Memory question: CL2? CL3?

[Rosencrantz]

I'm getting pc3200 ddr ram and some i've looked at are CL2, CL2.5, and CL3. I don't know much about memory so which one is better?

 

[Jumpem]

The lower the better.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Depends on the brand name.

 

[boyRacer]

CL2

 

[JammingJay]

As others have mentioned lower is better, no question. The better question is, do you NEED CL2 PC3200 memory?

 

[dunkster]

'Best memory' selection is highly dependent on the make, model, chipset and memory controller of your motherboard.

Memory that performs very well on an Intel chipset may perform very poorly on an Nvidia chipset, and vice versa.

For example, if your Motherboard is an Abit NF7S, then visit an 'Abit Motherboards' forum and find out what works best for your motherboard model.

General ratings such 'CL2' or 'CL3' are almost without meaning. My BuffaloTech PC3700 is marked 'CL3' - but it runs 2,2,2,5 timings to 222MHz and 2.5,2,2,7 timings to 230MHz - on both 8RDA+ and NF7Sv2 motherboards. Conversely, more-expensive Corsair TWINX 3200C2 performance was poor on my 8RDA+. Buying memory by 'brand name' is another potentially expensive mistake.

Hope this helps!

 

[Montano]

CL2

 

[Blackroot]

Originally posted by: dunkster
'Best memory' selection is highly dependent on the make, model, chipset and memory controller of your motherboard.

Memory that performs very well on an Intel chipset may perform very poorly on an Nvidia chipset, and vice versa.

For example, if your Motherboard is an Abit NF7S, then visit an 'Abit Motherboards' forum and find out what works best for your motherboard model.

General ratings such 'CL2' or 'CL3' are almost without meaning. My BuffaloTech PC3700 is marked 'CL3' - but it runs 2,2,2,5 timings to 222MHz and 2.5,2,2,7 timings to 230MHz - on both 8RDA+ and NF7Sv2 motherboards. Conversely, more-expensive Corsair TWINX 3200C2 performance was poor on my 8RDA+. Buying memory by 'brand name' is another potentially expensive mistake.

Hope this helps!

make sure you don't spend 20 more just because you heard the brand is good, the other brand may be just as good for alot less, but usually crucial, buffalo, and corsair are good choices

 

[VansTheMan]

Like Dunkster said, it could be rated CL2 but the timings could be loose as a $2 hooker to get that latency. You've gotta check the rest of the timings and make sure they don't suck.

 

[JSSheridan]

I ran some test earlier. This is on an AMD 2.2GHz T-bred, Asus A7N8X-Deluxe, Radeon 9800 Pro, 512MB DDR @ 200MHz, 2.7V. The order of the memory timings is Cas?Ras to Cas?Ras Precharge?Cycle Time. I picked these resolutions since they are the ones that I usually play the game at. I have some doubt as to the worth of low latency memory after this. What do you all think?

Benchmark @ Resolution - 2.5-3-3-7 Memory timings | 2-2-2-4 Memory timings

3DMark2001 @ Default - 14424 | 14689

UT2003 Flyby @ 1280x960 - 94.17 | 94.19

UT2003 Botmatch @ 1280x960 - 60.10 | 60.86

Splinter Cell @ 1280x1024 - 40.80 | 40.95

Halo 1.02 @ 800x600 - 48.02 | 49.44

Leave your comments. Peace.

 

[JSSheridan]

.

 

[Rosencrantz]

Ahh, thanks guys.