Choosing your Ram

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: Firebat246
I am building a machine using the AMD FX53 as my CPU.....I wanted to know for the FASTEST ram..to go Corsair or OCZ....also whatever one is better....what is the best ram they make? (example: if OZC...what would be the fastest OZC ram available for my CPU) I am getting the new K8N Neo2 Plat motherboard by the way. Thanks for your help

Fastest RAM for your processor depends on if you will overclock. The highest official JEDEC spec is PC3200, and that will be the fastest RAM available if you will not overclock. If you are going to overclock, get higher-speed RAM to suit your needs. See earlier in the thread.

EDIT: If you are not overclocking and you want the absolute fastest RAM, I forgot to mention that you'll want stuff with a CAS latency of 2, but that makes VERY little difference, especially on an Athlon 64, so just pick up some Corsair Value Select PC3200 CAS 2.5 and you'll be fine for speeds around PC3200 and often a bit higher.

 

[ksbong]

Originally posted by: ciwell
Why would the PC3500 be better for OCing than the PC3200?

Also, I am putting together an A64 system (3200+), but am working on the RAM. Which would be more practical to get? 1 stick of the Crucial PC3200 Ballistix (512MB) or 1GB of Corsair 2.5CAS ValueRAM? According to the recent reviews/comparo by AT, the Ballistix are pretty impressive, but also about $60 more. The system will be a gaming rig primarily. Thanks.

I wouldn't say that PC3500 is necessarily "better" than PC3200, it depends on your rig.

example:
Your CPU can hit 220 FSB. So you set that as your goal for your memory.
Your PC3200 unfortunately only reaches 219 OC'ed.
Your PC3500 can OC to 221.
Therefore you would need the PC3500 to get a 1:1 ratio with your cpu.

Does that mean you should always get the fastest RAM (PC4400) available? No. Why?

another example:
Your awesome $200.00 stick of PC4400 RAM can run at 240FSB.
But your CPU maxes out at 230FSB.
Cheaper $100 PC4000 RAM can reach 230.
In this case you can save $100 by going with slower since your CPU can't reach your memory's speed anyway.


As for your second question: I would go with 1Gig of Corsair Value PC3200. You're going to get much greater returns performance wise in games (in newest generation not something like pac-man) with 512 megs more of RAM than you will with -.5 CAS latency. Plus you save a bill.

A lot of people ask what is the "best" XXXXXX?
What many of those people don't understand is the best XXXXXX depends on YYY, ZZZ, QQQ, etc. etc.

Cheers! & have a great day!

 

[Athlongamer]

Quick question
I have an AMD 2500 barton, and i just bought an MSI K7N2G Nforce2 ultra 400. Is that a good choice for a mobo?? And what would be the best brand of ram to through in it for around say 80 bucks for a stick of 512 (PC3200). I'm going to be gaming like crazy, and OC'ing the cpu. I have some in mind but just want some advice from an expeirenced person.

 

[ciwell]

Thanks a bunch ksbong, that helped a lot. :thumbsup:

 

[chuwawa]

Ksbong, since you recommended the Corsair value ram I'd like to ask you a question. I'm planning to buy 2 sticks of that ram with an A64 3000+. I'm wondering how far will the ram go. I'm only shooting for something like 220fsb because I'd like to stick with the retail heatsink.

Thanks

 

[flexy]

>>>
Why would the PC3500 be better for OCing than the PC3200?
>>>

PC3500 is rated for a higher FSB than PC3200.

If you can get a higher FSB with the PC3500 this (overall) is better than going with PC3200 and trying to 'squeeze' ram timings for performance. The higher 'guaranteed' FSB makes up for the added latency.
Correct me if i am wrong.

 

[russw]

I want to put in a 256mb SODIMM in my P3-500mHz Toshiba Portege notebook. I think it has a 100hHz FSB so probably has PC100 SDRAM 144pin SODIMM in it now.

So do I need to use ONLY PC100 or can I use PC133 SODIMM, or PC233 or whatever. DDR is cheaper but will it work?

