Buy PC2-1000 or PC5400 & OC??

Been reading several reely good posts on memory,, all about timong,, chip sets, vendors, SPEED,,, but my Q just doesn't seem to pop..

I know not everyone has the bucks to buy this weeks toys-de-jour,,, or the time to test or bench test new toys,, but..

With the new DDR2 PC800 & PC1000 memory available,, and certified matched sets,, can one make some sort of generic statement(s) like:

"certified Corsair PC1000 by default is better/faster/more stable/more OC'able,, than say Corsair PC5400, with 300V's, 1,1,1,1 timing,, and 20K btu aircondititioning"

I know there is the thrill of OC'ing, finding the best timings, cranking the big V's,, spending more on your PC air-conditioning than on the birthday present for the misses/girl friend/mother(flip if needed)...

And there is price,, oc'ing is less expensive,, because you can,, and it works..

But the top end sticks,, are fairly close in price,, certified,, and should be more stable,, and consequently should be able to bench at least as boog as the best OC'ed mem???

Now, my hunt is for my new system,, a P5WD2 with 840D(maybe EE),, so there is an Intel lean...

Anyway,, one man's opine,, how about some feedback??

Thanks
Jim

If you are cranking 376 FSB at the 3:4 ratio, then DDR2-1000 will be right in spec. How many people are doing that? I have KHX PC2-5400 that will do DDR2-800 and my OCZ PC2-4200 will do DDR2-720 using 3-2-2-6 timings. So, you can get good overclocks from the lower rated RAM. That said, the Mushkin extreme performance PC2-6400 is impressive and for a low budget, you can't go wrong with PQI Turbo PC2-6400. So, if I were to buy DDR2 RAM right now, I'd probably find some DDR2-800 that would do good timings.

Two points,,

1-I am not looking for a budget machine,, although I am not spending a fortune. To date,, and with considerable help from these forum(read u's guys),, I have the system coming in at around $1500. (c bottom)

2-I think 1066 MHz is very reel and do-able,, out of the box..

Maybe I get to contribute here.. Found a couple blurbs that lead me to ask the question in the 1st place..

From the Corsair site:

TWIN2X1024-800UL, XMS2-8000UL 1024MB 5-4-4-9 2x240 DIMM Black XMS2,, 100% tested at 1000 MHz in high performance DDR2 MotherBoards, tested to low latencies of(5,4,4,9) at 2.2v.

and from http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2412&p=11,, review of the P5WD2 mobo:

"The P5WD2 is the first production board that we have tested to offer a DDR1066 ratio, which will work at standard stock speeds. As we saw in this review, the P5WD2 also managed to reach 1066 memory speed at stock CPU speed on a 1066FSB CPU with Corsair DDR2-667 low latency memory (CM2X512A-5400UL). This is the first time that any memory has ever performed at DDR2-1066 in our motherboard or memory testing. OCZ also reached similar bandwidth levels at DDR2-1000 at tighter memory timings, but the 1066 crown belongs to Corsair and Asus for now. The important point is that DDR2-1066 is reachable on the Asus P5WD2 at stock speeds if the memory is capable of running at DDR2-1066. The available ratios on the Asus P5WD2 ensure that whatever memory capabilities you have can be reached on this board. The Corsair is the first 1066 performance that we have tested, but it is not likely the last. In the future, we will likely see memory with even greater stability and better timings at 1066 and we are confident that the Asus P5WD2 Premium will be able to handle that memory at 1066 speed. "


MY Current PLAN (case,PSU,vid card purchased)

Intel Pentium® D Processor 840 3.2GHz, 800MHz FSB, Socket 775, 2x1MB Cache, Dual Core Retail,$538.00 --- Asus P5WD2 Premium 955X P4/Celeron 1066FSB LGA775 DDR2 ATX Motherboard,$207.00 --- TWIN2X1024-800UL, XMS2-8000UL 1024MB, $260.00 --- Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 250GB Serial ATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer HDT722525DLA380, $109.75 --- Microsoft Windows XP Professional 64, $114.90 ---
Scythe Ninja Fanless Heatpipe CPU Cooler, $46.99 --- Cooler Master Aerogate 3 Fan speed, $22.94 --- Norton Internet Security (Virus & FireWall), $22.90 --- eVGA 256-P2-N362-BX Geforce 6200 256MB DDR, $40.00 --- Case: Antec PlusView 1000 AMG Case SOHO File Server, $57.48 --- PSU,, OCZ PowerStream 520W, $92.70 --- CD/RW, DVD, Diskette, Film Reader, Speakers, & XX moved from old PC $0000.00,,,, so far...