Overclocking crappy ram

[lhsonic]

I have RAM that is rated at 2.5-3-3-7, what would happen if I change them to run 2-2-2-5. I have the basic crap ram, not the premium stuff like the nice OCZ Platniums or anything.

Also, If I had 768MB of RAM at 2-2-2-2 compared to 1024MB @ 2.5-3-3-8, which would I see better performance with?

[JLK03F150]

That's not overclocking, that's just tightening the timings. If you go too far you'll get that wonderful bios beep code & no boot. Then you have to clear the cmos to get the timings back to default.
If you want to tighten ram you tighten 1 setting at a time, then run memtest or super pi to check for errors (or reset the cmos). For example 2.5-3-3-7 is stock, try 2-3-3-7. If it works try 2-3-3-6, if not try 2.5-3-3-6 (not all ram can run cas2), then 2.5-3-2-6 or 2.5-3-3-5. Raising the vdimm voltage to 2.7v or 2.8v can help with some ram modules - most all are ok to run up to 2.8v.

You would see better framerates with 768mb of 2-2-2-5 (except maybe with BF2) and get better load times with 1024mb of 2.5-3-3-8. Fast ram improves framerates & can mostly only be seen in a benchmark. A larger quantity of ram improves load times between maps or levels.

[SoloCamo]

I would without a doubt rather have 1gb with 2.5cl VS 768 with 2cl. You would feel much more of a difference when gaming using 1gb vs the 768, especially in new games

Also since you are running a P4, timings mean little compared to bandwidth so you won't get the performance you are expecting

[lhsonic]

For the new system I have, same opinion?

[RamonGTP]

I can pretty much gaurantee that you won't be able to get ram rated at 2.5-3-3-7 to run stable at 2-2-2-5. You'll be lucky if you can get it to do 2-3-3-7