Thanks, Russ

 

[So]

Originally posted by: russw
I want to put in a 256mb SODIMM in my P3-500mHz Toshiba Portege notebook. I think it has a 100hHz FSB so probably has PC100 SDRAM 144pin SODIMM in it now.

So do I need to use ONLY PC100 or can I use PC133 SODIMM, or PC233 or whatever. DDR is cheaper but will it work?

Thanks, Russ

No, DDR will not work. It is a different technology, with a different pinout.

 

[jimmy83]

hey So, i'm new to ram.
Have a question, I do.
First, let me explain my situation- I have 2 slots with 256 mb each. I prefer to get one stick of 1024 rather than 2 sticks of 512 because then I'll have the 1 gig plus the 256 in the other slot. This may sound funny. Can I do that- have different sizes in each slot?
The main question I want to know about is about the ram on Newegg. I am looking for dual-sided ram, but all I see is dualCHANNEL, and each of these on newegg show 2 sticks of ram. I'm not sure if dualsided and dualchannel are the same thing... Thanks in advance...
edit: i think dualsided and dual channel are exactly the same- that being said, i am now confused why newegg shows the dual channel ram with 2 sticks of ram, saying sometimes that it's adouble-pack... do they both fit in one slot? that would make more sense for me..
edit: holy cow, im just comin back more and more.. well, i'm shopping for a pc!!! can i use ddr ram in a ddr2-compatible mobo?

 

[istarilord]

Maybe this belongs in the motherboard forum, but I'm having some trouble figuring out the exact problem, and my roomate pointed me in this forum's direction.

I have a Soyo Dragon Lite kt333 (I know, it's old, I know it onlly supports pc1600, 2100, and 2700, three slots, up to three gigs). I just got hold of some more ram, kingston pc2700, memory works just fine all by itself in the first ram slot. I had two 256's in there before, in slot 1 & 2, they have worked fine for a couple years, I just wanted some more ram. I first ran into a problem when I put the 512 in the third slot-my system was only detecting 768Mb. So I fiddled with things-no matter how I arrange the three, I only get 768.

Here's the kicker-I put the 512 by itself in the third slot, and my computer hung after posting only 256. Putting one of the 256's in the slot yielded no bootup and a repeated bios beep (memory problem, right?) The only info Soyo has in their knowledge base is something about ram being measured at half it's value if it's the wrong kind yadda yadda yadda-this doesn't seem to be the problem to me. I just updated my bios in an attempt to fix the problem, but it looks to me like a hardware problem-something wrong with the third slot? Am I up the creek without a paddle here?

Sorry if this isn't the place for this post-I'll take it elsewhere, just let me know.

 

[juggalojaS]

Would the exact same model of ram, but with a diff revision number effect compatability?

Heres my problem. About a year about I purchased a 512 mb stick of Corsair XMS pc3200 from newegg. link
Last week, I ordered another stick, of the exact same ram from newegg. Came yesterday. Now both sticks are labeled IDENTICAL, except the revision#. The stick I got a year ago says rev1.2 and the stick I just got says rev4.2. Now, other than that, both sticks are they same! Same speed, same model number, even ordered from same vendor. You would think they would work right!? Well they do, BUT each by themselves, and not installed together. When both are installed together, only one gets recognized.
My motherboard ( Soltek SL-K8AN2E-GR ) has 2 Dimm slots, and both work when i installed the ram one at a time. I have tried each stick, by itself, in each of the dimm slots and they work. But again, whenever I try to go for my full gig with both installed, one of the sticks goes undetected. I run sandra and it will say Dimm1 is empty. Memory difficulties because of the different revisions? Or is it my motherboard? Its weird cuz again, I confirmed both dimm slots work, I guess just not together. Or maybe its the memory??!!! Ugh someone HELP!!!

 

[stelleg151]

Yeah I have had that problem as well just messing around with old pc100 ram. I am also quite curious about this phenomenon if anyone has some answers.

 

[Jubi23]

So, thank you so much for that comparison of Corsair XMS vs Corsair value

i read your first post and looked at the suggested ram, but before i had even read this post i was going to buy XMS on my new system, so i was not sure what to do, and i scrolled down a bit
and sure enough you said they act pratically the same on a A64 system (which i have)
so you saved me lots of money! thanks man!

