What would be a better SLI 2GB memory choice for gaming?

[fkloster]

Age old question...: pure throughput vs. latency... what do you guys think? System in question would be for playing high end games...:

Nvidia 680i mobo
2 GB SLI memory
2 8800 GTX SLI

Corsair Dominator XMS2-10000 cas 5 (2.4 volts) $649 dlvd

Corsair Dominator XMS2-6400 cas 3 (2.4 volts) $469 dlvd

I am currently using and am happy w/this...

Corsair Dominator XMS2-6400 cas 4 (2.1 volts) $262 dlvd after rebate... so...

Which is better?

 

[imported_browsing]

If you're on an intel rig and you've already got the cas 4 stuff, it should be pretty good-- shouldn't it?

 

[fkloster]

I realize my memory is 'fine'... but after it is all said and done, and with all this new fancy memory coming out... does anyone have an answer to my question?

 

[secretanchitman]

stay with the set you have...if you really must spend for 1 of those 2 kits...get the pc2-6400 one.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: fkloster
Age old question...: pure throughput vs. latency... what do you guys think? System in question would be for playing high end games...:

Nvidia 680i mobo
2 GB SLI memory
2 8800 GTX SLI

Corsair Dominator XMS2-10000 cas 5 (2.4 volts) $649 dlvd

Corsair Dominator XMS2-6400 cas 3 (2.4 volts) $469 dlvd

I am currently using and am happy w/this...

Corsair Dominator XMS2-6400 cas 4 (2.1 volts) $262 dlvd after rebate... so...

Which is better?

Sevee\ral questions need to be asked.
Are you over clocking at all?
If you are mildly over clcocking stick with what you have.
If you are looking for an edge and all thinks being equal.
Say you have 2 exact same system and one id running memory at CAS3,,,,and the other at CAS4,,,,,,,one will me marginally better.

Yet with that said unless you arer a professional gamer and such stick with what you have.....

 

[fkloster]

guys guys, I'm not asking if I should stick w/what I have.... The question in my title is the following:

which is better for gaming:

1) PC2-10000 5-5-5-18 2t or
2) PC2-6400 3-4-3-9 2t

anyone?

 

[Roguestar]

You won't notice a difference. They'd be very, very similar in performance because while the first stick is rated for faster speeds, the second's latencies are much lower. Basically, treat them the same and the only reason you'd need the PC2-10000 is if you needed to run your FSB in 1:1 ratio with it at some ridiculous speed.

Edit: I notice you specifically say "SLI 2Gb memory". Incase you're buying that to make sure it's compatible with SLI or whatever other marketing noise you've been exposed to, there is no difference between "SLI ready" RAM and any other RAM. It's just RAM. With that in mind you might find better value or performance with some of the new OCZ high performance sticks.

 

[fkloster]

... you mean 1:1 ratio w/the cpu or something?

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: fkloster
guys guys, I'm not asking if I should stick w/what I have.... The question in my title is the following:

which is better for gaming:

1) PC2-10000 5-5-5-18 2t or
2) PC2-6400 3-4-3-9 2t

anyone?

PC2-10000.

If you cannot run the PC2-6400 stuff @ 1T, then bandwidth > timings.

If you can run 1T though (you should be able to if you keep it under PC-7200 speeds), then that will be faster than 2T unless you can get some insane 2T speeds.

 

[JAG87]

fkloster, these ppl are all lost.

the PC2-10000 memory would perform better in every single application on your 680i platform. more bandwith = more performance on intel. latencies dont matter that much.

now, as far as money/performance ratio, the 1250 mhz ram will give you a 2-3% edge over the 6400C3 memory. and the 6400C3 memory will give you a 2-3% edge over the 6400C4. so the answer to your question is, yes the 1250C5 memory is the fastest, but my version of the answer is, not worth the 649 dollars.

I have some 6400C3 memory, and I have tried playing around with frequency and latencies, honestly the differences are so minimal you would never notice while your gaming.

 

[JAG87]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: fkloster
guys guys, I'm not asking if I should stick w/what I have.... The question in my title is the following:

which is better for gaming:

1) PC2-10000 5-5-5-18 2t or
2) PC2-6400 3-4-3-9 2t

anyone?

PC2-10000.

If you cannot run the PC2-6400 stuff @ 1T, then bandwidth > timings.

If you can run 1T though (you should be able to if you keep it under PC-7200 speeds), then that will be faster than 2T unless you can get some insane 2T speeds.

:thumbsup:

 

[fkloster]

Originally posted by: JAG87

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: fkloster
guys guys, I'm not asking if I should stick w/what I have.... The question in my title is the following:

which is better for gaming:

1) PC2-10000 5-5-5-18 2t or
2) PC2-6400 3-4-3-9 2t

anyone?

PC2-10000.

If you cannot run the PC2-6400 stuff @ 1T, then bandwidth > timings.

If you can run 1T though (you should be able to if you keep it under PC-7200 speeds), then that will be faster than 2T unless you can get some insane 2T speeds.

:thumbsup:

thanks! ... that makes sense.... and I highly doubt that the C4 stuff I have I would even 'try' to run @ 1t.... I fried a set of C3 PC2-6400 on this board and I'm not going to mess around too much more...

 

[StopSign]

What is SLI memory....? The OCZ thing?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: fkloster
guys guys, I'm not asking if I should stick w/what I have.... The question in my title is the following:

which is better for gaming:

1) PC2-10000 5-5-5-18 2t or
2) PC2-6400 3-4-3-9 2t

anyone?

depends on other factors.....
are you over clocking......is the main question that needs to be answered.
If not ocerclocking -- IMO its apples and oranges...sorry...