Like buying CPU, most of us won't chase buying 2800+, but rather a TBred 2100/2400. Don't spend 50% more money to get 5-10% performance.
But for memory, many of us are spending 30-50% more $$ to get the last 5-10% performance. Some of us don't even know whether the MB can clock at 200+ and go to buy PC3500 to try to run them in SYNC.
Some AMD CPU can be oc by 30-50%, but memory seems to be at most around 10%. Price/performance should be an important factor.
Spend the money to build a more balance system: MB, CPU, RAM, HD, video card, +- 20% each. May be just a little bit more on video card these days.
Rule of thumb: I consider if I can get %_of_performance_improvement for the %_of_money_spent, then it would be OK.
These are some popular ones ppl talk about here:
TwinMOS 256 MB PC3200 5ns chip ~ $59
Winbond 256 MB PC3200 5ns chip ~ $75
OCZ 256 MB EL 3500C2 4.5ns chip ~ $86
Kingston 256 MB HyperX 3500C2 5ns chip ~ $87
Corsair 256 MB 3200C2 (6ns chip ??) ~ $84
Corsair 256 MB 3200 LL 5ns chip ~ $92
Corsair 256x2 MB 3200 LL TWIN 5ns chip ~ $193 (two)
Corsair 256 MB 3500C2 5ns chip ~ $93
.....
In my opinion, 5ns DRAM is mature, they all perform within a few MHz difference, i.e. within 3%.
For the already overclocked memory, how much more can we get. Recently there are lots of 5ns DRAM chips that can handle 200 MHz FSB with good price. This is very different than 6-12 months ago when 5 ns chips were not yet mature.
But for memory, many of us are spending 30-50% more $$ to get the last 5-10% performance. Some of us don't even know whether the MB can clock at 200+ and go to buy PC3500 to try to run them in SYNC.
Some AMD CPU can be oc by 30-50%, but memory seems to be at most around 10%. Price/performance should be an important factor.
Spend the money to build a more balance system: MB, CPU, RAM, HD, video card, +- 20% each. May be just a little bit more on video card these days.
Rule of thumb: I consider if I can get %_of_performance_improvement for the %_of_money_spent, then it would be OK.
These are some popular ones ppl talk about here:
TwinMOS 256 MB PC3200 5ns chip ~ $59
Winbond 256 MB PC3200 5ns chip ~ $75
OCZ 256 MB EL 3500C2 4.5ns chip ~ $86
Kingston 256 MB HyperX 3500C2 5ns chip ~ $87
Corsair 256 MB 3200C2 (6ns chip ??) ~ $84
Corsair 256 MB 3200 LL 5ns chip ~ $92
Corsair 256x2 MB 3200 LL TWIN 5ns chip ~ $193 (two)
Corsair 256 MB 3500C2 5ns chip ~ $93
.....
In my opinion, 5ns DRAM is mature, they all perform within a few MHz difference, i.e. within 3%.
For the already overclocked memory, how much more can we get. Recently there are lots of 5ns DRAM chips that can handle 200 MHz FSB with good price. This is very different than 6-12 months ago when 5 ns chips were not yet mature.
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