2900xt goes on Sale - $320 at Best Buy [ooS now]

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imported_BS

Senior member
Mar 8, 2005
375
1
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Believe me, I dont trust myself either lol :) Ive changed out alot of stuff and did alot of screwing around to get one video card to work correctly. I hope that is lol
 

yuppiejr

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2002
1,317
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0
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
Originally posted by: apoppin
*done*

thank-you, AA!

it only hurts when i smile
[free shipping on two .. that's "why" i got Vista Cheapie ... and i just broke my budget ... $750 upgrade for HD2900xt .. don't add in the stuff i already bought earlier this year ...

now ... before i hit "submit" .. anything else ?

Short prayer to the almighty that nothing arrives DoA? :D

the almighty stopped accepeting my collect calls

ANYWAY, all i *need* to work is my HD2900xt ... my MB will do fine with it's 4x PCIe slot for gaming ... i WILL get a substantial performance increase over x1950p ... and i can always set up [one] new SATA HD drive with Vista ... so you guys are stuck with one of my reviews


here's how i make myself feel better about spending SO much this year
[when i blabbered on and on [and on and on] about "waiting" responsibly for SP1/DX10 and a new GPU and telling others "how" to do it ... sorry]

. . . i am making more money this year .. and i need an "offset" for my income taxes

this IS a real "business deduction", you know ... gaming is "incidental"

Grats on the new build!

What PSU are you throwing in this new rig of yours? I didn't see it called out anywhere but the power requirements of the 2900XT are fairly stout, 350 watts under load and a pair of 6-pin PCIe connectors (or 1 x 6 pin and 1 x 8 pin if you intend to overclock...).
 

ND40oz

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2004
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Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
Originally posted by: ND40oz
You can still get these instore. Even if they store doesn't carry them, they can do a customer fullfillment for you. That way you can use your 12% Fathers Day coupons. I bought 2 instore for 281.59 a piece plus tax. They'll either ship it to the store or to your house for free. Pretty sweet deal, mine should be here on the 15th...crossfire 2900XTs for 563 is a hell of a deal.

More info? I might do this.... I can't believe it can be done...

Well, I have two separate Best Buy receipts that say it can be done. Just do exactly as I say in the original post. If you have your doubts, call your local best buy and ask them if they have any Visiontek HD2900XTs available for Customer Fullfillment.
 

imported_BS

Senior member
Mar 8, 2005
375
1
81
Well All is looking good so far for me, maybe my 4th video card is going to be the charm! :D Plugged it in on the first try and no display corruption.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: yuppiejr
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
Originally posted by: apoppin
*done*

thank-you, AA!

it only hurts when i smile
[free shipping on two .. that's "why" i got Vista Cheapie ... and i just broke my budget ... $750 upgrade for HD2900xt .. don't add in the stuff i already bought earlier this year ...

now ... before i hit "submit" .. anything else ?

Short prayer to the almighty that nothing arrives DoA? :D
the almighty stopped accepeting my collect calls

ANYWAY, all i *need* to work is my HD2900xt ... my MB will do fine with it's 4x PCIe slot for gaming ... i WILL get a substantial performance increase over x1950p ... and i can always set up [one] new SATA HD drive with Vista ... so you guys are stuck with one of my reviews


here's how i make myself feel better about spending SO much this year
[when i blabbered on and on [and on and on] about "waiting" responsibly for SP1/DX10 and a new GPU and telling others "how" to do it ... sorry]

. . . i am making more money this year .. and i need an "offset" for my income taxes

this IS a real "business deduction", you know ... gaming is "incidental"

Grats on the new build!

What PSU are you throwing in this new rig of yours? I didn't see it called out anywhere but the power requirements of the 2900XT are fairly stout, 350 watts under load and a pair of 6-pin PCIe connectors (or 1 x 6 pin and 1 x 8 pin if you intend to overclock...).

thanks ... i think my old PS will probably do ... it's an 850w OCZ ... maybe not enough for x-fire but certainly enough to OC one HD2900xt

and glad to hear that BS video card is working ... finally

i wonder what i should bench ... suggestions? ... i better start d/ling now ... i am on dial-up
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
50
91
Try FEAR multiplayer or FEAR Combat. It's a free download and comes with the built in bench.

