Which DDR to get, Crucial or Mushkin ?

[Stephen Castles]

what ddr should i get ? PC2400 mushkin or PC2100 crucial ? I want the one that will do the highest stable FSB's at the highest setting, like at what speed does it get unstable at CAS2 and CAS 2.5 ?

[flounder43]

If money is no object, get the Mushkin. It will go higher. The Crucial is also fantastic. If it were me, I would go with Crucial because the extra money isn't worth the small difference between the two...

[Genoide]

Guys if I got 2 ram sticks and can I set the latency between the 2 @ 0 instead of 1?

[oc jason]

look at my sig.......get crucial, the mushkin is a BIG dissapointment, you dont even wanna know what id paid for it. the Crucial ocut right now stomps it.

1. Crucial underrates there mem, meaning it can do 150mhz about 100% of the time, when they say rated at 133 that is just a very low estimate

2. Mushkin pc2400 is rated at 150 and they are not lying, it will do 150 all day but not much over it, its just pc2100 that has been able to hit 150 mhz, so in essecne its already overclocked, and does not leave much room for raising it more.


I could have gotten a GIG of crucial for what my 256 of Mushkin costs me.

[chawken]

I use Crucial, Mushkin and Corsair. So far, I am happiest with the Corsair PC2400. I have been able to overclock the Corsair further than the other two, and the price is lower than Mushkin and about the same as Crucial.

[Genoide]

Guys overclocking an ABit Kg7 RAID with 2 sticks of 256mb of Crucial pc2100 mem what settings should I use if I wanted to reach 1600-1608... I'am stable @ 1608 but running @ 133FSBx12... I know I can't run my 2 rams @ 150FSB cus Ill just crash... any comments suggestions will be helpful.

[Yodums]

Go with the Crucial...

[donny_paycheck]

Originally posted by chawken
I use Crucial, Mushkin and Corsair. So far, I am happiest with the Corsair PC2400. I have been able to overclock the Corsair further than the other two, and the price is lower than Mushkin and about the same as Crucial.

corsair rocks

[Mike360000]

Go with the Corsair!
I only use Corsair, Mushkin and Crucial.

Crucial is the cheapest, but will overclock nicely. Almost as high as Mushkin, but not as high as Corsair. Cost about 35 bux for a 256 meg stick of 2400 CAS 2.5

Mushkin is extremely reliable and overclocks very well. Problem is the price is the highest of the three. About 65 bux for the same setup as I mentioned for the Crucial.

Corsair is the best I've found for these reasons: It overclocks higher than anything else, period. And I have read several articles that has stated this same thing within the past 6 months. I have bought about 2 dozen sticks of Corsair ram in the past 2 years, and I have NEVER had a bad stick! I have even been able to oc Corsair's 133 CAS3 SDRAM to 144mhz with no problems, with individual sticks of the CAS2 going as high as 150. You can expect to oc as high as 175 to 180 with their CAS2 ram with no problems. Pricewise, Corsair is about inbetween the other two, with same setup as above costing about 54 bux today.

Cheers,
Mike Lamb

[oc jason]

try 11x146 at turbo settings and 2.90 mem volts, and 1.8vcore or higher

[Stephen Castles]

now that mushkin is out of the game, Corsair or Crucial. Corsiar is nice but expensive, but from what you say overclocks very well. I would like to have the extra room for FSB. I plan to try to get this AXIA Tbird 1200 to 1600 @ 12*133, but i plan to get a Athlon XP in the future when the prices drop enough, although they are very low right now. So i will need the extra FSB's for the XP chip. I guess i'll get corsair after i go around and read some reviews.

[Hugo 59]

I would go with the crucial but that's just me. I'm sure that everyone will have there own opinion.:cool:

[Mike360000]

Stephen,
Make your choice this way: Or think about this way.

You will either want CAS 2 or CAS 3 ram in SDRAM.
Corsair CAS 3 ram will get you about or around to a 146 fsb, depending upon several factors. Crucial or Mushkin CAS 2 will get you within 5 mhz fsb. Forget anything else, too unrealiable or unpredictable.

CAS 2 Corsair will go to about 175 mhz fsb, maybe higher, depending upon system. I have read of peeps taking the PC 150 Corsair all the way into the 190's! If that is true.

CAS 2 ram from Mushkin will do similar. Crucial will come within 5 mhz fsb, again. Forget anything else.

If you go DDR you can use Cosair CAS 2.5 ram just as well if not better than you can any one elses CAS 2, including Mushkins or Crucials. Meaning no need to spend extra money for Corsiar or any DDR CAS 2 ram.

All three makes; CAS 2 for Crucial and Mushkin, and CAS 2.5 for Corsair will all top out in the 160's. CAS 2 Corsair is in a class unto itself. Not that much faster than 2.5 but if one wants the extra speed or leeway, it is there. Again I wouldn't consider anything else but these three makes of ram. BTW I've read that the Corsair 2.5 will go/give 333 DDR speeds right now, for the new 333 DDR ram that is about to be introduced into motherboards.

