Crucial DDR2 1000 pc2 8000

Crucial DDR2 1000 pc2 8000, worth the $300+ if you're going for the high end system, opinions?

no

Any particular reason? Or just .. a random 'no' ?

its good ram im sure, too expensive. the corsair 5400ul, 8000ul, and mushkin 6400 use micron d9, which is more than likely what the crucial is using. they're the proven overclocking sticks and they're less money.

those sticks aren't worth it though, unless you're benchmarking. they're more than twice as much as decent ram like the stuff in my sig. most users have to put the high performance ddr2 on a high divider to run it at stock, and it's not worth the money.

I tend to agree with Dog. Nothing wrong with Crucial, just that RAM is over-priced.

What do you really gain by using Dividers (making the RAM run faster than the FSB)? From what I have read at countless forums, not much. So, unless you plan on running your FSB at 500MHz (Calculated FSB of 2GHZ, and CPU running around 7GHz at a 14x multi), then save your cash for a better CPU IMO. Run the RAM at 1:1, and get some nice OC's off DDR2-533 RAM (or goto DDR-667 RAM, and have FSB "Headroom" all the way to 332FSB @ 1:1), and save a TON of cash.

Just like using RAM Dividers to SLOW DOWN the RAM in older DDR1 systems does not drastically hurt performance (actually increases performance if your CPU can run faster with the divider engaged), using RAM Dividers to SPEED UP the RAM in these DDR2 MoBo's does not appear to be all that beneficial (unless you need every miligram of power that is possible). A faster CPU usually benefits you more than faster RAM. Spend accordingly...

The only way I would spend $300 on RAM would be for 4 Gigs (2 sets of 2GB DDR2-533 kits).

Saying "My RAM runs at 1GHz" would give you some nice bragging rights. Bleeding Edge is expensive, and not worth the extra cost IMO.

Randyman... said:

The only way I would spend $300 on RAM would be for 4 Gigs (2 sets of 2GB DDR2-533 kits).

Click to expand...

I just pulled the trigger on TigerDirect's TWIN2X1024-5400ul

$295. The reviews claim the P5WD2 pulled the highest ever ram speed with this set. I'm not going to beat my head against the wall with cooling, maxing out FSB and Core clocks, and then being restricted by ram bandwidth. This set will also with Presler and when Conroe arrives at full bandwidth.

Went the cheapo Ram route a few times and always regretted it. They now run in my kids hand me downs.

IMHO

That is kind of my point. Why buy 1GHz RAM if you can't even realize all of its potential? Good DDR-533 or DDR-667 is all you need IMO, AND you will have better timings. No point in running RAM beyond 1:1, but a high FSB will open up all of the other busses. Raising JUST the RAM Bandwidth is not doing much good IMO (E.G: DDR800 RAM on a "Stock" 200FSB - why would we do that?). Dual-Core Intels will still be using the SAME FSB (one FSB, 2 Cores) to talk to the RAM (and they use the FSB to talk to each other IIRC), so opening the FSB up would make more sense than simply increasing the RAM bandwidth IMO (again, high FSB at 1:1)...

But $300 for 1 Gig? That is a bit above what I would consider spending (I believe 1GB of 1GHz DDR-2 is like $700 IIRC). I could see maybe $400 for 2 Gigs in a high-performance system.

I run a Gig of Corsair XMS 4400C25 (DDR550) in my PC#1 rig, and it does well, but costs ~$200 per gig. I am swapping to a 2 Gig set of OCZ Gold GX DDR-500 that was like $260 or so ($140/GB). Still a bit expensive, but within my budget, and has EXCELLENT performance to boot...

I guess if you are going to spend $1000 on a CPU, you must have money to burn, and all of this is irrelevant (just get the most expensive RAM you can find) . I, like most mortals, have a budget, and want the best performance possible. Running high RAM Dividers is NOT the way to build a cost-to-performance rig ("Return on Investment"). A cost-no-object rig? Sure. Knock yourself out

there are people who will utilize this ram (myself included) and it'll get used well. personally i think $300 is too much, when the ram is around $200 i'm very tempted.

yeah, $300 is just way too expensive for RAM even at its rated speed.

Yup. Cost no object. That is fine. I personally can not justfy spending 2x-3x as much (say $150 for 1GB of descent DDR2-533 versus about $400 or more for 1GB of DDR2-1000) to see a minimal improvement in RAM bandwidth, and practically no gains in CPU performance (what are we talking? Like LESS than 20%-30% "Real World" performance difference of RAM Bandwidth from DDR2-533 to DDR2-1000???).

I have the same outlook on CPU's. Why buy a 3.6GHz 650 for like $450 when you can buy a 3.2GHz 640 for $215, and OC it all the way past 4GHz (much less spend $1000 on ANY single PC component - sans a 42" Display )? Agreed, the 3.6 would probably OC to 4.5GHz, but it still boils down to a ~ 400MHz difference for twice the price. Just like with RAM. 400MHz or a small increase in RAM bandwidth is just not worth the decreasing "Return on Investment".

If spending twice as much ended up performing twice as fast (2x bandwidth, 1/2 as long for a WO, etc), then that would be awsome!!! You are LUCKY to get a 25% increase by spending 2x as much cash IMO. Unfortunately, I can not afford 2x the cost for 25% performance gains. I envy those who can

I'll take the additional 25% performance for 100 bucks any day. For the extra hundred bucks you add 200 MB/s on Si int and float benches. I had to add 150 Mhz to my overclock to get that kind of increase with a 3.0g prescott and 875 NB. DDR2 operates differently from DDR and you can effectivly run Corsair's 8000ul DDR2 (dual pumped) at 1 Ghz using ALL it's intended bandwidth with the P5WD2 with the FSB running at 250 (quad pumped) to 1 gig. Sure you have to run 5-3-3-8 but you do it at a gig. The speed makes up for the additional latencies. DDR2 is new to me and I'm still learning. I'm an engineer, but not an expert on PC internals.....yet. The benches are clear on what they achieved with this ram, link:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2412&p=5

The data from the Corsair app note also has the highest recorded number by comparison, link:
http://corsairmemory.com/corsair/products/tech/AN504_Intel_955X-Memory.pdf


I'm by no means rich and don't have money to throw away, I just know you need to pay attention when both the board manufacturer and ram manufacturer are claiming record numbers when their products get together. At this stage in my life, I think real good about what's good enough. Had too many regrets in the past.



Later Have a good night guys

Wow. Your link pretty much shows how LITTLE difference there is from DDR2-533 to DDR2-800 (looks like LESS than 5% difference on some tests - or the equivalent of running PAT on an old 865 board - big whoop). I could care less about 5% higher scores on a Benchmark - but that's me. I'd much rather spend cash on 4GB of DDR2-533 opposed to 1GB of DDR2-1000 for about the same $$$...

RAM Bandwidth just does NOT seem to be a highly beneficial place to "Over-Spend" in a system. Save that cash for the $600 Video Card you will need , and load up your rig with 2-4Gigs of descent DDR2-533, and run at ~250FSB til the cows come home.