I have some questions

[computernewbie]

I still need to figure out some things about memory for my first build...

1) The memory timings 4-4-4-4-12 as an example, what do they mean? And what about the timings like 4-4-5-6-12 or such, where the first 4 numbers are different from each other, correct me if im wrong

2)The momory speed, like 1333 mhz, what does it specify? Does it mean how fast it processes information from games or the internet?

3)Im assuming the "capacity" is how much memory is can keep in storage?

Thanks..

 

[Outlander_04]

think of the timings as electricity navigating its way to memory and then back again to the processor .
Lower means the information got there and back quicker . Lower is always better with timings , but watch voltage as well . The easiest way for a manufacturer to lower timings is to add more voltage . DDR2 is standard at 1.8 volts , DDR3 is 1.65 volts . If ram has low timings and higher volts its not as good as it seems .

Memory speed in MHz is litterally the frequency of the ram . Faster is better .

And capacity is the is how much "storage" thats immediately available to the processor with out looking on to the hard drive . More than 4 gig of capacity is useless except for some very specialist uses .

 

[computernewbie]

i see, that clears up a bit, i was sure about the first one about how many cycles it takes but i wasent sure, but what is that last and fifth number? (4-4-4-4) are the cycles and then another number, such as 12

Can you also increase its timings? i know you can increase speed

Do any of these things increase your gaming performance? Like is there something i should OC on a memory stick to get better performance?

 

[jsc]

Do any of these things increase your gaming performance? Like is there something i should OC on a memory stick to get better performance?

Some people OC memory. I do not. I will run memory at a 1:1 FSB to memory ratio. With DDR2, that really means a 1:2 FSB to a memory clock ratio.

My first C2D system - E6600 in an nVidia 680i motherboard. I have it OC'd to 3.6 GHz. I cut it back to 3.3 GHz. becaue I didn't like some of the motherboard temps. Memory defaulted to 5-5-5-15-2T. Counting testing time, it took me about a month to work the timings down to 3-3-3-10-1T. Memory benchmarks indicated a 7% increase in memory i/o but no discernable in overall system performance.

 

[computernewbie]

so it has absolutely no effect on gaming performance, no matter how bad the card may be?

 

[computernewbie]

and the memory speed, how exactly is it used, like 1333 mhz, i dont know the exact description of it

 

[Outlander_04]

very small increases come from over clocking memory .