PC150 SDRAM advice needed

[Pinky]

I may be purchasing a memory upgrade soon and wanted to be sure that 1-- My current motherboard will handle PC150 RAM, and 2-- what brand(s) are best for buying overclocking RAM (site links would be appreciated).

Thanks

[Placid]

Tonicom. But the place I bought mine from no longer sells it and the 256mb modules are impossible to find in a store.
You can still get the 128mb modules but they are getting scarce also. www.atacom.com still has the 128mbs but they are $50 I only paid $20.
The mushkin rev 3+ are very good but $90 for 256mb from the cooling gears place.
Then the kingmax I never owned any but they might be ok.
Dont buy tonicom from premier systems. They have been shipping the kingmax to people who order the tonicom without asking.
I would go for the mushkin 256 for $90 if you can afford it or the Tonicom 128 if you can find it for under $25.

[Tab]

OCZ sells 256 MB of 150 2-2-2 ram for only 36 bucks!! Christ, 6-months ago you would be paying a couple hundred. Every review I have read puts this memory at the top. Bettering even Mushkin. It is basically hand-picked Micron memory that OCZ tests to make sure it hits at least 150 MhZ. Some people report hitting 160 MhZ with it!!

Later

[[Oc]acaridans]

Corsair is good...I got one of there PC150 256 C2 chips and have had very good results with it, payed 80 something after shipping

[Bender]

Mushkin and Corsair seem to be the best out there. Tonicom is near impossible to find. I am so happy I got a 256 stick back when it was common. What ever happened to Tonicom? Did they go out of business?

[Pinky]

Thanks all.

The reason for more memory.

My current memory is cas 2 133 corsair ram... it's running at 160bus, but only at cas 3. At cas 2 it doesn't go past 150.

I have a good memory module, but I figured I've been doing everything else right, maybe get memory that will run cas 2 at 160mhz.

Then I saw the prices, and it doesn't quite seem practical. My memory benches are a bit low, but they have always been (think sisoft is wrong). Anyway, for the extramoney I don't see the sense right now. If you saw this PC run through 110MB 600 DPI image like I have, you'd also be sure this thing rocks.

Thanks for the replies, but unless I find some brand named RAM cheap I won't be upgrading anytime soon (and if I do I'll like to get 512). I'm gonna go look now, maybe I'll find something, report back here with a link.

***Update: found some corsair PC150 cas2 here (http://www.pcprogress.com/cart/memory.asp?OrderID=74644918970306032896041#corsair ). Only $60 for 256MB

I'm gonna site for a minute and decide (I'ce sunk so much into this system already, doesn't seem...)

[Pinky]

Found some relatively cheap...

here (http://www.memorysuppliers.com/ton12pc6ns16.html)

I bought 2 sticks, though it doesn't guarantee I'll hit 160 at cas2, it's gotta be better than my current odds (none).

And if it doesn't, I'll have 512 MB running at cas 3 (with my old memory module).

Thanks again.

[Placid]

Yes the performance inrease isnt really worth the cost.
Also its harder to overclock as high with 512mb of memory
as it is with 256mb due to the increased capacitance.

[Pinky]

Originally posted by Placid
Yes the performance inrease isnt really worth the cost.
Also its harder to overclock as high with 512mb of memory
as it is with 256mb due to the increased capacitance.

We'll test that theory when I get the memory (probably Monday), and I fire her up.

Unsure what you mean by the capacitance affecting the overclock... please explain (and yes, I have some electronics background, so feel free to fire away ;)).

[Placid]

In this case the storage and discharge of electricity in a electronic componet(memory). The more memory cells the higher the capacitance = less effecient.
It probably wont make much difference going from 133 memory to higher quality 166.
Ahh.. you got tonicom :)
Thought you got the Corsair.

[Pinky]

Originally posted by Placid
In this case the storage and discharge of electricity in a electronic componet(memory). The more memory cells the higher the capacitance = less effecient.
It probably wont make much difference going from 133 memory to higher quality 166.
Ahh.. you got tonicom :)
Thought you got the Corsair.

You recommend tonicom, I buy tonicom.

Also seen this name mentioned before on this site... I would get the corsair, but I have a feeling their chips peak at 150 and lose their umph thereafter.

Oh, and thankyou for the explanation... not specific, but if I understand it, (2) 256 MB chips would be more stable overclocking than (2)128 chips and (1) 256 chip (like I might decide to use) since there are less modules between (2) RAM chips as there would be between (3)?

Narf!

[Placid]

Yes thats correct if the memory is using the same chips and same pcb so all performance factors are the same.

When mixing memory your system can only be 100% stable with settings that the slowest memory can handle.

[Pinky]

Well, turns out this company is out even of the 128 MB ram chips I ordered. They didn't even bother to tell me, and had a tracking number issued for delivery of what I haven't a clue.

needless to say I won't ever be ordering from them... not for all the tonicom in the world ;) !!

I guess I can live with my current setup.

[Placid]

Thanks for the warning about that place.
I will add them to my aviod list.