Ram question

[imported_tallgntlmn]

I posted this on another board but I need some more ideas. Seems Fry's has a stick for the same price with a rebate now and a lower CAS. But I'm still considering the Corsair. However I'm not sure what I should do.

Just built a new rig....Athlon64 3000+ Newcastle, MSI K8N Neo, 512mb Cheap PC3200 Ram, GF4 Ti 4200 128mb, 80gb Maxtor 7200, Antec Sonata Case. I really like it so far and have had no issues at all. I love the fact that my fridge is louder than my rig.

However, I have a question about ram. I was spending a lot more than I wanted to on parts initially. So I went with cheap ram. It does not have the ideal timings from what I can figure. But now I have a dilemma. Should I stick with what I have or exchange it for faster Corsair? What I ended up with is this stick. If I replace it, I would go with this stick

I use the machine mainly for basic tasks and playing Dark Age of Camelot at times. No Doom 3, Far Cry, or UT (yet, if ever) for me. So I don't even come close to taxing it really.

Now here is the dilemma. This system is fast, stable, has not crashed yet, but I get what I interpret as lousy scores on benchmarks. I know my video is a weak link. I understand that, but that aside, is this ram something I should replace? The other part of the dilemma is right now my machine is rock solid, has not crashed or blue screened since install, and I am thinking leave well enough alone. Need some advice on this one. The plan is to throw another stick of 512 in later. I couldn't afford a gig at the time. I went with the faster proc vs the more memory. Any advice greatly appreciated. TIA

Edit: fixed links

 

[sisooktom]

Your links don't seem to be working, but I can still tell you that whatever you have is probably fine. RAM timings don't mean much in general, and they mean even less on an A64. Check out the article on Tom's from earlier this year if you don't believe that. Spending lots of $$$ on low latency RAM is a total waste. As far as benchmarks go, if the machine is satisfying your expectations for performance, which it sounds like it is, don't let a stupid number that doesn't mean much anyway convince you otherwise.

 

[Tetsuo316]

Agreed.

Your money would be much better spent on a new graphics card.

Benchmarks are only benchmarks. If your RAM is stable and you don't feel choked by it, stick with it.

 

[imported_tallgntlmn]

Thanks guys. I got to wondering about this after reading about it and what not. Or course when reading all the threads everywhere about ram and the threads everywhere about PSU's, I was questioning every part of my system. And then I got to thinking I'm not having any of the issues anyone else is with crashing, freezing, etc. I feel rather lucky as far as that goes.

Benchmarks.....well on Aquamark, I score comparable to A64 3200's with Ti4600's. After I noticed that, I guess it's not all bad. I am quite happy with the system. And I know that the video is my weak link now.

I encoded a video into VCD last night and what used to take a good long time (30+ mins) takes about 7 minutes now. Can't help but be happy with that. LOL!

 

[JeffCos]

Didn't want to start a new thread and take up all that space. I've had 512mb of Crucial PC2700 in my box for over a year now and because of new projects i'm doing now it's not enough. So I was wondering if it really matters if I stick with crucial or go to another brand as long as it's still PC2700 2.5. Need to atleast double my Ram.

The rest of my system is:

p4 2.66 stock (but thinking about OCing)
WD 80 gig
Audigy 2
GeForce 4 Ti4200
Intel 845gebvl2 board

 

[Tetsuo316]

get crucial.

reason #1) they've developed a well-deserved reputation for stability.

reason #2) as ram speeds have increased, so has the need for tighter margins. you could probably pair up one brand's pc133 with a second stick from a different brand, but ddr333 could be a different story.

reason #3) it's a difference of $8.00 at newegg