Now consider what you are really most likely to get from your system, concerning fsb speed. Most average oc'ers will be looking at the mid 150 to the 160 rage for their fsb speeds. Some less, some more, depending on many things.

What you want to consider is the amount of safety net or margin for future changes, as you suggested above. We just can't know what the future will bring.

My brother for instance has all PC133 CAS 3 ram. He bought his last stick less than 3 months ago. Now he desperately needs to oc his system further than his ram can go. Yet he is stuck with a under purchase, not considering his computing future. I tried to tell him at the time, but?

Also consider how long you intend on keeping your ram before upgrading again. If you intend to keep it over a year, especially 2 years, get the best you can, or the best clocking ram. Because a lot can change in a year, and also that ram may be worth just a little if it is real good to begin with, cause reall good ram is worth a slight premium.

You should be fine with the Crucial, but if you want it all, and know you can get no better, then go with the Corsair. the Crucial CAS 2 SDRAm or CAS 2 DDR should oc all you need, but with a slight limit compared to the Corsair if you go real heavy, to the limits oc'ing your ram.

Some of the website reviews may slightly vary from my statements, as new ram tests slightly differ all the time. But I have given you a good idea of the generalities of what to expect. Unless something drastic changes.

Cheers,
Mike Lamb

[Silver]

That sounds like good advice. Corsair I believe is really good memory however doue to financial constraints I purchased 2 Crucial 128 sticks for my Epox 8K7A and got them to peak at 172 Mhz cas 3. Am presently using the KT7A board as it overclocks about 40 Mhz higher and I'm trying to get to 1.8.

Crucial=excellent cost to performance ratio!

[WyrmMaster]

Well i see youv alread made your decission, and i think you made the right one. See my sig for my results, i love my crucial:cool:

[Mike360000]

Like I've been saying, I don't you/anyone will be disappointed with any of the three brands I been talking about.

Glad to see some more good results with Crucial.

Cheers,
Mike Lamb

[Stephen Castles]

i have made up my mind, i am going to get crucial, it's cheap and its good ram, at anandtech.com they have a link to crucial where you can get %16 off plus free shipping, this is a good deal. How hot does crucial get when overclocked ? i was gonna make some copper heat spreaders if i needed them. I have also decided to get a Epox 8K7A mobo, Is this a good overclocking combo ? I am trying to overclock a factory unlocked AXIA Tbird 1200, it does 1400 stable on this KT7 (non "a" version) with a global win fop-32 @ 1.91 volts, plus a have a water cooling system in the making, all need to do is make the block, get some fans, and do a few case mods to the full tower case i bought. Look at my sig, does it look like a Enermax 350 can handle all this ? Or should i look into a 430 or 550 ? i am going to a 1 more drive to the three HDD's i have( i need a 7200rpm for speed). The Vcore is going to be way up and possibly the ram voltage also.

[Mike360000]

Stephen,
I think you'll be satisfied with the Crucial ram.
I wouldn't worry about the heat just yet.
Get your system up and going 1st.
About that 8K7A Epox mobo.
I dunno, maybe Epox has got it right by now, but I had horror stories with mine. All grades of problems, engineering defects.
I had to return it.
I would definately go with the KG7 series Abit mobos here.
But for a second choice, to be as fair as possible, you could consider the Asus mobos. You'll hear more good things about them two makes than anything else. I have a strong preference for Abit though, so I'm a little biased there, and my experience with Epox only made my bias worse.

Just my .02 worth though.

Cheers,
Mike Lamb

[Silver]

Yes, the Crucial with free shipping is a good bet. Performs as good or better than many of the MUCH more expensive sticks.

I changed my power over to an Antec 403 and have been very happy with it. Adjusted the 5 volt rail so that at full load it holds 5.05 and it has no problem holding my vcore stable at high volts. My board is set up to go as high as 2.35.

[Stephen Castles]

i think i am going to have to get a different PSU, I hear the Enermax has a 5v line problem, it's running low now, so it will be even less on the Epox because i have heard that the 5v line goes so low it's unstable. I hear the antecs are good, can you adjust the voltage on them ? this enermax is always running low. Does antec make a 400+ watt supply, i was looking at a Enermax 430 but i dont want a PSU with a 5v line problem as this would be a long time comitment unless i need a bigger PSU or the form factor changes. So i need a power supply thats gonna last me and have STABLE voltages.

[WinXP]

I have 3-256meg sticks of Crucial PC2100 an 1-256meg stick of Corsair PC2400. I have a Epox 8K7A+ an a Abit KG7 on these two mobo's I have tested all the sticks an will run 174fsb cas 2 on the KG7 the Corsair tops the Crucial by a little 176 fsb cas2. At 178fsb cas2 on the KG7 when Win 2000 loads the video has artifacts in it. You can't go wrong with Crucial for the price.

