Hello guys,

I am planning to buy a pair of 1gb G.Skill DDR400 RAM.

The seller said: "Fully functional and only over clocked via the ASUS A8N-32SLI Deluxe's AI overclocking for a 5% system overclock. Fully stable with air cooling at that setting."

Even though I don't know anything at all about overclocking, I really don't like that idea. Do the RAMs come back to normal in my computer, or can I somehow bring them back to what they were before? Is that 5% normal? Should I believe in what he said?

Thank you,
Op2.

I think that overclocking stays on the computer that you overclocked the part on. If you take it out and put it in another computer it should be at factory settings. I am not an expert on this but that is the only thing that makes sense. The bios or the program that the part was overclocked with was saved on that program and does not stay on the part permanently. I may be wrong, but I think that is how it works.

the way you overclock is you either download a utility to overclock a specific part of your machine from the desktop, or you go into your BIOS, which is the programming in the motherboard, and you change voltages and timings.

you use a utility from the desktop more commonly to overclock a graphics card.

you go into your BIOS to overclock your processor or RAM.

the RAM has no physical way of saving whatever settings you have in your motherboard. the motherboard simply uses the BIOS to tell them what voltages and what timings to run at. same goes with any other part you overclock through the BIOS.

the RAM itself doesn't come overclocked. you instead have the ABILITY to overclock it that much. that is what is meant by the statement you quoted above. in other words, the RAM will be shipped to you in a normal, non-overclocked state. and they will remain so until you overclock them.

the BIOS is different in every machine. thats why parts are designed to simply be plugged in and accept whatever settings the motherboard gives. of course, the BIOS come with a set of recommended settings, and the RAM and any other part you plug in is optimized for those settings. but you can go beyond them if you wish.

hope i cleared a few things up.

Thank samjohnson and link590o very much. Those explanations definitely clear everything up for me.

Op2.

yup. the only thing people tend to be concerned about when they buy goods that have been overclocked is..."how much have they been pushed and stressed?" This guy has told you 5%. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. But its unlikely to have damaged the ram.
Most components, unless specifically rated for overclocking will have their warranty nullified the minute you overclock them.
Personally, i wouldn't worry, BUT, ram is so cheap now, why not buy new, unless he is giving you it for next to nothing.

Well, I agree that DDR2 RAM is cheap, and I have just bought 2 pairs for my friends.
However, price of DDR RAM can go up to $150 to $200 for a good pair. The used one I am looking at is around $70.00.

A 5% OC wouldn't hurt your potential ram That is very mild. The ram value always goes to factory specs as soon as the overclock is over. It can't stay "Overclocked".

Is is possible to return to normal after overclocking?


I'm finding it difficult

pass the Lithium...

Yeah DDR1 is expensive. I just paid $234.00 for 2GB of Mushkin PC4000 DDR500 Redline with taxes and shipping. I could have gotten 4GB of DDR2 800 for that much money.