 

ArchAngel777

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
5,223
61
91
Originally posted by: ND40oz
Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
Originally posted by: ND40oz
You can still get these instore. Even if they store doesn't carry them, they can do a customer fullfillment for you. That way you can use your 12% Fathers Day coupons. I bought 2 instore for 281.59 a piece plus tax. They'll either ship it to the store or to your house for free. Pretty sweet deal, mine should be here on the 15th...crossfire 2900XTs for 563 is a hell of a deal.

More info? I might do this.... I can't believe it can be done...

Well, I have two separate Best Buy receipts that say it can be done. Just do exactly as I say in the original post. If you have your doubts, call your local best buy and ask them if they have any Visiontek HD2900XTs available for Customer Fullfillment.

It is not that I don't believe you, it is just that usually the retailers around here are pretty much a-holes. I am not sure how I would be able to convince them to honor the deal when the website has already reverted back to the $399 price. I am so used to getting shot down there... I suppose I could try it.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
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alienbabeltech.com
the *question* is what was advertised in the BB flyer?

i thought there was a flyer


and i have the FEAR full game and Extraction Point and can run the built in demo ... maxing everything ... i have Stalker/HL & CH1/Oblivion & SI/Gothic3/Prey/Q4/NWN2/Fable LC and lots of older games including FC and Riddick

Do we want to see comparisons with

1) my x1950p

2) my ASrock 4x PCIe shot vs. the 16x full-featured Gigabyte

and

3) Win2K vs Vista 32Bit performance

right?

--who thinks i can even get it working right?
--my first SATA [anything] RAID
 

Gnitepracdlo

Member
Feb 26, 2006
33
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0
Originally posted by: ND40oz
You can still get these instore. Even if they store doesn't carry them, they can do a customer fullfillment for you. That way you can use your 12% Fathers Day coupons. I bought 2 instore for 281.59 a piece plus tax. They'll either ship it to the store or to your house for free. Pretty sweet deal, mine should be here on the 15th...crossfire 2900XTs for 563 is a hell of a deal.

so you got the 20% and 12% discount and bought it in-store?
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: Gnitepracdlo
Originally posted by: ND40oz
You can still get these instore. Even if they store doesn't carry them, they can do a customer fullfillment for you. That way you can use your 12% Fathers Day coupons. I bought 2 instore for 281.59 a piece plus tax. They'll either ship it to the store or to your house for free. Pretty sweet deal, mine should be here on the 15th...crossfire 2900XTs for 563 is a hell of a deal.

so you got the 20% and 12% discount and bought it in-store?

there was a 10 and 12% coupon around ... i didn't have time to try for it ... i was just glad to get one at 6am Sunday morning for $320

if i physically went to a BB, i could have ordered from there and probably chose the closest place top have it shipped ... as it is, i get to wait till Friday.

and was there a flyer[?] advertising HD2900xt for 20% off? ... if so, you should go in store to order one or call them to order at the $320 price



Originally posted by: tuteja1986
appoppin don't bother getting more than 2GB of ram... 2GB of DDR 800 micron ram and oc to 1000Mhz 4.4.4.8.
i already have 2x1GB Corsair XMS series PC6400 ... should OC pretty well

now my QUESTION is ... should i bother with another 2x1GB RAM ... Doesn't 32-bit Vista use 3+ GB ... or ... just buy and additional 2x512MB ? ... or forget it ... ?

FOUND it: ... i guess i will get another 2x1GB system RAM ... Vista 32-bit just may not make efficient use of much more than 3GB of it

http://news.softpedia.com/news...dows-Vista-50924.shtml

http://vistarewired.com/2007/0...-32-bit-windows-vista/

it's really really cheap ... i think i will get another 2GB

edit:

more from MS http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605
This behavior is the expected result of certain hardware and software factors.

Various devices in a typical computer require memory-mapped access. This is known as memory-mapped I/O (MMIO). For the MMIO space to be available to 32-bit operating systems, the MMIO space must reside within the first 4 GB of address space.

