E6600 and RAM sanity check

Hi guys - quick sanity check...

I'm soon to be building a new PC and just want to check I'm not getting confused over the RAM speed!

I'm planning on buying an e6600 along with 4gb of RAM. The e6600 has a FSB speed of 1066MHz, so am I correct in thinking I need at least PC2-4200 (533MHz) RAM?

Thanks.

 

No, you need PC8500 - 1066MHz to run in synch, although it's not really worth worrying about - PC6400 800MHz provides enough bandwidth to run a C2D chip quite happily, although the faster the better.

 

Bugger. I don't think ebuyer even sell PC8500!

Edit: Wikipedia indicates that if the RAM is run in dual channel (I'll have 4x1GB sticks) then I only need 533MHz RAM. Is this correct?

 

lol you really don't need to run it in synch. and dual channel != double data rate.

 

E6600 has a multiplier of 9, 2.4GHz / 9 = 266MHz, so it sounds like PC2-4200 or better is required to run the E6600 at it's stock speed. Am I wrong?

 

No it's actually 533MHz.

The 1066FSB is a 4x 266 bus, whereas DDR2 is 266*2 = 533.

If you're running a 1:1 ratio that'll make the ram 533.

I've made this mistake before, it's easy to do.

You *can* buy 533 ram, but really you want some low latency 800. Dual channel memory is, at best, 65% bandwidth effective in raw unbuffered tests, so you want in excess of 1:1. 1:1 is only good when overclocking, so you lock the NB directly into the ram, minimising inter-bus latency and errors between data going from one bus to the other.

Like said though, Core architecture doesn't need huge memory bandwidth, instead it prefers low latency.

 

Thanks for the info. Managed to find some Corsair that will do.

 

Its like the old days of DDR400 AKA PC3200, its rated at 200mhz and is the stock memory speed for the AMD A64.

Any memory rated at faster speeds just gives overclockers more head room, i.e PC3500, PC3700 and PC4000.

TBH i would have taken advantage on the memory price crash, i picked up 2GB of Geil PC6400 (DDR2 800) for £70, so £140 would give you the 4GB.

This gives you the advantage of tighter timings which improve system speed if you are not overclocking.



(Asks personal question 'was DDR2 really worth the pain to upgrade as DDR3 has just been released making DDR2 the shortest lived memory apart from RAMBUS....') lol!

 

Bugger... That's very confusing tbh, I always forget things are quad-"pumped" *snicker* with Intel's...