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  3. RAM configuration

  • RAM configuration

    S
    S
    Next month I should buy a new PC.
    What is the best RAM choise?
    ddr2 or ddr3?

    Four 1GB 1.333MHz blocks or Two 2GB 800Mhz blocks?

    In the 1st case if I want to pass to 8 giga I have to change them all.

    Are the RAM latency and the frequency so important for Vienna VI and gigapulse?
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC
    sergino, not all chipsets support ddr3 and only a few (like the G35) are supporting the theoretical higher throughput compared to ddr2.

    speed would be either 677 or 400 MHz, the dual channel technology gives a *virtual speed* of 1333 or 800 then - but 400 MHz sticks (PC3200) are a little bit outdated, so if your motherboard supports 533 or 677 (PC5300) MHz you should get such modules with 2 GB each.

    in case you buy branded sticks (samsung, kingston, corsair, ect) timing shouldn't be an issue ourdays (CL5 is a common kriteria) but try to get matched pairs because of the dual channel technology ...
    christian
    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • N
    N
    Does the RAM speed really make a difference to the performance?
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC
    basically: yes - of course it has been significantly noticable with the introduction of dual channel memory as such, but from 800 to 1333 is more than 50% ... so given you don't have another bottleneck in your system a certain arrangement would load in eg. 2 minutes instead of 3 ...
    christian
    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • N
    N
    But isn't the bottleneck reading from the hard drive, not writing to RAM?
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC
    ok, very bad and in fact wrong example ... but you will notice faster loading from good disks because of lesser wait states.
    say 2 or 3 modern disks in a system would allow 150 MB/s, this means 2 GB RAM should be filled 14 seconds - obviously this does not remotely happen (not even for a continuous read).
    reducing the cycle-time on the RAM side speeds up the whole loading process.
    christian
    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • N
    N
    My confusion is that RAM access is measured in nanoseconds, in other words it's faster than human beings can even imagine. So I would have thought that copying samples from the hard disks' buffers into RAM would be instantaneous for all intents and purposes.

    I have no doubt you're right, but I don't understand why. [:)]
  • S
    S
    last edited
    last edited

    @Another User said:

    in case you buy branded sticks (samsung, kingston, corsair, ect) timing shouldn't be an issue ourdays (CL5 is a common kriteria) but try to get matched pairs because of the dual channel technology ...
    christian


    That's what I'm going to do.
    Sergino
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC
    finding RAM is sometimes not too easy ... possibly 2GB modules for 1333 are currently only available with ECC - i've been looking for months now for half-height 1GB modules (any speed) without ECC and can't get some ...
    christian
    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • S
    S
    Forgive me. Is difference from ECC to EOS RAM important?
    Could anybody explain there meanings?

    thanks
    Sergino
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC
    sorry, i don't know what EOS would mean ... ECC means *with error correction code*, often this RAM type is also reffered as *buffered* whereas *normal* RAM is describes as *unbuffered*

    some chipsets need ECC (eg intel 5000 series), some don't allow (eg. intel 6xx) and a few accept both.
    christian
    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • S
    S
    SO, Is there a difference using Sonar and gigastudio with VSL Performance Tool and Vienna Virtual Intruments with different kinds of RAM (ECC or not, for example)? Is the latency important (is it better a 1.333 6-6-6-18 RAM or a 800 4-4-4-12?) DDR2 or 3?
    Anyone can give us some explanation. I work in the IT world but know almost nothing about RAM
    Ciao
    Sergino