Low CAS latency and real system improvement

[easy_Rider]

Hi all.

I have now read a lot threads on this forum, and others about low Latency PC3200 menory (2-2-2-5-1), but how it effects the performance of the whole system is a bit unclear to me.

I understand that a memmory module with CL2 are faster than a module with CL4 (if the bus are the same).

I will bulid a new PC for both work and gaming
(AMD 4400+.. ASUS A8N --> DDR PC3200 ram)

I feel that the sort of statement "Yeah.. CL2 is much faster than CL3" is rather uninformaticve (at least to me). I would like a more technical discussion on the topic and maybe we could clear this up for the rest wondering. (not that I am a tecnical guru - in that case I wold allready know the answer

So do you feel You have it in you to explain how much faster a system will be with low latency memmory, please step forward.

And for the record, lets say that the system will not be overclocked. So we do not need the extra low latency ram because we are going to overclock it.

Thanks for Your time.

 

[Crashman]

I did a review of Crucial Ballistix PC4000, examining PC3200 speed and latency settings down to 2-2-2-6, last year at SysOpt. You'll probably find the needed info in that review.

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[BrentUnitedMem]

Not sure if this really helps, but the math is accurate I'm sure:
<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=121274#121274" target="_new">THREAD</A>

Maybe someone would be able to comment?

<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley

 

[sturm]

Real world benefit:not much if any noticable improvement
Benchmark World is the only place where you will see a difference.

Save your money and get a good video card and cpu.
Low latency ram is worthless unless your one of those tweakers that just has to get that 1 extra FPS out of ther system for bragging rights.

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

Can you check out the link to the thread above:
<b>PC-3200 CL2 is 2.25 times faster than PC-3200 CL3</b>

It's just a direct comparison of the memory modules, not accounting for noise and gaps between instructions.

But 2.25 times faster was surprising to me. Wonder if there is an error in my calculation or assumption. I checked with other sites, Anandtech for example and it seems to be correct. All though I am only judging what real world performance may be: 10-12% increase in overall system performance.


<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley

 

[sturm]

the 2.25 times as fast is just for the initial access. Not the overall memory performance. Plus your talking about nano seconds which is like 1 billionth of a second.
thats 1/1,000,000,000!

 

[BrentUnitedMem]

Thanks for your input.

That makes sence. Only the initial access, not accounting for later accesses which may have additional minor delays between commands. Overall memory performance is significantly less- how much less can only be guessed or measured by some benchie.

So this 2.25 accounts for maybe 10-12% overall system performance?
(loosely based on a reference I saw that a 1.34% increase in memory performance translates to 6-7% increase in overall performance)

<font color=blue>******
<font color=green>"My Memory is not working today"
<font color=blue>AIM SoCaliCrowley