For example, if you have a video card that has 256 MB of onboard memory, that memory must be mapped within the first 4 GB of address space. If 4 GB of system memory is already installed, part of that address space must be reserved by the graphics memory mapping. Graphics memory mapping overwrites a part of the system memory. These conditions reduce the total amount of system memory that is available to the operating system.

The reduction in available system memory depends on the devices that are installed in the computer. However, to avoid potential driver compatibility issues, the 32-bit versions of Windows Vista limit the total available memory to 3.12 GB. See the "More information" section for information about potential driver compatibility issues.

If a computer has many installed devices, the available memory may be reduced to 3 GB or less. However, the maximum memory available in 32-bit versions of Windows Vista is typically 3.12 GB.

so no biggie ... plenty for games!!!!
 

djnsmith7

Platinum Member
Apr 13, 2004
2,612
1
0
I've been out of the loop for a bit on CF cards & I only use ASUS boards...What's the feeling around here about the ASUS P5K Deluxe board? I might pair a couple of these cards with this board if I decide to CF...
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
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alienbabeltech.com
excellent ... i almost got an ASUS P5K board ... just make sure you get the newest ones that support the latest 45 nm processors

basically it came down to an Asus board for $149 without RAID or my Gigabyte with for $179 ... and then that 250GB SATA Seagate 'cuda pair was too hard to pass up

i shoulda got the ASUS
 

ND40oz

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2004
1,264
0
86
In this weeks best buy ad (comes in the Sunday paper) it says all Visiontek cards are 20% this week. Even if the website says it's $399 they should still give you the 20% off instore because of the Ad (usually they have them at the front of the store too). Best Buy can do a customer fullfillment for a product, when I went the second time, they had 3 available for customer fullfillment. I don't know if this a regional number or national, but you can call the store and ask them if they have any available for customer fullfillment. One store wouldn't even bother checking for me, but I called another and they looked it up for me. If you're a reward zone member you should have had coupons emailed to you for Fathers Day, they have a 12% off coupon that you can use on the card as well instore.
 

Gnitepracdlo

Member
Feb 26, 2006
33
0
0
Originally posted by: ND40oz
In this weeks best buy ad (comes in the Sunday paper) it says all Visiontek cards are 20% this week. Even if the website says it's $399 they should still give you the 20% off instore because of the Ad (usually they have them at the front of the store too). Best Buy can do a customer fullfillment for a product, when I went the second time, they had 3 available for customer fullfillment. I don't know if this a regional number or national, but you can call the store and ask them if they have any available for customer fullfillment. One store wouldn't even bother checking for me, but I called another and they looked it up for me. If you're a reward zone member you should have had coupons emailed to you for Fathers Day, they have a 12% off coupon that you can use on the card as well instore.

yeah i called the one closest to me and they said they didn't handle the high end ones for customer fullfillment..i guess i'll try walking into another one and show them the ad..
 

djnsmith7

Platinum Member
Apr 13, 2004
2,612
1
0
Originally posted by: ND40oz
In this weeks best buy ad (comes in the Sunday paper) it says all Visiontek cards are 20% this week. Even if the website says it's $399 they should still give you the 20% off instore because of the Ad (usually they have them at the front of the store too). Best Buy can do a customer fullfillment for a product, when I went the second time, they had 3 available for customer fullfillment. I don't know if this a regional number or national, but you can call the store and ask them if they have any available for customer fullfillment. One store wouldn't even bother checking for me, but I called another and they looked it up for me. If you're a reward zone member you should have had coupons emailed to you for Fathers Day, they have a 12% off coupon that you can use on the card as well instore.

