tt volcano 11+ received, advice needed on OC

[ufuk21p]

i have bought a TT Volcano 11 XE after waiting for two weeks since at the store it was out of stock. i am thinking about buying some decent ram but could't make up my mind yet.

the max FSB i wanna go is 180, if possible, and leave the multiplier of the 1700+ at 11.

the switch on the mobo (MSI Kt4v) will be set to a Barton, which means the agp and pci ratios will automatically be set for 166fsb.

i want some advice on buying decent pc2700 rams which will be oc to 360 Mhz and whether i should buy registered rams since sandra tells me to do so.

thanks in advance for replies :wave:

[Darthtanion]

Does your MSI board even support registered memory? Check the manufacturers information and don't rely on Sandra in this area. If your board doesn't support it, you may very well trash the system and have no stability at all.

But since your goal is to overclock, I'd highly recommend staying far away from it anyway. Registered memory is also called ECC memory. What it does is add an additional wait state during the course of carrying out instructions sets. It does this so that it can use this extra wait state to double check the data to make sure it is what was intended to be sent. So in essence, it actually slows down your system to allow for a better chance of the correct data to be sent between the system and the memory modules. While this is a huge benefit for those running high-end server systems, it has no real benefit at all for the normal user, and is a bane to the enthusiast.

As to decent memory, there are many good brands to choose from. I have heard nothing but good about the Corsair XMS line of modules and Mushkin is also a good bet, but this one tends to be pricey at times. I have had good luck with Crucial, but I can't guarantee that you'll get your desired 180FSB out of their PC2700 line.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to play with that multiplier a bit. :D

[ufuk21p]

thnx Darth.
that really helps.
as to Corsair, I think i'll get them, they also look cool with the blue heat sprdrs.

[Suicide]

Ya :) but ya gotta admit that copper sinks would looke a lot nicer :D (*peers into computer to see vantec iceberq ddr heatspreaders on ram :D*)

This post was useless :)

[CheeZmonZter]

Just my :2cents: I am running Crucial ram here and you cant play with the latency timings at all. Every time i try and drop it down the system locks and I need to clear the CMOS. But one good thing..I have taken it up to 190 FSB and it ran fine...tho it fried my vid card since i cant lock the agp timings....I run it now at 186 with no problems so if you are planning on stopping at 180 (never happen) crucial is fine. Tho I have heard that the Corsair XMS series of memory runs a lot faster and that is what is in my future.

[ufuk21p]

well, the agp and pci ratios are the reason that i have to stop at 180fsb. I tricked my mobo (switched some switches) into thinking that it is running a Barton at 166mhz so that the agp and pci ratios will be automatically set for this speed.
190 is a little bit too much maybe i will fry something if i get to those limits.
Thanks for the tips everybody :thumb: