[Freya]

I'm planning on ocing a 3000 winchester soon. I would like some advice on which of these memories I should get. And which will give me the best results. I've settled on getting G-skill PC3200.

This memory is rated at DDR400 CAS: 2-2-2-5, With DDR550 at CAS: 2.5-4-4-4-8

G. Skill PC3200 $250.00: http://www.excaliberpc.com/pro...9&products_id=4246

This memory is rated at DDR400 CAS: 2-2-2-5, With DDR550 at CAS: 2.5-3-3-3-7

G. Skill PC3200 $295.00: http://www.excaliberpc.com/pro...9&products_id=4242

This memory is the same as the one above but the product number says 1GBLF instead of 1GBLE and is 25 dollars cheaper.

G. Skill PC 3200 $275.00: http://store.yahoo.com/digi4me/gs1gbkit5x2d3.html

Ok, so my question is, would I be okay with buying the cheaper ram with DDR550 CAS: 2.5-4-4-4-8, or should I get the CAS: 2.5-3-3-3-7? Will it really make a difference from the faster CAS of the more expensive rams? I want to get up to around 2.6 ghz on air with the 3000 winchester. And i'm also very confused, whats with all the letters at the end of the RAM IDs....IE: 1GBLF, 1GBLE, 1GBLC....I'm guessing the higher the letter the better the ram? Anyone who is experienced in overclocking, please give me some advice as i'm totally new to overclocking. Any help would be greatly appreciated. And sorry for the long post.

[Sentential]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!
...and the sickness

hmmm. First I'd avoid Gskill, ive hear mixed things about them. If you plan on buying any sort of Samsung TCCD based RAM (which is the best and the only capable of DDR600 and is what that Gskill you have listed uses) I'd look at either PQI or OCZ. Any other brand (as far as i know) uses inferior PCBs and ICs.

Second.... 2.6ghz on a 3000+? I seriously doubt that, not unless you get awefully lucky (which I havent even on a 3200+)

If you really want 2.6 I would get a 3500+ that will narrow the odds down significantally.

The only 2 guys that have gotten 2.6 on their Winchesters with 3000+s are Osirus and Red2TA. Even at that they have a great difficulty getting their RAM to cooperate at the needed speed of 280+

Also in addition what PSU are you using? Unless you have a heavy-duty 550W PSU you *are* going to need another one if your videocard is an x800/9800/6800.

Attempting 2.6ghz on a 3000+ running 1:1 and *actually* getting it 100% stable is slim-to-none. If that is what you are looking for, you are going to be very disapointed. Most Winchesters do mid-to-low 2.5ghz using high end air cooling. I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 2.6ghz is unrealistic and 9 time out of 10 is *not* going to happen, much less running 1:1

As promised here are the links to 2 RAM sets (examples)
PQI TCCD PC3200

OCZ PC3200 TCCD chips
^^ Speed isnt the real issue, it has everything to do with what chips are used. Despite the fact that both of these are rated @ DDR400 they are very capable and often reach DDR600 speeds without issue. Everyone on the forums will agree that either choice is the best money can buy at the moment.

Since you will be looking for TCCD it is very simple. *ANY* RAM available at this momen that is rated at PC3200 and has the following RAM timings of: 2-2-2-5, is TCCD. So basically from there just pick the cheapest ones.

I will say this, OCZ has a long history of having the fastest RAM on planet. If you really want high speeds with good timings, and money isnt an option, thats the stuff to buy.

[deception``]

Originally Posted by Sentential

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!
...and the sickness

hmmm. First I'd avoid Gskill, ive hear mixed things about them. If you plan on buying any sort of Samsung TCCD based RAM (which is the best and the only capable of DDR600 and is what that Gskill you have listed uses) I'd look at either PQI or OCZ. Any other brand (as far as i know) uses inferior PCBs and ICs.

Second.... 2.6ghz on a 3000+? I seriously doubt that, not unless you get awefully lucky (which I havent even on a 3200+)

If you really want 2.6 I would get a 3500+ that will narrow the odds down significantally.

The only 2 guys that have gotten 2.6 on their Winchesters with 3000+s are Osirus and Red2TA. Even at that they have a great difficulty getting their RAM to cooperate at the needed speed of 280+

Also in addition what PSU are you using? Unless you have a heavy-duty 550W PSU you *are* going to need another one if your videocard is an x800/9800/6800.

