Memory timing…

[AFMAN10]

Memory timing…

Can someone explain memory timing for me?
What should one look for when it comes down to memory timing?

[rrcn]

A little dry, but here's a good overview on timings along with many other things regarding RAM.

http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair...707/index.html

[AFMAN10]

This is a really informative link… unfortunately it doesn’t explain timing to me. What is the difference between 3-3-3 and 2-2-2-5? How about T1 and T2? Etc…

[rrcn]

Actually, it does. Start from slide number 19 through 24.

Timings (delay in clock cycles (latency)) are the clock cycles it takes to place or remove data from memory. The lower the timings, the faster data is stored/removed.

[Theophylact]

Now as to whether it's important for performance, this piece in Tech Report may prove illuminating. (Tip o' the hat to Slashdot.)

[AFMAN10]

Okay…. Ummm…. I see…. That was quite a bit of acronyms… so let me ask a more specific question….

Is 3-3-3 a good RAM to get?

[rrcn]

Meh, 3-3-3-X is nothing special, in fact, it's considered more of the low end.

Something decent would be in the range of 2.5-3-3-8.

Better would be 2-2-2-7 and I think the lowest now is 2-2-2-5.

Lower is better.

[AFMAN10]

so how is 2-2-2 better then 3-3-3 but 5-3-3 is the best?

it seems to me that it would be 2-2-2 then 3-3-3 then 5-3-3 (?)

[Ultima]

no, 2-2-2-5 @ 1T is the best timings.

The lower the numbers the better, where the 1st 2 stands for Cache latency and is the most influential one.

1T and 2T are command data rates, 2T is a serious bandwidth killer, so best setting is 1T.

The normal ram you'd be looking for will have timings of 2.5-3-3-6 @ DDR400 speeds

[AFMAN10]

so what RAM would you recommend? (1 Gig sticks)