[Stephen Castles]

Now i need a new power supply, right now i have a Enermax 350 P4 power supply, these have problems with the 5v line and are loud when both fans are at full blast. I want something with a real strong 5v line, The Antec PP412X looks nice, 400 watt P4. Does the Antec have a Stable and consistent 5V line ? At the moment my 5v line is running low with the enermax, it's gonna be lower because on the Epox 8K7A, it draws more current from the 5V line. Does the enermax have something where you can tweak the voltage or something ?

[Silver]

I use an Antec 403 and have been very happy with it. I did adjust the five volt rail through a small adjuster screw located within the unit. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, if done while the computer is running. I adjusted it with Motherboard monitor running till I had 5.0 under load. Adjusted it while running a test program with display from Mobo monitor on foreground. You should be aware that the 8k7a (even with a voltage mod) will not go much over 2.1 on vcore. With a voltage mod I ran it up as high as 2.64 yet as soon as it was under load Motherboard monitor reported it at 2.08. For this reason I reverted to my KT7a as I can get another 40 Mhz out of it and the set voltage is the voltage under load. Have been following the Shuttle conversations and am beginning to look in that direction. Looks like ram speed is good and it will take a good voltage mod, bonus is that it is cheap.

One more thing, adjusting the 5 volt rail will also raise the 12 volt as they are adjusted by the same screw. Do this in very small increments. Should the ps shut down on you, adjust the screw back a little and wait for the psu to cool down then power it up and check again. Hope this helps.

[Genoide]

Haha you guys complain about alot of noise, and until today 3 hours ago I couldn't agree. My theory was if you wan good temps and you are not willing to accept a side effect from your low temps then you aren't up to the task of achieving low temps nor will with AIR cooling... My case has 2 fans on the board one 2100 RPM on the south bridge, one on the CPU which is 8,000 RPM loud as a mother ****er, louded then my 7400RPM but the 8k RPM can push 50CFM, Well I also got a Whisper enermax PSU... with the 2 fans, I got 120mm (121CFM) on the top, and 2 80 mm fans on front, and one on the back also... this is some crazy ass noise I can understand you all now... But hey I run @ 42C with high volts and High Overclockage on a hot room so am satisfied with the temps I receive from the noise...

[Stephen Castles]

awwww crap. My abit KT7 is rappidly becoming more of a piece of crap, Maybe it's just windows 98, but i'm about to rip it out of my case, drive to my friends house, put it in the fire pit, dump some gun powder on it, and drop a match on it. I'm serious !!! this thing is a refurb from abit to replace a dead borad, but i had sent them a new board. I demanded a new one but they wouldn't listen(go figure, it's abit). so far all of the com ports dont work, and it's unstable as hell. I am going to try to get a new board soon, but i dont really know what to do with the old one, satisfy my anger and blow it up, take a few pics, post em up here and send a few to abit :), or try to put all of this behind me, and sell the board for $40 - $70 to get some of the $135 i paid for it, either way i come out happy :). Really what i need now is a good overclocking board, forget abit (i hate them) and forget ASUS (to expensive). i want something with a AMD760 chipset prefferably. The Epox 8K7A is a big ? mark at the moment, because of PSU issues( i have a enermax). So what else is there ?

[Silver]

I know it sounds strange but I am seriously thinking about giving the Shuttle a try. It can be over volted, kt266a and has good speed. What the heck, only 80 dollars at Newegg.

[Stephen Castles]

UPDATE : i tried installing windows 2000 pro and after the first few boot ups i was already getting problems. There are 2 capacitors near the socket that are damaged, since the board is a refurb, the guy/girl who had it before me was using a Chrome Orb, these must be modified to fit, but it was not and it damaged the casing both of the capacitors, and they are bent back a bunch, before i go gun powdering this thing i'm gonna try and replace these things, since i know how to solder. I know for sure these capacitors arent funtioning properly.

I am willing to give shuttle a try, the voltage mod looks easy enough and simple. I want something whithout 5v line problems. I dont want to take a risk on having another board like this thing

[LordRHYMEZ-]

Crucial 4 Lyfe!

[Stephen Castles]

I opened up my Enermax PSU today. There are no adjustments at all, i know what the adjuster screws look like and i saw none. I may just go ahead get a 8KHA+ and do the votage mod. I think i have one of the those wonder chips that will overclock very easily.It's a factory unlocked AXIA 1200. I have managed to post it a 1500, but on a KT7 non "A" version with, ram, mobo, and cooling limitations, i didn't get more than it posting at 1500, but with water cooling, enough voltage, and some good ram i think i can get this thing to 1600+, i like how the 8KHA+ has the 15x multiplier and the bus speed up to 166.