I have an Asus A7N8X motherboard, Athlon XP2700, ATI 9800 Pro , 1 GB(2x512) generic PC2700 ram, and presently have it overclocked at 11x210 @2310 mhz. When in By Spd, this setting makes the ram run at 175 mhz and sets very relaxed timings of Cas 3 from Cas 2.5. The middle numbers are in the 3-4 range. If I manually try to set the ram to run at lower timings my pc wont boot. I was wondering if I upgraded to a quality brand name PC3200 Cas 2 2-2-2 1T ram would it make much difference in FS9? I know I would probably be able to get a higher FSB, and be able to run the ram at a 1:1 ratio, resulting in a higher clock speed, but would I see any noticable improvement in FS9? It will cost me around $375 Canadian, to upgrade to a better quality, so I want to make sure it is worthwile to do so. Thanks,Bill

Yes it will make a real difference. Also you MUST run you memory at a 1:1 ratio on nforce 2 mainboards or you will loose performance. This is typical for nforce 2 mainboards since P 4 or A64 systems there isn

nForce motherboards (especially the A7n8X) actually do better with some goofy RAM timings. See here: http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40284 . Look at the tRAS setting alot of folks are using. I too can confirm this... I'm running my A7N8X Rev. 2 with Corsair PC2300C2 @ 2,3,3,11 (stock timings are 2,3,3,6).You don't mention what rev motherboard you have, but if you're getting that kind of FSB out of your CPU/Ram combination you are definately doing something right. If you're gaming and other system intensive app are running well with yoyr rig, you can be very happy with your overclocking efforts.My advice is to save your money. I doubt that buying "gaming" ram would yield much more performance... certainly not for what the new ram would cost you. Perhaps the best choice is to save the money for your next upgarde.Cheers,Greg

I have to disagree it will make a big difference really otherwise people wouldn

Bill, according to my 'hardware bible' and including some of my humble experience, I would follow Greg's advice. Or perhaps only aquire new RAM with an exact new system in sight? Then you can't do anything wrong. I.e. most upcoming AMD64 systems, will continue to use 'DDR-1' RAM modules (besides offering the nice option to use 'old' AGP cards). So, if you want to get 'future-proof' RAM now (i.e. 3200) and test it on your current system, the answer could also be: 'Why not?' AFAIK, the timings were far more important with 66/100/133MHz modules and this isn't so much so anymore with DDR. 'My bible' (sorry P

It all depends on what chipset you are using. If you are running A64 Tras and the other timings than CAS 2 is the most important where as on nforce 2 cas 2 is quite important.Why? Not because you will get better synthetic results? That doesn

While your arguements are correct, Par, I still recommend that Bill pass on the memory upgrade at this time. Simply put... he'll spend alot of money for a little performance gain. He's already overclocked his system quite nicely, and I doubt he'll see much bang for his $375CDN.Just my 2 cents,Greg

But because of his nforce 2 his overclock is useless if he can

"A7N8X motherboard, Athlon XP2700, generic PC2700 ram"We need to know what rev motherboard he has.Greg

Thanks a lot for your replies guys. Sorry to come back so late, as I have been away. You have all brought up some very good points, and have given me a lot to think about. I have a revision 2.0 board with 1007 bios. I do plan to upgrade to an A64, but not for the near future. I will need better ram when I do upgrade, but the dillema is what kind to get if I were to get some now, and would it still be usable on future A64 boards or will they need DDR2? I was thinking of upgrading in steps to ease up on the cost, and get the ram now, and be able to use it on my present board as well if I would see some benefits. Then get the A64 board and CPU at a later date. Should I get PC3200 or PC3500. I am looking at OCZ, and they have Enhanced Latency, and Enhanced Bandwidth for both types that will run on my current board, and current A64 boards. Which one of these is better to get? Or on the other hand, am I better off to wait? My main criteria is if I would see some noticable benefits in FS9 and other games, then maybe I will get it now. Thanks again for all of your suggestions guys!Bill

I would suggest you get A64 now ;). You have a trouble here. OCZ EL is better for nforce 2 OCZ EB is better for A64. If you want something good for both systems get some almost impossible to get hold of BH 5 memory but then the problem with these is that they demand high voltage to overclock like the champs they are and for that you need to volt mod your A64 mainboards since I have seen none that allow voltage over 3 V.But A64 isn

Now that we know what rev m/b you have I definately say NO to buying the gaming ram.Bill, you would also need to upgrade your CPU (to a 400Mhz choice) to match the FSB of the m/b and new ram. If you wish to upgarde around your curent m/b, then buy a 400Mhz CPU (Barton 3000 or 3200, or even a Mobile that can handle the higher FSB) and some PC3200 (or 3500) value ram. The new CPU/value ram combo will yield you a much better performance gain than putting all your money into "gaming" ram at this time.Greg

Thanks again for your help Par Oqvist and Greg. You both have given me very good options. Now I will have to price things out, and think of what my finances will allow, and what my future upgrade schedule will be, and then decide on which option to pursue. Thanks again.Bill