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Why pc4000?

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alphagojo

Registered
Joined
Oct 8, 2004
Location
St. Louis, MO
As you all can see, this is my first post, and I am pretty much a total noob. I am looking to build my first computer, and have a friend that insists on me putting 1gb pc4000 in my system, because he says ram is the main determining factor in ocing ability. I am looking to play a lot of games on the computer and do some ocing, so I do not want to limit my options. The only thing is, is that pc4000 ram is quite expensive, which brings me to my next point: Kingmax 1gb pc4000 for 200 bucks. Please help me out on whether I need pc4000 or not, and your opinions on Kingmax. Thanks alot to whoever helps me out! :)
 
what cpu do you plan to use? what motherboard? all pc4000 means is that you can overclock your processor to 250fsb and keep the ram running 1 to 1 with the fsb. if you went with pc3200, you would get no guarantees on the ram past 200fsb. and the best you will probably do for a decent brand of pc3200 would be 160-170 new last i looked so if you plan on overclocking the pc4000 may be worth the extra 30-40$

edit: and i have never used kingmax but ive seen the name tossed about here, if you searched for it i would imagine you would get a wealth of info on the subject
 
Overclocking is kind of like driving a sports car. At regular speeds you drive around safely with no problems. Hammer the pedal down and now your really flying. If you plan on overclocking then you plan on driving fast so to speak. Just like a car, you can't just have a fast motor. You need the tires, the brakes, the suspension, the whole package in order to do it SAFELY! There are these same type of factors that will limit your abilites to overclock high and remain safe. Motherboard limits, cpu limits, power supply limits, cooling solutions and ram to name a few. I pretty much agree with your buddy that having fast ram is a necessity in order to go fast, but not all ram is created equal. Just because a manufacturer rates the ram at a certain speed doesnt mean it can't go higher than that speed, especially if it is quality ram. You can buy cheap 4000 that doesn't overclock that well, and buy some quality pc3700 that will go above and beyond what the 4000 is capable of, make sense? So in essence you need the whole package in order to acheive great overclocking. Just buying pc4000 and sticking it in a cheap limited motherboard will defeat the purpose. I think you should focus on CPU and motherboard first. Once you have an idea of what will be achieved with those two elements then determine your ram needs. Have you decided on or purchased a mobo/CPU yet? If not, take your time, don't rush. Saving for a few more days or couple of weeks is alot better off than buying something only to realize you want something else. In short yes pc4000 will probably suit your needs now and in the future. But look at the whole picture because there is definitely more to OC'ing than just ram Personally I don't think Kingmax is that bad, but I would much prefer crucial, OCZ, even Geil makes some nice stuff. Just keep asking questions and read the posts. You will get a better feel for what you really want and need that way.
Best of luck on building your first computer!!

By the way, WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!!!
 
Ok, thanks for the advice. I was thinking of getting a socket 754 AMD 64 3200+, but once again I am very open to any instruction there is to be given. As for a motherboard, I have heard good things about the Lanparty series, but really haven't researched or looked around enough to be making any descions. Video card......probably 9800pro or the 6800nu (if i can scrounge up enough cash for it ;))
 
i have a 754 3200+ myself. the 2.2ghz 512 L2 version. make sure you grab a board with the nforce3 250 chipset (the lan party is one of them) or at least a 150 chipset rather than a via based board (i think via came out with a pci locked mobo but i havent heard much about them). you want pci locks to take full advantage of that pc4000 that you will want to get with the a64
 
but most mobos only go up to pc3200................. can anyone link me to one tht goes faster and supports pc4000 ?? ive been searching for too long :(
 
ram is backwards compatible. Lets say high end CPU's have a bus speed of 800mhz (200fsbX4). DDR pc3200 operates at 400mhz ddr (double data rate..so its 200fsbX2=400mhz) Now if you overclock your fsb to say 250fsb...now your cpu is running at 1000mhz bus speed (250fsbX4), and your ram will be at 500mhz (250fsbX2) so pc3200 will not keep up. You will need pc4000 which operates at 500mhz. Motherboards will only use that 500mhz ram at 400mhz if you left that fsb alone. So to answer your question again, Ram is backward compatible, and any motherboard supporting ddr will support pc4000, it will just slow it down to match the current bus speed. :)
 
koss20100 said:
but most mobos only go up to pc3200................. can anyone link me to one tht goes faster and supports pc4000 ?? ive been searching for too long :(

There is no DDR1 based motherboard being manufactured, that I am aware of, that carries "official" support for anything beyond PC3200. I can't make any comments about DDR2 compliant boards.

The fact is does not officially support it is because PC3200 is the highest official standard for ram, even though in today's PC world, you can buy DDR ram with stated speed ratings of DDR600.

Most enthusiast grade mobos do however, provide the ability to tweak the default settings to run your system in excess of the officially supported 200 fsb, they just don't guarantee you that they will exceed 200. That is where doing your homework and reading articles and people's posts will help you pick a board/cpu/ram combination that works well together. By tweaks to the BIOS in the areas of memory timings and voltage, as well as voltage tweaks to the cpu and vga, plus, depending on the mobo, additional tweaks here and there your system can run at speeds way in excess of the official PC3200.
 
alphagojo said:
Ok, thanks for the advice. I was thinking of getting a socket 754 AMD 64 3200+, but once again I am very open to any instruction there is to be given. As for a motherboard, I have heard good things about the Lanparty series, but really haven't researched or looked around enough to be making any descions. Video card......probably 9800pro or the 6800nu (if i can scrounge up enough cash for it ;))

I just got a Socket754 system..
DO NOT get a MSI K8N Neo Platinum...
Mines crap, onboard sound doesn't work.
 
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