Underclocking RAM

[optional22]

I'm building a computer and found some nice DDR2 1066 RAM a friend of mine didn't want anymore. I'm going with an E8500 processor, so that speed is a bit of an overkill. Their timings are 5-5-5-15, fairly standard. I was wondering if I underclock the RAM, could I decrease CAS latency and the rest of the timings?

Thanks...

 

[daft]

well, if its running at 5-5-5-15 at 1066, then if you put it at 800 im quite positive you could get 4-4-4-12.

BTW, 1066 isn't overkill for an E8500. maybe if it was ddr3 3200 (which doesn't exist quite yet)

 

[Nik_I]

depending on how good the ram is, you might be able to get the timings down to 4-4-4-12 without dropping down to 800. i've managed to overclock my 800Mhz ram up to 1066Mhz and keeping 4-4-4-12 timings

 

[daft]

thats quite impressive there Nik_I. but its true, most ram nowadays you can get something like that. im running my ram at 960 5-5-5-15-24 1.8V

 

[optional22]

My motherboard only supports an FSB up to 1600, so I was planning to OC the E8500 to 400x9.5 = 3.8 ghz and a 1600 FSB. Then, I would underclock the RAM to 800 mhz, and with duel channel, I have a 1:1 ratio.

Or should I keep it at 1066 mhz for extra head room? This is my first time overclocking any system, so I'm hesitant to push it too hard.

Can I even overclock the Northbridge if I wanted to? I haven't heard of people doing that.

 

[daft]

overclocking the northbridge is overclocking the FSB. if you cant go above 400, then you would want to underclock and tighten the timings like you were planning. perhaps even lower the voltage while your at it.

 

[optional22]

Yeah, that's what I'll try. Thanks for the input, guys.

Here's the final build.

Windows Vista 64 Ultimate all ready and awaiting installation...

* 1 x NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
* 1 x GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
* 1 x HIS Hightech H487F1GP Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
* 1 x CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
* 1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail
* 2 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail (Bought cheap from friend)
* 1 x SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
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* 1 x ASUS Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E818A3T - Retail
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