Nice, I'll go back tomorrow & see if they'll honor the 12% off coupon off the already awesome price of $320...That would be sick...I'm glad you guys mentioned this coupon, I haven't check that email box in months...
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: Gnitepracdlo
Originally posted by: ND40oz
In this weeks best buy ad (comes in the Sunday paper) it says all Visiontek cards are 20% this week. Even if the website says it's $399 they should still give you the 20% off instore because of the Ad (usually they have them at the front of the store too). Best Buy can do a customer fullfillment for a product, when I went the second time, they had 3 available for customer fullfillment. I don't know if this a regional number or national, but you can call the store and ask them if they have any available for customer fullfillment. One store wouldn't even bother checking for me, but I called another and they looked it up for me. If you're a reward zone member you should have had coupons emailed to you for Fathers Day, they have a 12% off coupon that you can use on the card as well instore.

yeah i called the one closest to me and they said they didn't handle the high end ones for customer fullfillment..i guess i'll try walking into another one and show them the add..

i have found that calling BB is usually a bad idea . . . unless you luck-out with a really helpful CSR. Best is to actually go into BB withOUT the ad in hand and just ASK for the VisionTek $399 HD2900xt ... AFTER is is *confirmed*, THEN ask for the 20% [+12%] off.

You gotta have a "strategy" for dealing with BB as you are automatically a "devil" when you ask for the discount first.

and since 32-bit Vista DOES use 4GB of system RAM [512MB are "eaten up" by my HD2900xt and other HW uses it] BUT actually 3.12GB are actually "available"

shall i get *another* 2x1GB Corsair XMS PC6400

this is what i have:
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

since it is $91 after MIR, might be a good idea ... right NOW ... is it "good enough" for this system?
 

nullpointerus

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2003
1,326
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Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Originally posted by: nullpointerus
Originally posted by: BS
I gave up on 64bit when I tried XP64. Driver support isnt there and there are still software issues you run into for a minimal gain.

The situation's changed since then, but it can still be a mess depending on your hardware/software. I'm running 64-bit 24/7, and, except for the few remaining issues left for me to troubleshoot, everything in my rig is working just fine.

That's good. But what are the true advantages in running 64 bit over 32? Does the OS run faster? Does it manage memory usage better? Is it a world of difference, or just barely noticeable? Or are we all just being forced, if we adopt Vista which runs "best" on 4GB of memory and being able to address and use that memory requires 64bit? The only one's I see that benefits from all this, is Microsoft, and memory vendors. And even USB 2.0 flash drive manufacturers if everyone makes the mistake apoppin almost did.

My reply (above) was intended to be slightly self-contradictory. :D


4GB+ System Memory

Anyway, more memory is almost always a good thing by itself. Benchmarks are usually run on a fresh boot in a clean install with no unnecessary programs running, but in the real world (i.e. where dual core and more memory shine) we multitask, so you really won't see hard benchmark numbers (for desktop usage) advocating 4GB over 2GB system memory.

Some business and general-purpose benchmarks are designed with multitasking in mind, but don't necessarily reflect real-world usage. For example, what happens when your game that just works without hiccups in 2GB has to be unloaded so you can switch to office apps and burn a DVD? Hit the hard drive with two performance-intensive tasks (i.e. paging and streaming), and watch performance plummet.

So, for 4GB, I find that being able to heavily multitask a bit more without churning the hard drives is really a plus. But I would also say that this kind of performance improvement is the kind of thing you "don't notice," in the same way that you don't notice your screendoor sticking and clanging after you've replaced it. The first time you see it working properly, you may smile, but after that first time you just don't want to have to think about it anymore.

Note that you will always find ways to make the OS page to virtual memory. It just happens a lot less.

Some individual applications like Photoshop and video editors require lots of RAM (for professional usage), and this will definitely influence the buying decisions of such users. Having a mainstream 64-bit Windows will be a god-send for these people when most of the compatibility problems are worked out. XP Pro x64 was like the red-headed stepchild that can do some cores but that nobody really wants to talk about.


64-bit Vista and SuperFetch

The problem with XP/Vista 32-bit is that the most RAM they can physically use is a little over 3GB no matter how much is physically present in the system; the unaddressable portion might as well not exist because it cannot be utilized for anything.

In previous versions of Windows, ay RAM above and beyond what your applications were using could not improve performance. Vista has SuperFetch, which is an aggressive prefetcher that tracks usage patterns and tries to fill (as a background task) unused system memory with program files and related data files that you are likely to want loaded from HDD to system memory.

For example, if you use Word in the morning, then, in Vista, the first time you click on the icon in the morning, it will load as if the program had already been in memory (because SuperFetch has already put it there for you).

