i cant decide: 512mb or 1gb of RAM?

TomaHawk47x

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Joined

Jul 11, 2003

• Aug 4, 2003

• #1

im going to be building this PC:
-Abit nf7-s rev 2.0
-Barton 2500+
-Geforce 128mb fx 5600 rev 2.0
-Western digital sata 120gb hd

ill be using it for:
-lots of gaming
-music
-dvds (not video editing)
-occasional programming
-OCing

i want to utilize the dual channal mode on my mobo, so ill go with either 2x256 or 2x512. for $170, i can get 2x256 of corair xms 3200 LL. for about $200 i can get 2x512 buffalo (winbond) 3200, or for about $20 more, 2x512 buffalo 3700. i know that i can OC the cosrair ram higher with faster timings, but i cant afford 1 gig of it, which runs at about $310. there's also the non-low latency xms for $260 for 2x512 sticks. i want to stay in ~$200 range, and i cant decide how much and what type of ram to get. please give me your recommendation.

 

sk-

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Joined

Feb 6, 2003

Location

New York City

• Aug 4, 2003

• #2

I like my 2x 512 Corsair XMS PC2700. Running at 2/2/2/7 and I know that I can run games like battlefield 1942 and HL2 smoothly with 1 gig of ram (with a decent vid card )

SO if it would be me, I would go with 1 gig of ram.

 

ninthebin

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Mar 24, 2002

Location

Liverpool, UK

• Aug 4, 2003

• #3

lots of gaming is all I needed to hear...1 GB please guvnor

but go with whatever you can afford for 1GB, I would rather have 1GB of half decent memory than 512 of great memory

 

T

Top Hat Theater

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Jul 24, 2002

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Lost in Thought

• Aug 4, 2003

• #4

yes, if you're a gamer, go with the 1GB. Your load times will be much shorter. The Buffalo modules are made with the same Bh5/CH5 chips as the Corsair XMS3500 sticks. The XMS3200 sticks are/were made with BH6 chips.

~THT

 

OP

TomaHawk47x

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Joined

Jul 11, 2003

• Aug 4, 2003

• Thread Starter
• #5

if i go with the buffalo, should i get pc3200 or pc3700? i want to go above 200 fsb w/my 2500+....possibly up to 210-225. the pc3700 runs for $99 for a 512mb stick while the 3200 is only $10 less. is the pc3700 worse...i mean, is it just OCed 3200...or can i expect to get the advertized speed? would i need heatspreaders for this RAM...i know those buffalo chips dont have them...but do i need them? also, could i run 2 of the sticks in dual channal mode with a high fsb?

 

Miknow

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Mar 23, 2001

Location

Suwanee, GA

• Aug 4, 2003

• #6

more ram more ram

 

attack

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Joined

May 23, 2002

• Aug 4, 2003

• #7

yes the buffalo PC3700 is OC'ed buffalo PC3200....Kinda hard to say what to get...PC3200 is cheaper but not gaurenteed to run over 200...which concerns me, even though i have yet to hear about buffalo not making it to 220 atleast (some didn't make it that far but they didn't rule out mobo by trying other RAM which is usualy the biggest factor).

So for 20 bucks I think go for the PC3700..if you get PC3200 and it only gets say 210 it's gonna nag at you knowing you might have been able to get more if you just spent the 20 bucks

 

OP

TomaHawk47x

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Joined

Jul 11, 2003

• Aug 6, 2003

• Thread Starter
• #8

do u recommend heatspreaders?

 

attack

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Joined

May 23, 2002

• Aug 6, 2003

• #9

naw, I serisouly don't think they help, maybe if they have some active cooling they do though. Otherwise the heat is dissipated to the spreader....but it just spreads it, at some point with no active cooling it's going to start acting as an insulator and make it warmer I think.

 

T

texp4

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Jul 21, 2003

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Ottawa, Canada

• Aug 6, 2003

• #10

1Gb of RAM is becoming standard now though.

 

ninthebin

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Mar 24, 2002

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Liverpool, UK

• Aug 6, 2003

• #11

heatspreaders, pssh, they just look cool a half decent airflow will suffice for your mem

 

Tyranos

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Jul 20, 2001

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OR

• Aug 6, 2003

• #12

texp4 said:

1Gb of RAM is becoming standard now though.

Click to expand...

Not really, not many games need 1gb for anything.

There is a chance that you will suffer performance wise in games if you get 1gb of ram. My fps and scores are down now that I have 1024mb, but for rendering it's a must have. 1536mb lost even more performance.

 

WyrmMaster

I'm a little teapot Senior

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Dec 17, 2000

Location

Montana, USA

• Aug 7, 2003

• #13

I like my gig of rams, and dont tell me games dont have a need for it. I have seen my memory usage at NINE HUNDRED NINTY (990)mb when playing BF1942...

However, what might be best is to get one 512 of good ram, and then when you can afford it get another 512. Dual channel, while it sounds cool and it does give SOME benefit, isnt really that big of a deal.