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RAM question

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KoolDrew

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Location
NY
I just wanted to know what you all thought about buying RAM. I mean, if you're looking to purchase RAM, what do you do? Do you look at the RAM bandwidth? The size of the RAM 512MB, 1GB, etc? The price of the RAM? The OC-ability? When it comes to RAM, I really don't know much. For instance, if they were in the same price range, would it be wiser to buy 1GB of PC3200 or 512MB of slower-clocked PC4000? Basically what I'm simply trying to ask is is size better than bandwidth?
 
The first thing you should try to do, in my opinion, is to match the ram to your processor as best you can. By that I mean that if you have, for example, an Intel P4 @ 3.4GHz it will not, as a general rule, run much more than 225-240 (yes, there are always exceptions) so it would make no sense to go out and buy PC4400 (275MHz), you would want to go with something along the lines of PC3200 that overclocked well or up to PC3700 or so. On the flip side, if you were running a 2.4 P4 that is capable of 285-295 then you would be looking for ram capable of those kinds of speeds (DDR600).

Once you have determined the range that you will be running within, then you try to find the ram with the fastest timings that is within your budget. All things being equal, you should strive to run your cpu and your memory at 1:1 ratios but that is not always possible.

And yes, generally more ram is best.

The following link is to a pretty good article on memory. Read it and bookmark it for future reference and I believe it will answer many of your questions.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=15&type=expert
 
First of all, you need to know if you'll use DDR1 or DDR2. All i925-mobos and most i915-mobos require DDR2 (older Intel-chipsets like i865/i875 use DDR1). No current AMD-system uses anything but DDR1.

Most chipsets/memory-controllers support dual-channel. On socket A platforms this doesn't make much difference, and socket 754-systems don't support this at all. However any fairly new P4-system (i865 or newer chipset), plus socket 939 (AMD) supports, and will benefit quite significantly from dual channel as it doubles the bandwidth. You need either two or four sticks of RAM to run dual channel (except for socket A where you can run DC either using two or three sticks).

Don't focus too much on the RAM's rated speed/timings. Quality modules are usually versatile (meaning they will perform well over a broad frequency-range). Memory rated at DDR333 could in fact have the exact same chips as say DDR500 (hence the same performance). The performance and quality of RAM depends greatly on the type of chips used. You may have heard of BH-5 chips, which aren't in production anymore. These chips are the No.1 choice for most OCers, especially for socket A-platforms. Samsung TCCD-chips are still in production, and I recommend you buy RAM based on these chips. Their voltage-demand is lower than for BH-5, and I'll assume they are cheaper since they're still in production.

If looking to overclock, your mobo's vDIMM-capacity must be considered. If your mobo can deliver say 3.3 volt, you should be safe buying almost any RAM. If it doesn't go higher than say 2.7, you shouldn't buy voltage-hungry memory like BH-5. All RAM has a rated clock speed, certified timings @ that given speed, and the minimum voltage it will need in order to achieve that speed. Eg DDR400, 2-2-2-6, 2.6v.

Bandwidth isn't everything, performancewise. There are timings as well, and they should be as tight (low) as possible. Eg. DDR400 could be rated @ 2-2-2-6 which indicates good quality RAM. However some systems (AMD) are more dependent on tight timings than others (Intel).

Concerning capacity most people go with 1 GB (2x512) nowadays, but if your budget is tight you could buy 2x256 first and perhaps upgrade later.


And finally, here's a link to RAM based on TCCD-chips:

http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=132949
 
So on a system running a Athlon 64 3000+ and a MSI K8N neo2 platinum what RAM would be best for overclocking. I don't really want to pay outrageus prices so keep the price reasonable, but there is no real limit on how much I can spend. I am looking for 1GB (512x2)
 
Then I recommend the cheapest RAM in the link I posted above. Don't know if prices are up to date, tho. If you want the very best, I'd say Gskill, PQI Turbo or one of the OCZ-versions would probably be it. (You see quality isn't ALL about the chips. PQI for instance use very good PCBs too, on this RAM).

Do pay close attention to the product id! A product series (eg Corsair XMS) could use many different chips for different ratings. Just because the 3200-version has say BH-5 doesn't mean the PC3500 or PC4000 RAM does. Even if one character in the ID is not matching, don't buy before you have done more research.
 
Thanks. The PQI Turbo RAM looks good for the price ($245 at newegg), but I ahve heard many good things about the OCZ EL Platinum Rev2. I have heard it is a very good overclocker. Would going with this cheaper PQI RAM result in a worse overclock or would both probally be the same when overclocking. So in that case going with the PQI would be better?

Both have the same specs except the OCZ supports a voltage of 2.75V while the PQI supports 2.6V. Would this affect my overclock?
 
Again, as long as you know what kind of chips the RAM has, the ratings don't matter that much.

While there could always be slight differences in any area, these ratings could indicate the manufacturer's policy. One manufacturer may feel it's safe to rate their products with less OCing headroom than another. This is also related to the products' guarantee. The manufacturers may weigh the benefit of a high rating (and often high voltage) against commercial interests. A product of high rating would probably sell better, but then people would be more likely to screw up their RAM which could obviously lead to economic loss for the manufacturer.

The rated voltage shouldn't affect your overclock. Personally I'd go with PQI.
 
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