Overclocking. Help Please.

[RedYellowBlueCR]

Hello all!

Let me first state that I am fairly new to overlcocking and understanding how a computer works on a frequency level at that. I use to be one that would just buy Part A and slap it together with Part B when it came to computers, but now I'm trying to understand them on a deeper level.

I have been trying to get into overclocking for quite sometime now. But it seems that all my information keeps getting mixed up in my head. So I am here for some clarification.

Here are my specs:
Socket AM2 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (2.3GHz per core.)
4GBs of PC2-DDR2 6400 (800 MHZ) RAM
Nvidia Geforce 9800GTX

As you can see, my machine is a little dated. So I am trying to get a little extra performance out of it. But I am having some problems understanding some things, basic concepts really... So PLEASE, correct me on anything that is wrong! I am here to learn! :)

From what I understand, the CPU is nothing but a giant FSB multiplier. It takes the FPS frequency and multiplies it greatly. In my case, my default clocks are a 230MHz FSB running at a 14x multiplier. The end result leaves me with a 3220MHz. (2.3GHz.) This is the main frequency (speed) that the entire system runs off of.

But from what I have gathered, the RAM runs at a different speed. In my case, my memory modules are rated for 400MHz, but since they are DDR modules, they can clock at double the speed which comes out to 800MHz. You can further double that speed with them up when you run them on duel channel DIMMs. (As I currently am.) So there for, my modules are running at a frequency of 1600MHz. (1.6GHz)

Here is where I am getting hung up. The processor is running MUCH faster then the RAM, but the computer as a whole can only run as fast as the RAM can transfer its memory banks to the processor. So if that's the case, then isn't my computer only running effectively at 1.6GHz? Is the rest of my computers extra processing power going to waste in this scenario? If that's the case, then what's the point of overclocking a processor at all when its stock speed is already over kill for the RAM?

I have a feeling that I am horribly wrong somewhere here and that my understanding is why off. Could someone please explain this to me? Any and all help is greatly appreciated, as always!

-RYBCR

[HJP]

Your CPU doesn't have to access the RAM with every calculation it makes. Suppose you told it to find 10/2. It would get the values 10 and 2 from the RAM but then would have to calculate the actual value 5 by itself before returning it to the RAM.

I'm sure someone else can provide a more technically accurate answer then mine.

[borg_7_of_9]

1.. From what I understand, the CPU is nothing but a giant FSB multiplier. It takes the FPS frequency and multiplies it greatly. In my case, my default clocks are a 230MHz FSB running at a 14x multiplier. The end result leaves me with a 3220MHz. (2.3GHz.) This is the main frequency (speed) that the entire system runs off of.

2.. But from what I have gathered, the RAM runs at a different speed. In my case, my memory modules are rated for 400MHz, but since they are DDR modules, they can clock at double the speed which comes out to 800MHz. You can further double that speed with them up when you run them on duel channel DIMMs. (As I currently am.) So there for, my modules are running at a frequency of 1600MHz. (1.6GHz)

Here is where I am getting hung up. The processor is running MUCH faster then the RAM, but the computer as a whole can only run as fast as the RAM can transfer its memory banks to the processor. So if that's the case, then isn't my computer only running effectively at 1.6GHz? Is the rest of my computers extra processing power going to waste in this scenario? If that's the case, then what's the point of overclocking a processor at all when its stock speed is already over kill for the RAM?

3.. I have a feeling that I am horribly wrong somewhere here and that my understanding is why off. Could someone please explain this to me? Any and all help is greatly appreciated, as always!

-RYBCR

1. The CPU is not a giant FSB multiplier.. The CPU Is the Brain of the computer receiving input from ram and generating output accordingly based on the instructions in the software(CODE)..

2. If your ram run's at 400Mhz it has a throughput of 800Mhz (DDR Double Data Rate enables the ram to work on both the rising and falling edge of the clock) Also you missed the fact that ram uses a 64Bit bus to communicate with the CPU some simple math 800Mhz x 64 / 8 Bit's = 6400MB/s (Theoretical throughput without cas timings) that's 6.4G a second so ram is not slow.... Also you cant just double the out come with dual channel as timing play there roll in the overall speed.. But hope that gives you a basic run down of how ram work's.

3. Yes you are correct

Cheers J

[Staemon]

Hello all!

Let me first state that I am fairly new to overlcocking and understanding how a computer works on a frequency level at that. I use to be one that would just buy Part A and slap it together with Part B when it came to computers, but now I'm trying to understand them on a deeper level.

I have been trying to get into overclocking for quite sometime now. But it seems that all my information keeps getting mixed up in my head. So I am here for some clarification.

Here are my specs:
Socket AM2 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (2.3GHz per core.)
4GBs of PC2-DDR2 6400 (800 MHZ) RAM
Nvidia Geforce 9800GTX

As you can see, my machine is a little dated. So I am trying to get a little extra performance out of it. But I am having some problems understanding some things, basic concepts really... So PLEASE, correct me on anything that is wrong! I am here to learn! :)

1. From what I understand, the CPU is nothing but a giant FSB multiplier. It takes the FPS frequency and multiplies it greatly.

1.5 In my case, my default clocks are a 230MHz FSB running at a 14x multiplier. The end result leaves me with a 3220MHz. (2.3GHz.) This is the main frequency (speed) that the entire system runs off of.

2. But from what I have gathered, the RAM runs at a different speed. In my case, my memory modules are rated for 400MHz, but since they are DDR modules, they can clock at double the speed which comes out to 800MHz.

2.5 You can further double that speed with them up when you run them on duel channel DIMMs. (As I currently am.) So there for, my modules are running at a frequency of 1600MHz. (1.6GHz)

3. Here is where I am getting hung up. The processor is running MUCH faster then the RAM, but the computer as a whole can only run as fast as the RAM can transfer its memory banks to the processor. So if that's the case, then isn't my computer only running effectively at 1.6GHz? Is the rest of my computers extra processing power going to waste in this scenario? If that's the case, then what's the point of overclocking a processor at all when its stock speed is already over kill for the RAM?

I have a feeling that I am horribly wrong somewhere here and that my understanding is why off. Could someone please explain this to me? Any and all help is greatly appreciated, as always!

-RYBCR
1. Not correct. Like borg said, the CPU is essentially the "brain" of your computer - performing billions of calculations per second based on what the software tells it to do.

1.5 Something's a bit wrong here. 3220MHz is not 2.3GHz but simply 3.22GHz (1000MHz = 1GHz). So I think your multiplier must be 10, with the same 230MHz FSB.

2. The speed your RAM runs at is proportional to the FSB of your processor. In your case, you have a 230MHz FSB and RAM running at 400MHz, giving you a ratio of roughly 1:1.75. Using this ratio, we can work out what the RAM speed would be at different CPU speeds. Let's say you increased the FSB to 250MHz. With the 10x multiplier this would mean that the CPU frequency would be 2500MHz or 2.5GHz. By multiplying 250 by 1.75 we can get the RAM speed - 437.5MHz, although it would probably be rounded to 440MHz as it's not a ratio of exactly 1:1.75. To find the DDR frequency, we double this. This is the same whether it's DDR, DDR2 or DDR3. So the DDR frequency of the RAM would be 880MHz.

2.5 Nope, this is wrong. Running modules in dual channel does give you a speed increase, but the speed of the RAM at stock remains 400MHz, or 800MHz DDR.

3. I don't know the proper answer to this, but it doesn't seem like it should be correct. Overclocking CPUs gives proven performance increases, otherwise nobody would do it.

Hope (most of) that made sense. :)