RAM Timings

[ones_everywhere 0]

Hi everyone, 

 

I'm not very computer-savvy to say the least..I've spent the past few months researching forums on here, watching countless YouTube videos, and of course, following the AVSIM guide, to get to the point I'm at now. I've managed to overclock, and tweak FSX pretty successfully, but I am constantly learning more that can be done..

 

So I've reinstalled W7, kept my overclock, and now I'm stuck on the topic of DDR timings. I've searched so many forums, (including on here), but I can really find something that thoroughly explains them, First, what exactly does it do in FSX? Second, can someone be so kind as to tell me what I should be running mine at? What should my target DRAM speed be in BIOS?

 

I have a Sabretooth Z77 i7 3770k (OC 4.7, 1.315v), Corsair H80i cooler, Corsair CX750M PSU, EVGA GTX680, and Corsair CMZ16GX3MA1600C11 DDR3 16GB 2400Mhz ram.

 

 

In case its not obvious, I'm extremely new here, haha...so apologies in advance..But any help would be greatly appreciated.

[dcgator29 37]

You run it at the recommended speed and timings of the ram.  Normally the ram comes with XMP profiles that you enable in BIOS.  Overclocking or changing timings is not something that the average user can or wants to be messing with.  Memory is a finicky thing; nowhere near the same as bumping up a cpu multiplier and vcore.  If you want faster ram buy the faster ram.

[ones_everywhere 0]

Oh I'm good with the speed, I just didn't know if it was a crucial thing to do. So being that it is 2400Mhz, in the BIOS, I should make that the target DRAM speed then? By default it is 1600 on X.M.P profile..

[SAAB340 28]

Oh I'm good with the speed, I just didn't know if it was a crucial thing to do. So being that it is 2400Mhz, in the BIOS, I should make that the target DRAM speed then? By default it is 1600 on X.M.P profile..

There will be another X.M.P profile that will set it up for 2400Mhz with correct timings in that case. As you're on IvyBridge I'd expect the memorycontroller in the CPU to be able to handle that. Personally I always run memtest86 from a bootable CD before I boot in to windows when I overclock the RAM, just to be on the safe side.

 

The effect of faster RAM and tighter timings in FSX is similar to upping the CPU frequency. In your case I'd guess around the same effect as overclocking your CPU a further 2-300MHz.

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/412163-the-impact-of-different-ram-speeds-and-timings-in-fsx/#entry2701806

[Noel 3,673]

Oh I'm good with the speed, I just didn't know if it was a crucial thing to do. So being that it is 2400Mhz, in the BIOS, I should make that the target DRAM speed then? By default it is 1600 on X.M.P profile..

My DDR3 2400Mhz ram is CAS 10 which is decent timing for this ram frequency.  What's your CAS when you pull up the 2400 X.M.P.?  My 2400Mhz ram I have running at 2357 or so and that is because I'm using a hexacore Sandy Bridge E processor and it is not uncommon for the onboard memory controllers to not go the full 2400 as I understand it, so I'm quite pleased to be at 2357 even though the XMP profile is at 2400Mhz.  This odd frequency (2357Mhz) comes as a result of one of the presets on my ASUS X79 mainboard's UEFI bios, where the BCLK was set at around 125.3.