Ram schedule and refresh speed for Phenom 2

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BlakeRaiid
Junior Member

9

11-30-2016, 07:18 PM

#1

I'm trying to delay an important release and have made some budget improvements. I'm curious about the impact of RAM speed and timings: AMD Phenom II 1100T Black MSI 890FXA-GD70 board with Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B Vengeance Desktop Memory Kit - 8GB (2x4GB), PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz. I used a Gigabyte nvidia 1650 Super Thermaltake TRX-650M with 650W, but I mistakenly bought 4x4GB at 1600MHz instead of the recommended 2133. I'm wondering if upgrading to 2133 would help. Will using 2133 really make a difference? Are the 12-12-12 timings actually limiting performance at that frequency? I see the board supports 2133, but it seems overclocked and I might not be able to utilize all slots. Since this board was popular, I'm hoping someone with experience can share their thoughts. I installed the four sticks just to test Cinebench 20 and didn't notice any change. I might be overthinking it, though—I think 8 GB should be sufficient for most games running smoothly at 1080/60. The main workload usually comes from the graphics card.

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mjt2789
Senior Member

483

12-01-2016, 12:07 AM

#2

Use only the memory available. DDR3 isn't necessary for older processors compared to DDR4 in today's Intel and AMD designs. You should be okay with 1600 CAS 9.

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Nik_Vince
Member

137

12-08-2016, 03:12 AM

#3

What did you really mean when you asked about it?

A

Alext2103
Member

54

12-09-2016, 07:24 PM

#4

DDR3 performance gains were minimal, typically around 1-2%. DDR4 speeds became more significant, with differences reaching up to 10%.

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xHuntex
Member

203

12-09-2016, 08:12 PM

#5

You can keep the wrong RAM in and focus on saving for a laptop or monitor. I won’t spend more on the desktop until you’re ready to upgrade the motherboard and chipset. It’s good to check if the power supply can handle it or if you’ll need another one later.

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DunkaaN
Junior Member

12

12-11-2016, 09:04 PM

#6

2133mhz timing would be desired. Performance gains could come from 9-10-9-27-36 at 1.65v. DDR3 handled increased bandwidth well. A 1600mhz setting would need the widest casing.