Attempting 2.6ghz on a 3000+ running 1:1 and *actually* getting it 100% stable is slim-to-none. If that is what you are looking for, you are going to be very disapointed. Most Winchesters do mid-to-low 2.5ghz using high end air cooling. I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 2.6ghz is unrealistic and 9 time out of 10 is *not* going to happen, much less running 1:1

As promised here are the links to 2 RAM sets (examples)
PQI TCCD PC3200

OCZ PC3200 TCCD chips
^^ Speed isnt the real issue, it has everything to do with what chips are used. Despite the fact that both of these are rated @ DDR400 they are very capable and often reach DDR600 speeds without issue. Everyone on the forums will agree that either choice is the best money can buy at the moment

Actually, at the moment Mushkin Black Level II v2 is the only brand that uses the superior brainpower PCB. Which allows TCCD ram to respond positively to high voltage. Also, G. Skill is a great choice of ram: Not only is it highly overclockable, but it avoids extras such as heatspreaders. You really cannot go wrong with it, but just know that some more voltage-responsive TCCD will be coming out in the near future.

deception``

[hitechjb1]

I looked at your link to digi4me:
apparently they have also different versions
1GBLD - 2x512 MB PC4400 2.5-4-4-8 PC3200 2-2-2-5 $250
1GBLF - 2x512 MB PC4400 2.5-3-3-7 PC3200 2-2-2-5 $275

Assuming the specification is reliable,

if the objective is best timing, get the $275 paying 10% more.

if the objective is price/performance, the 10% more money won't get 10% more effective bandwidth, and much less for translating into overall system performance.

Also, I think those timing numbers are specified for Intel CPU/chipset, they may be slightly different for A64.
So check that first, it may be not much different after all for A64.

[Optimus Prime]

i say go with the ocz because they have a great warrenty service... i mean you might be paying more for it because of the name brand and the heat spreaders. But i speak from experience... they just replace your ram completly if anything goes wrong with it at all. It is sweet.

As for Deception's comments... I stand behind just about anything that he says. and i totally agree with what he has said here. but one thing to keep in mind. the msi only allows 2.85 vdimm as with the abit av8 and the gigglebyte . so if you want to get some ram that would be more responsive to higher voltages... you need to either do a vdimm voltmod or pick up one of those ocz ddr boosters.

my .02

P.S. Welcome to our humble abode... thanks for joining up

[Freya]

Originally Posted by Sentential

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!
...and the sickness

hmmm. First I'd avoid Gskill, ive hear mixed things about them. If you plan on buying any sort of Samsung TCCD based RAM (which is the best and the only capable of DDR600 and is what that Gskill you have listed uses) I'd look at either PQI or OCZ. Any other brand (as far as i know) uses inferior PCBs and ICs.

Second.... 2.6ghz on a 3000+? I seriously doubt that, not unless you get awefully lucky (which I havent even on a 3200+)

If you really want 2.6 I would get a 3500+ that will narrow the odds down significantally.

The only 2 guys that have gotten 2.6 on their Winchesters with 3000+s are Osirus and Red2TA. Even at that they have a great difficulty getting their RAM to cooperate at the needed speed of 280+

Also in addition what PSU are you using? Unless you have a heavy-duty 550W PSU you *are* going to need another one if your videocard is an x800/9800/6800.

Attempting 2.6ghz on a 3000+ running 1:1 and *actually* getting it 100% stable is slim-to-none. If that is what you are looking for, you are going to be very disapointed. Most Winchesters do mid-to-low 2.5ghz using high end air cooling. I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 2.6ghz is unrealistic and 9 time out of 10 is *not* going to happen, much less running 1:1

As promised here are the links to 2 RAM sets (examples)
PQI TCCD PC3200

OCZ PC3200 TCCD chips
^^ Speed isnt the real issue, it has everything to do with what chips are used. Despite the fact that both of these are rated @ DDR400 they are very capable and often reach DDR600 speeds without issue. Everyone on the forums will agree that either choice is the best money can buy at the moment.

Since you will be looking for TCCD it is very simple. *ANY* RAM available at this momen that is rated at PC3200 and has the following RAM timings of: 2-2-2-5, is TCCD. So basically from there just pick the cheapest ones.

I will say this, OCZ has a long history of having the fastest RAM on planet. If you really want high speeds with good timings, and money isnt an option, thats the stuff to buy.

That was what I was thinking too. I wanted to go with the OCZ PLat Rev. 2 originally, but decided to go with G. skill because they're an unknown company and I think they're the underdog. Too many people use OCZ. I guess that's just me, I like to go with the underdog. Well if the OCZ do perform and overclock bette than the memories I listed above then I'll settle for OCZ.

[Sentential]

Originally Posted by deception``

Actually, at the moment Mushkin Black Level II v2 is the only brand that uses the superior brainpower PCB. Which allows TCCD ram to respond positively to high voltage. Also, G. Skill is a great choice of ram: Not only is it highly overclockable, but it avoids extras such as heatspreaders. You really cannot go wrong with it, but just know that some more voltage-responsive TCCD will be coming out in the near future.

deception``

Are you sure cuz I am almost positive that ONLY OCZ and PQI used Brainpower, where as Corsair / Mushy / Kingston / Gskill used the cheaper one. If I not mistaken there is an article on Anandtech about this...

[Sentential]

Originally Posted by Anandtech

[deception``]

Yes I am sure. Here's the new OCZ coming out using Brainpower

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...kin+Brainpower

Here's the thread commenting on the new PCB and it's correlation with high voltage.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...kin+Brainpower

deception``