Obviously, the more system memory you have, the more accurate SuperFetch becomes. Vista x64 enables you to use 4GB+ as opposed to the 32-bit limitation of 3.12 GB. Switching my Vista install from 32-bit to 64-bit allowed the OS to use that extra 768MB+ of system memory for SuperFetch. There are diminishing returns for all cache subsystems, but personally I was willing to deal with the 64-bit problems. YMMV

As I said above, SuperFetch is the kind of improvement you "don't notice."


64-bit Vista and Code Performance

OS and driver code running in 64-bit mode are supposed to be more efficient largely because of the utilization of the additional GPR's (general purpose registers) and native 64-bit math/addressing. For example, file system drivers have been doing 64-bit operations for years because they need to deal with large partitions and files, and running natively 64-bit eliminates some performance penalties.

64-bit code also carries an increased memory footprint and load times, and the new drivers are immature, so generally I'd say performance of code running in 64-bit mode is largely the same as in 32-bit mode. You will see large gains in certain specific applications running in 64-bit mode, but no such large gains in anything that comes with the OS or is "typical" i.e. for "Joe User."
 

nullpointerus

Golden Member
Apr 17, 2003
1,326
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0
Originally posted by: apoppin
and since 32-bit Vista DOES use 4GB of system RAM [512MB are "eaten up" by my HD2900xt and other HW uses it] BUT actually 3.12GB are actually "available"

That wording is a little misleading. The CPU has a certain amount of global address space available to it. Some of the address space is mapped to physical RAM, and some of the address space is mapped to memory present on expansion cards. So while your computer may have 4GB RAM, the 32-bit OS will only be able to use 3.12GB of that RAM. The rest will site idle (even to the OS) because the address space above 3.12GB has already been doled out to the 512MB of GPU RAM and various other kinds of RAM in the system.

In other words, the remaining 0.88GB of system RAM is in limbo. No one can see it, and no one can use it for anything. Only the complete set of (a) BIOS memory remapping option, (b) 64-bit hardware, and (c) 64-bit enabled OS will ever "see" memory above the 3.12GB limitation because only this exact combination results in a properly-utiltized address space greater than 4GB.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: nullpointerus
Originally posted by: apoppin
and since 32-bit Vista DOES use 4GB of system RAM [512MB are "eaten up" by my HD2900xt and other HW uses it] BUT actually 3.12GB are actually "available"

That wording is a little misleading. The CPU has a certain amount of global address space available to it. Some of the address space is mapped to physical RAM, and some of the address space is mapped to memory present on expansion cards. So while your computer may have 4GB RAM, the 32-bit OS will only be able to use 3.12GB of that RAM. The rest will site idle (even to the OS) because the address space above 3.12GB has already been doled out to the 512MB of GPU RAM and various other kinds of RAM in the system.

In other words, the remaining 0.88GB of system RAM is in limbo. No one can see it, and no one can use it for anything. Only the complete set of (a) BIOS memory remapping option, (b) 64-bit hardware, and (c) 64-bit enabled OS will ever "see" memory above the 3.12GB limitation because only this exact combination results in a properly-utiltized address space greater than 4GB.

not intentionally "misleading"

and there are workarounds that allow 32bit Vista to see much more than 3.12GB RAM ... but they require working thru another "layer" and performance is slowed somewhat ... but there will be that option with my system if i ever want to get more than 4GB RAM

and i understand that MS may change this limitation ... it is rather arbitrarily set at 3.12GB . ... it could definitely be set higher if they choose ... and i am hearing that there may be in fact a decent workaround for 32-bit RAM limitations in a later SP.

I believe that 4 GB of RAM gives more performance than 3GB [2x1GB in DC and 2x 512M in DC] so that .88 GB Ram is not actually "wasted"

so .. with the prices of RAM being so low, i thought i'd go for a 2nd Pair
of CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

or should i just go for the really nice stuff?

