Which do you think is a better OC setting?

[king smp]

Hello

current settings

Phenom II x 4 925 Deneb C2 non-BE 2.8ghz OCd to 3.5ghz
Name: King smp
Stepping: C2
Frequency: 3500
ref*multi: 250*14
CPU voltage: 1.53
CPU-NB: auto
nb frequency: 2500
NB volts: auto
HT freq- auto
HT running at 2500mhz
HT volts-auto
RAM: 8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 8-8-8-24-1T @ 1.5V Kingston HyperX Genesis DDR3-1600 CL9
Motherboard: Asus M4A77TD AM3 770
Cooling: Air cooling/Hyper N520
OS: 7 64-bit
max CPU temp- 52c in 70F room after hour Prime95-64bit
Cool N Quiet enabled-2ghz-3.5ghz

That is my max stable on Prime95 OC

now I can set 3.3ghz and have my ram at DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 1T
and NB/HT at 2350mhz
temps lower by a few C on load and idle
voltage set to auto (stays under 1.42v)

I am wondering it the increased memory speed will offset the lowering of CPU speed by 200mhz

would you rather have a higher memory speed and lower temps with 3.3ghz
or the extra 200mhz CPU speed increase?

any opinions and even harsh criticism is appreciated

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello

current settings

Phenom II x 4 925 Deneb C2 non-BE 2.8ghz OCd to 3.5ghz
Name: King smp
Stepping: C2
Frequency: 3500
ref*multi: 250*14
CPU voltage: 1.53
CPU-NB: auto
nb frequency: 2500
NB volts: auto
HT freq- auto
HT running at 2500mhz
HT volts-auto
RAM: 8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 8-8-8-24-1T @ 1.5V Kingston HyperX Genesis DDR3-1600 CL9
Motherboard: Asus M4A77TD AM3 770
Cooling: Air cooling/Hyper N520
OS: 7 64-bit
max CPU temp- 52c in 70F room after hour Prime95-64bit
Cool N Quiet enabled-2ghz-3.5ghz

That is my max stable on Prime95 OC

now I can set 3.3ghz and have my ram at DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 1T
and NB/HT at 2350mhz
temps lower by a few C on load and idle
voltage set to auto (stays under 1.42v)

I am wondering it the increased memory speed will offset the lowering of CPU speed by 200mhz

would you rather have a higher memory speed and lower temps with 3.3ghz
or the extra 200mhz CPU speed increase?

any opinions and even harsh criticism is appreciated

Hello,

I think you are better off with the faster CPU speed. Why don't you try them both out, benchmark them both and see what you think?

DDR3 RAM already provides plenty of bandwidth, and normally most apps benefit more from CPU speed rather than RAM bandwidth.

 

[king smp]

that is what I was thinking
I ran Cinebench 11.5 CPU rendering bench and at 3.5 I get 4.14 on cpu score
and at 3.3ghz I get 3.89
I think I will use the 3.3ghz setting for summertime when the rooms temps are high
(can get up to 78-80F-no AC)
and use the 3.5 for cooler temps
also upgrading case from $15 CompUSA special to a Antec 902 so hopefully cooling will even get better once I got a 200mm as top exhaust in the 902
right now in a 70F room prime 95 temps stay below 53c

 

[stickg1]

I think you're better off with the 3.5ghz CPU clock. You were able to clock your RAM at 1600mhz even though its 1333mhz ram? Thats pretty impressive. I can't get my 1600mhz RAM anywhere over 1650mhz without being unstable. I don't think there will be a huge performance difference between 1333 and 1600. The higher CPU clock would be more noticable (if at all). Those are impressive temps considering your voltage, I am kind of jealous. I spent $75 on this zalman cooler and my temps aren't that great. Way better than stock but nothing spectacular.

 

[king smp]

the combo of the CM Hyper N520 with the Scythe Ultra Kaze 133cfm 120mm 3000 rpm fan really worked well
just needed a PCI slot single fan control ($5 Microcenter) to control fan speed

I was just researching other OCs on 925 on Toms
one guy had his at 3.7ghz but ram was at really loose timings 10-10-10-30
and his NB and HTT were at 2000mhz
plus he had his NB and HT volts almost maxed

so not sure if I want to try that
having better timings,temps and NB.HTT freq might better in this case
though I might try it just to say I got it stable

 

[king smp]

Best answer selected by king smp.