Thread: Memory Overclocking

While memory overclocks will not yield as much a performance hike as a CPU overclock, it's all about components working in tandem for overall system performance.

Remember that your CPU is fed by your memory and the faster the memory the quicker the CPU is fed. While overclocking memory, it's not just raw MHz increments we're looking at. In fact tighter timings can make all the difference. Typical timings at 800 MHz are 4-4¬4-12 at the default 1.8 volts. We however got our memory to go up to 800 MHz at a timing of 3-3-3-8 at 2.2 volts. Memory voltages are not as fine tuned as CPU voltages and you can tweak them with increments of 0.25-0.5 volts without much danger. Do be careful at anything beyond 2.1 volts because some memory chips cannot stand the extra current. However, enthusiast memory (such as the sticks we used) can stand voltages of up to 2.4 volts. We didn't test this however and wanted to play safe-there's a fine line between speed and recklessness remember!



Since our memory was rated at 1066 MHz you may wonder why we're running it at 800 MHz. The fact is that we ran a few bandwidth tests and found that at 800 MHz (3-3-3-8) our memory gave higher scores than at 1066 MHz (4-4-4-12}-both settings were achieved at 2.2 volts.