What are the dangers of tweaking latency? +extra questions!

[mrlie3]

Hey there. Recently I wish to buy 1GB RAM to increase the overall RAM to 3GB, but it seems there are very limited choice to buy RAMs for EVGA 650i Ultra Motherboard. Right now I am using Patriot Extreme 2GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-12 RAM (PDC22G6400ELK). It would be awesome if I can find same RAM with same latency at 1GB only (PEP21G6400EL), but it seems the company had discontinued this product. In fact, only available 1GB for Patriot is Patriot Signature Line 1GB DDR2-800 5-5-5-12 with HEAT SPREADER, but apparently 650i does not support this memory. Other brand 1GB RAMs are available but all of them are at 4-4-4-x latency.

So here are my questions:

1. Is it okay to add Signature Line RAM to Extreme RAM because it has a heat spreader?

2. Is it okay to add Signature Line RAM even though 650i does not support it?

3. What are the dangers of tweaking the current RAM to 4-x-x-x?

Thanks in advance.

[Mr. Cipher]

Originally Posted by mrlie3

So here are my questions:

1. Is it okay to add Signature Line RAM to Extreme RAM because it has a heat spreader?

2. Is it okay to add Signature Line RAM even though 650i does not support it?

3. What are the dangers of tweaking the current RAM to 4-x-x-x?

1. Not quite sure about the answer - I typically keep my memory to the same brand, and if they're identical other than the heat spreader it shouldn't matter in theory. As for different product lines in a certain brand, I'm unsure.

2. If it's not supported, it doesn't mean it won't work. It means they haven't had time to test for compatibility. My OCZ PC-6400 HPC memory isn't "supported" in my gigabyte p35-ds3r (other OCZ ram is), but works fine. I wasn't really concerned since I didn't believe there to be much variability in compatibility between the OCZ lines - I figured if one OCZ module worked, another OCZ module probably would too.

3. Dangers of tweaking would be voiding your warranty if the memory isn't rated for that speed, and possibly damaging the memory - the same as pushing the limit on any component. If you do decide to do it though, don't forget that you also have to check the dram voltage in the bios to make sure its high enough to support the faster speed if you're finding that the computer won't boot.

With that in consideration, you could in all honesty add the extra 1gb stick in and it should work without any issues (I can't promise anything)...but why not buy another 2gb extreme 5-5-5-12 kit? DDR memory is meant to run in tandem with another module to work effectively (ie 2, 4, 6 sticks versus 1, 3, 5 etc).

NCIX has your memory up $89 with MIR here, which would give you 2 more sticks and you could still run the memory and double data rate without worrying about compatibility or mixing modules.

[JD]

Eh, I have mixed Corsair Dominator and Mushkin HP2 on my 650i SLI board. All works fine here. They all run 818MHz @ 4-3-3-9-2T timings. I don't think either of those are "supported" either.

My sig is a bit old, I'm running 3.42GHz on my CPU now with stock voltage.

The dangers, well, I corrupted my Windows profile once but silly me was using crappy nTune. Otherwise I think the worst is that the computer won't start and you'll need to clear the CMOS to get it back up and running.

[mrlie3]

why not buy another 2gb extreme 5-5-5-12 kit? DDR memory is meant to run in tandem with another module to work effectively (ie 2, 4, 6 sticks versus 1, 3, 5 etc)

How about 2 more 512 RAM? Is that be alright? 2 more gig is a waste since my Vista is 32bit.

[Jack Rabbit]

Double data rate transfers data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal. Memory installed in pairs benefits from bank interleave. Some mainboards have problems with this when using all 4 memory slots. You may want to check on your board to see if it suffers from that.

I would not go to 3G. Odd numbers are bad for computers.

Are you even maxing out your current 2G? If you are not using all the RAM more is not going to help you.

[mrlie3]

Originally Posted by Jack Rabbit

Are you even maxing out your current 2G? If you are not using all the RAM more is not going to help you.

70 to 80% when playing Company of Heroes in Windows Vista... Had some crashes when using multiple programs. :(

I guess I'll just have to cope with 2GB until 64-bit world is more viable.