 

[Laogeodritt]

For RAM, which brand(s) is/are the most trustworthy and of best quality, yet are not too expensive?

I'm sorry if this has been asked already; I read the first few posts, but I don't have the time to read them all.

 

[Steg55]

If you have the money then Corsair XMS or Mushkin Lvl 2 are the best options. However in the value segment Corsair Value is the best RAM i believe. Just avoid Kingston and Crucial, I have had bad experiances with both.

Steg

 

[Laogeodritt]

I see. Thanks.

 

[OhHenry]

Is there a difference going 2 x 512mb DC and going 4 x 256mb DC?

 

[IanE]

So, you genius, you.

I've just built my first system, and with So's advice, it runs sooo smoothly. Here are the specs.

Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo Platinum
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+
RAM: Geil PC3200 512mb at 2-3-3-6
Sound: Onboard Realtek
Graphics: BFG GeForce 6800 GT
Hard Drive: Seagate Baracuda 120GB 7,200 RPM
PSU: Antec TrueBlue 480w
Optical Drive: CD-RW
Optical Drive: DVD Rom

The Corsair VS or Geil RAM will not only work really fast, it also allows you to put money towards a better CPU or graphics card... in my case, I went for the 6800 GT.

As proof... I have 1x512mb stick of the Geil RAM installed right now, and Doom3 runs PERFECTLY on the Ultra setting at 1280 resolution... with 2x512mb, it should be holy.

So, thankyou for keeping my wallet happy.

Write more guides and such, your memory post was extremely helpful and easy to understand... 3 points for you.

Ian

 

[3Suns]

In the latest high-end guide, Anandtech says "we have found that some memory performs much better in Athlon 64 systems than others", and that the Crucial Ballistix was the winner on AMD. Are there any recent benchmarks out there on Athlon64 that could talk me out of the pricey Ballistix? I want a high-performance system, but often times there's a good "second-best" that performs almost as well for less $$.

 

[VJDesiMan]

I have a P4 2.53 Ghz and I'm not really sure what the FSB speed is because I didn't build it myself. Anyway, I was wondering if PC-2700 or PC-2100 or something would suffice for this CPU because I'd like to save some money on the RAM if faster stuff is unnecessary. Thanks.

 

[syconub]

pc2700 would do just fine. But if you want to go that extra little bit go with pc3200, you can prolly find a cheaper brand of pc3200, so jsut shop around.

 

[gunnmeister]

I have a P4 2.53 that I'll be putting into a Abit IS7 motherboard. Trying to decide which memory to get. Probably won't be overclocking. For the price which of these would you buy?

Corsair Value Ram or PDP SYSTEMS

The PDP is a lower latency and seems like a better buy for a few $$ more.

 

[kydan47]

I bought the wrong memory [Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, 184Pin 1GB(512MBx2) Registered DDR PC-3200 - Retail] when building my first computer, couldn't return it, and now I would like to build a computer around it.

Not necessarily looking to build a monster (it's for my wife), but I don't know where to find which mobo's and chip's support it.

Is there a guide, a magazine, or something that would let me know the various options, combinations? I would like to add a graphics card, etc.

Thanks for any insight,
Kentucky dan

 

[gregdaddy]

VJDesiMan

the PC2700 should workfine

 

[Kabob]

I'm finishing up my A64-M setup right now but I'm trying to figure out how to finish off the build. The HTT is overclocked from 200x10 to 230x10, and I want to run the system on a 1:1. HOWEVER, I'm using a mobo that will not allow me to change the voltage going to the memory (ASRock K8S8X), so should I aim for PC3700 memory if I want to achieve this 1:1, or will I not be able to reach it w/o changing the voltage (capped at 2.65v I believe)

Any ideas?

Also, is Kingston Hyper-X PC3700 with 3-4-4-8 1T good RAM, or should I look elsewhere (OCZ Gold Rev. 3 is like $50 more...which I'd like to avoid if at all possible. It's supported voltage is also 2.8v, which I can't hit...would that hinder me?)

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=20-144-136&depa=1

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

-Kabob