# "RAM overclocking" should you tighten sub-timings for gaming ? In-depth frametimes analysis



## Enterprise24 (Jun 7, 2019)

This is part 1 of the test. It take 3-4 days just to analyse frametimes in just 4 games.

Some of you guys probably know how to overclock RAM and how to adjust primary timings.
But how about optimizing sub-timings like secondary and tertiary timings for gaming ? Let's find out is it worth it...

Test system
i7-8700K @ 5Ghz core and 4.8Ghz uncore
ASRock Z370 Taichi P4.00 2x8GB
DDR4-3500 16-18-18-36-2T (dual ranks double side Hynix AFR)
EVGA GTX 1080 Ti @ 2126 core / 12474 mem
Corsair HX 750W NZXT H440 White
Custom Water Cooling
Windows 10 64 bit 1607
Nvidia 430.64
Record by ShadowPlay

Wait. WTF at the end of each games ? That is the main topic of today. In-depth frametimes analysis.
I feels that this test is deserve for a ton of effort of frametimes analysis. Most of you guys are probably know what is AVG FPS , 1% Low and 0.1% Low.
The next graph is frametimes graph. It show us about smoothness.
The next one is frametimes by percentile graph. Show about frametimes from average (50th percentile) to the most important 99th (1% Low) and 99.9th percentile (0.1% Low).
Pay attention that from 50-95 I divide each scale to 5 while 95-99.9 each scale is just 1 because that areas are the most important metric for smoothness.
Next is Time spent beyond ...ms , it tell us about how much times that the frame render exceed certain milliseconds.
You guys are probably familiar with those numbers.
50ms mean 20 FPS (1000/20=50)
33.3ms mean 30 FPS (1000/30=33.33)
16.67ms mean 60 FPS (1000/60=16.67)
10ms mean 100 FPS (1000/100=10)
8.33ms mean 120 FPS (1000/120=8.33)
6.94ms mean 144 FPS (1000/144=6.94)
Why is this graph important ? It can tell us about smoothness in another dimension. If you want solid 60 FPS "zero" is the best number that should follow 50ms , 33.33ms and 16.67ms graph.
It mean that no frame take time to render more than 16.67ms.

I really hope you enjoyed my test. Part 2 coming soon 










TLDW


Spoiler



auto sub-timings










optimized sub-timing for Hynix AFR





















Comment : results are probably within margin of error. Time spend beyond...ms looks a bit better for optimized sub-timings though.














Comment : still within margin of error. Noticeable less stutter on optimized sub-timings though.














Comment : 3.5% better avg fps and a better looking time spend beyond...ms for optimized sub-timings.














Comment : 4.3% better avg fps plus a bit better on time spend beyond...ms for optimized sub-timings.

Part 2 (SOTTR , CIV 6 , Witcher 3 , TW:WH2 coming soon).


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## Enterprise24 (Jun 9, 2019)

Part 2 done !!

TLDW and TLDR. I think for most people it is not worth spending weeks or even month(s) to tighten those 20-30 parameters of sub-timings. 
But if you are like me who want to extract maximum performance from PC even if it just 3% or so and have fun with it then go for it.


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## freeagent (Jun 9, 2019)

My CPU's don't appreciate high speed mems, so I clamp down on timings instead


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## Wavetrex (Jun 9, 2019)

How do you know how low can you go before getting unstable ?

Because it might seem fine in a game benchmark and some tests, and then crash when you least expected... Like during an online match where unpredictable variables come into play.
IMO, too much work for very, VERY little gain with no impact whatsoever on the experience.


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## Enterprise24 (Jun 9, 2019)

Wavetrex said:


> How do you know how low can you go before getting unstable ?
> 
> Because it might seem fine in a game benchmark and some tests, and then crash when you least expected... Like during an online match where unpredictable variables come into play.
> IMO, too much work for very, VERY little gain with no impact whatsoever on the experience.



1000% HCI memtest is golden standard for memory test.


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## infrared (Jun 9, 2019)

The new 'time spent beyond x ms' charts are great, clever way of showing the difference more clearly.

I've always spent some time tuning sub-timings, as you said it makes a slight difference. I like to get all  the free performance I can through oc'ing and timings but have never taken the time to do back to back game tests so it's cool to see the actual difference. Cheers, interesting thread as always


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