. I knew I was talking to someone today who had an Intel motherboard.

No, chances are good that you can't do this. Intel doesn't normally allow a lot of overclocking options on their motherboards. If you had a non Intel brand motherboard (Asus, Abit, Gigabyte, etc) you probably could have done what I wrote.

Might I be right in stating that the lower the CPU multiplier, the lower the frequency of the CPU ?

Then again, maybe you couldn't have.... I don't mean to be rude, but at this point I feel you are much better off just enjoying your system. Its working fine and at spec, so there are no issues.
 

Wolfshadw

Titan
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@Abrand888 -

I don't think anyone has given you the answer you're looking for:

The motherboards Front Side Bus speed is 1066MHz. This speed is quad-pumped (nothing to do with the number of cores your CPU has). To get the base speed, divide the rated speed (1066) by 4 to get 266MHz.

Your memory has a rated speed of 800MHz, but this speed is double it's base speed. To get your memory's base speed, take it's rated speed (800) and divide by 2 to get 400 MHz.

So in order to run in the optimal 1:1 ratio (system speed:memory speed), you only need to run DDR2-533 memory (533/2=266), but having faster RAM (DDR2-800) isn't going to harm anything.

-Wolf sends
 

ABRAND888

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Hi everyone,

I will stay with my INTEL mb and CPU for a year and when the motherboards come down in price, I will transfer my CPU to another mb and I will keep all your suggestions on file for the future. I do recall seeing on tomshardware some articles on how to overclock the DP35DP motherboard and will look around to see what might be accomplished. I will stay with my setup. I am burning in the mb and cpu to know that it is steady before I start adding programs.

What motherboards models do you suggest I look for that will give the ability of overclocking to 3.6GHZ ?

Thanks
 

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Many/most motherboards should be able to hit 400MHz, what you need is a chip good enough to handle 400MHz X multiplier. The chip you have has a multiplier of nine, so 400 x 9 = 3.6GHz, a very large overclock for a normally 2.4GHz chip. I'm not sure how many Q6600s will be able to do this, I'm guessing not many. If you drop the multiplier down to 8 (3.2GHz) or even 7 (2.8GHz) your cpu won't be overclocked so far, but the FSB will be a lot higher.

What motherboards do I suggest in a years time? Not a clue, come back then.
 

ABRAND888

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4745454b,

The Q6600 CPU that I have is the one with slacr designation and this cpu is the overclocking cpu from Intel. I originally bought this CPU from Microcenter and waited for a decent price for a good overclocking board like Abit pro 35 but I felt the prices were too high for my budget so I exchanged it for Intel mb with Q6600 CPU. Unfortunately this cpu,mb combo went bad, returned it to Microcenter but they didn't get in any combo boards. By accident I was in NJ stopped off at Microcenter, they had a return and guaranteed the combo and I saved almost $100.00 off original price. I am running it 10 hours a day so far and it is stable. I will put it into a case this weekend and then take it home to become my new system.

I plan to do video editing on this system.

Thanks for all your help. I learned a lot. Should you ever see a deal for a good overclocking mb please let me know. I think I got a good deal so far.