RAM question

[RustyTucker]

Should I buy expensive RAM, or will cheap generic RAM be good enough. The system I am building will be used for gaming, word processing, etc..... (a general use computer) I have been told that the differences between low grade and high grade RAM are not that much. (Whereas the difference between a low and high grade video card is enormous.) Is that true, or would it really be better to spend the extra$50 to get a little bit better quality of RAM? The system I am building is an MSI K7TPRO2A, Duron 700, Toshiba DVD, Hollywood+, and MSI GeForce2 MX, if that makes anydifference. I would like to put in 256, which I can get for $114 (generic) or $150 (a little better). Also, what impact does the quality of your RAM have when overclocking?

Thanks.

 

[Nessism]

After setting your bios to XXX speed and XXX CAS rating, either the ram will work or it won't. If it works, their is no speed difference between brands. If you have good quality ram, your system should function with more aggressive timmings- ie cas 2 as opposed to cas 3.

Generic RAM is a crap shoot when it comes to overclocking, it should function as advertised but it may not overclock. Of course this also applies to name brand ram, but with name brand you have a better chance.

If you can find some generic ram with Micron or Infineon chips, it may be a good gamble. Otherwise, go for name brand ram, this way you know what you are getting for your money.

 

[BadThad]

Generic ram is fine if your not planing exceeding the rated speed. Generally, it stinks for overclocking, but there is always the possibility it will be good. If you plan on exceeding the designed speed rating, buy good ram. It will help you out. Personally, I have 512MB generic PC133 ram running at 124MHz CAS2. Unfortunately, when I run it at 133, I'm forced to the CAS3 setting. It is also not too happy when I go above 133 MHz. When I bought it, I went with QUANTITY instead of QUALITY...my personal choice.

 

[Sir Fredrick]

With RAM, it's pretty much all the same. If you get generic PC133 CAS2, it's going to run exactly the same as some name brand PC133 CAS2 that costs 3 times as much

 

[slpaulson]

With your duron, your ram shouldn't affect overclocking a heck of a lot because you will not be uppping the fsb very much. I still don't really recommend generic ram however. I guess it depends on how picky of a computer you have.