Syncing Ram whats it all about?

[kawasu 0]

i'm getting a new computer in a while; end of the year or early next year. i've been doing a bit of research into the parts i'm getting but i haven't gone into any detail about how each of them will work connectively. one of the things i still don't understand is the synchronization of ram. people are talking about ram being synced in a x-x-x-x-x (4-4-4-12) based formats and it's got me curious to know what exactly it all means. the core components i've decided to get are as follows;

 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA965P-DQ6

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Allendale E6300

Video Card: 256MB Leadtek 7600GT

RAM: 1G OCZ DDR2 PC6400 GOLD XTX

 

i decided to go with a cheaper allendale as i'm planning to over clock it to about 2.6ghz. they're good in that sense, cheap are effective to over clock. i was going to go 512MB 7950GT or 7900GT/O but i figured that with the upcoming direct x 10 i'd have to upgrade my video card within a year anyway and so the 7600GT would do me good until the time comes to upgrade it. i'd like to ask for your personal opinion on this, will the 7600GT run modern games with a decent amount of detail or should i just go the 7900GT? i sure hope it's worth the sacrifice of saving that extra bit of money. now getting on with the ram.

 

will this ram sync properly with the rest of my components? if thats what i should even be asking... is syncing ram something that is done after installing it or does it all depend on what motherboard you've installed the ram onto in the first place. i really need some advice here as i can't grasp what the whole of idea of what ram synchronization is. i can't remember at all hearing about it some years ago and now there seems to be strong followings of such procedures. any advice would be great.

 

on a final note, i'd again like some opinions on my system as a whole. would it all work out and last me a few more years? i've set it up to be future ready; having the GA965P-DQ6 with its quad core compatibility so if i ever feel the need to, i'll upgrade it.

 

thanks again, hoping to hear some replies soon. xD p.s. sorry for the long post... i'm really noobie at this sorta stuff haha.

Edited November 10, 2006 by kawasu (see edit history)

[Shunkan Idou 0]

It doesn't matter unless your using different types and sizes of ram on one board. If all of them are the same, then you should be safe.

[kdr_98 0]

If you want to use 'dual channel RAM' configuration.You need at 2 RAM pieces.These 2 pieces need to work together and need to be of the same brand and type (and also size).You can also buy some paired modules (modules made from the same set of memory chips).Mostly 'Dual channel memory' will speed up your system.So you have to choose between 1GB (2x 512M) or 2G (2x 1GB).

[kawasu 0]

ooo that makes more sense now. i thought it had something to do with syncing your to your cpu so they could run faster. so its all about teh duall channeling huh... lol yeh that makes a whole lot more sense then. so whats with the 4-4-4-12 then? is ram faster in different configurations or does it all depend on what type of ram you're using?

[kdr_98 0]

4-4-4-12 are the memory timeings (or speed) (also CAS latency named).Example of a kingston kit :KHX6400D2LLK2/1GN 1 GB kit 800 MHz DDR2 Low Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM 800 MHz is the bus speed of the moduleAnd CL4 (4-4-4-12) is the CAS latency of the module.

[Galahad 0]

Memory module timings show how fast that module works, how it refreshes data, and how it accesses it... It generaly is good idea, to put modules of the same timings, in order for them to operate at peak efficiency... If you would put two memory modules, with different timings, your board would use the timings of the slowest module, and that would force the faster module, to work slower... No big harm in that, and you certainly can't feel the difference in regular work, but it shows in benchmark tests, and extreme overclockers, like to have all their components work as fast as possible...