[Information] - CPU:RAM timing

[Alkatraz]

Been tweaking to get optimum performance on my PC. Here are my findings using EVEREST Ultimate Edition v4.20.1170.

Rig:
Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum
CPU: Q6600 @ 2.4GHz (9x, 267MHz) G0 stepping
Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra 120
Fan: Sythe 4710KL-04W-B19-V54 (12 cm @ 1600 RPM)
MoBo: Asus Maximus Formula
RAM: OCZ gold xtc 800MHz DDR2 (PC-6400) 5-5-5-15 (stock)
GFX: Nvidia 8800GTS 512MB OC

Some fore notes: Tests were conducted one after another w/ ambient temperature about 73 degrees Fahrenheit with the lowest stable voltages. Questions I had:
1. If I brought my multiplier down to 8x (from 9x) and increased my CPU FSB up, would I achieve better performance?
2. If I achieved better performance, then would my CPU run hotter.
3. If it was unstable what voltage would I have to use?

First off: I overclocked my CPU to a standard option on my motherboard; Overclocked to a Intel Core 2 Quad QX6850. Ran fine as-is on auto voltage levels. Ran about 50 degrees Celsius under 100% load for core #1.
CPU: 9x, 333MHz
RAM: 800MHz 5-5-5-15 @ ~2v
CPU:RAM: 10:12

Next: My overclock. I wanted to get to 3.3GHz and no more. I see no need as of now to shorten the life of my processor for no real gain (I could probably push this up to 3.6GHz safely).

CPU: 9x, 367MHz @ 1.33125v

RAM: 734MHz 4-5-5-15 @ ~2v
CPU:RAM: 1:1

Finally, My test:

CPU: 8x, 413MHz @ 1.33125v

RAM: 826MHz 5-5-5-15 @ ~2v
CPU:RAM: 1:1

Now you will notice that I noticed almost no difference in temperature AND I didn't have to adjust the voltages for the system to be stable.

Now a quick summary of the benchmarks from my overclock to my test overclock.
You see a performance gain of anywhere from ~2%-15% according to the benchmarks. Results are terrific when comparing RAM results. This will be a slight real world difference but it is a difference nonetheless for almost no downside. You will also notice the RAM latency is up BUT the bandwidth makes up for this as seen on the benchmarks.

Conclusion:
It is better to lower you multiplier to achieve a closer 1:1 DRAM:FSB.

http://ucdownloads.com/downloads/dow...o=file&id=2875