1 gig or 2 gigs?

[GodLovesPunk]

I'm looking into purchasing some new RAM and have narrowed it down to a few choices. When I built my computer a year ago I knew nothing about RAM and saw "Kingston HyperX PC3200" for a cheap price + mail in rebate at Fry's.. Well, needless to say it was the lower end HyperX that cannot overclock worth a darn and never boots at its listed timings and well, basically sucks.

First off, should I get a 1 gig dual channel kit, or a 2 gig kit? I know now adays more and more people are leaning towards 2 gigs, however I understand a really nice 1 gig set of RAM such as the OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 can be just as good if not better. I use my computer mostly for gaming, which consists typically of MMORPGs (I toy around on EQ2, mostly in anticipation for Vanguard: Saga of Heros). I've narrowed the brand down to OCZ, mainly because of their awesome warranty and excellent customer service.

Second, I'm looking for nice overclocking memory or simply PC4000 memory, because I have an A64 3200+ Winchester and Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe that easily reaches 250mhz FSB (250 x 10) that I want to keep at a 1:1 ratio for best performance.

I've narrowed my choices down to:

OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 DDR400 (PC3200) 2x512MB

OCZ EL Platinum DDR533 (PC4200) 2x512MB

OCZ EB DDR PC-4000 2x1024MB Platinum Edition Dual Channel Kit (assuming I can find a place to purchase it)

I know about the OCZ Gold VX PC4000 RAM with 2-2-2-5 timings, however my motherboard will not support the required 3.3v. Any other recommedations are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Ricemarine]

get this Linky

EB has been discontinued for some time now.

 

[GodLovesPunk]

Discontinued? It was just reviewed on Anandtech like 2 months ago. Its discontinued already?

 

[Murd0ck]

I would get a 2x1gb kit for sure. They are making some fast 1024 sticks these days. I will never go back to 2x512. Then again I game a lot.

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: Murd0ck
I would get a 2x1gb kit for sure. They are making some fast 1024 sticks these days. I will never go back to 2x512. Then again I game a lot.

I game alot also, along with doing lots of Project work at home. The only justification I can see for more then a gig is if you do alot of photo/video work. I don't think the move to 2t timing for additional RAM that the system will never use is justified...at least not now with the current technology.

 

[Murd0ck]

Yeah I run 1T on my Corsairs in sig no problem. Dual channel @220MHz=DDR440, no problems.

I play BF2 online and use about 2/3 of my 2gb's of RAM. I have played on the same rig with 2x512 and the performance increase with 2 gigs while playing BF2 is huge. Many folks know this. 2 gb of RAM really cuts down on the page file swapping when playing BF2.

 

[DeathReborn]

The "OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 DDR400 (PC3200) 2x512MB" is very good RAM. It's a shame you don't have a DFI LanParty motherboard though as then you'd be able to use the GeIL One (BH Series) which is capable of this:

GeIL ONE Series BH Version Hand-picked (BH) 32x8 DDR Chips PC3200 400MHz DDR SDRAM. Capable running at DDR400MHz CAS 1.5-2-2-5 and DDR 500MHz CAS 2-2-2-5.

Unfortunately you'd need 3.4v.

 

[Puffnstuff]

As stated before you really need to pay attention to the voltage capabilities of your mb versus the ram you buy. Definately get the 2gb matched sticks as more memory intensive applications are on the way. I would suggest that you look at the corsair xms line of memory.

 

[Ricemarine]

Originally posted by: GodLovesPunk
Discontinued? It was just reviewed on Anandtech like 2 months ago. Its discontinued already?

It's like the DDR625... Not enough good chips to meet the supply and demand.