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail -$89.99 after $75.00 Mail-In Rebate

would i be able to run them together at the slower Corsair timings and speed when i want 4GB ? [instead of super hi performance 2GB]

*EDIT* Now i see progress ... my Gigabyte P35-DS3P, Vista Home Premium 32 and 1 GB ready-boost arrived

and if i get the Crucial Ballistix, i get the 2 GB ready- Boost

shall i go for it ?
 

n7

Elite Member
Jan 4, 2004
21,281
4
81
Well, assuming the rebate comes back, that Crucial is a WAY better deal than your Corsair.

I'm not such a big fan of mixing & matching RAM, but as long as you keep the pairs to their own channels, you should be okay.

And a 2 GB ReadyBoost USB drive is just an added bonus!

BTW, seriously, you should look into the 64-bit version of Vista if you haven't opened/used your 32-bit one yet.

I held back on 64-bit for so long myself too, but really, there's no reason to be holding back.

I am telling you now, there are very few appz that don't work, & for those you absolutely end up needing that don't have official driver signatures, you can disable driver signing if you must.

The only program i've run across thus far i can't get to work is iTAT, which is minor.

 

pcslookout

Lifer
Mar 18, 2007
11,958
154
106
iTAT should really be able to work in Windows Vista 64 bit. When should it without having to disable driver signing? I didn't do it because I rather wait for a version that supports 64 bit.
 

ArchAngel777

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
5,223
61
91
Originally posted by: apoppin
Originally posted by: nullpointerus
Originally posted by: apoppin
and since 32-bit Vista DOES use 4GB of system RAM [512MB are "eaten up" by my HD2900xt and other HW uses it] BUT actually 3.12GB are actually "available"

That wording is a little misleading. The CPU has a certain amount of global address space available to it. Some of the address space is mapped to physical RAM, and some of the address space is mapped to memory present on expansion cards. So while your computer may have 4GB RAM, the 32-bit OS will only be able to use 3.12GB of that RAM. The rest will site idle (even to the OS) because the address space above 3.12GB has already been doled out to the 512MB of GPU RAM and various other kinds of RAM in the system.

In other words, the remaining 0.88GB of system RAM is in limbo. No one can see it, and no one can use it for anything. Only the complete set of (a) BIOS memory remapping option, (b) 64-bit hardware, and (c) 64-bit enabled OS will ever "see" memory above the 3.12GB limitation because only this exact combination results in a properly-utiltized address space greater than 4GB.

not intentionally "misleading"

and there are workarounds that allow 32bit Vista to see much more than 3.12GB RAM ... but they require working thru another "layer" and performance is slowed somewhat ... but there will be that option with my system if i ever want to get more than 4GB RAM

and i understand that MS may change this limitation ... it is rather arbitrarily set at 3.12GB . ... it could definitely be set higher if they choose ... and i am hearing that there may be in fact a decent workaround for 32-bit RAM limitations in a later SP.

I believe that 4 GB of RAM gives more performance than 3GB [2x1GB in DC and 2x 512M in DC] so that .88 GB Ram is not actually "wasted"

so .. with the prices of RAM being so low, i thought i'd go for a 2nd Pair
of CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

or should i just go for the really nice stuff?

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail -$89.99 after $75.00 Mail-In Rebate

would i be able to run them together at the slower Corsair timings and speed when i want 4GB ? [instead of super hi performance 2GB]

*EDIT* Now i see progress ... my Gigabyte P35-DS3P, Vista Home Premium 32 and 1 GB ready-boost arrived

and if i get the Crucial Ballistix, i get the 2 GB ready- Boost

shall i go for it ?


When it comes to my opinion on memory, it is simply. I think it is BS that companies sell ram rated at speeds greater than 1.8v. The least they can do is give the specs the ram has at default voltage, THEN if they want, they can specify what the chip is capable of when overvolted. But, they don't... So memory is sort of all over the board at this point. Some cheap ram that is rated at 1.8v might actually perform just as well as those more 'expensive' sticks... Who knows. Then there is some high end ram that fails to boot at default voltage (1.8v). Sorry, this post is a huge rant over it... I need to get over it. But it ticks me off... :D

No opinion on what ram you should get at this point as I think it comes down to luck of the draw, unless you know the bin/model numbers of the memory.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
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alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: n7
Well, assuming the rebate comes back, that Crucial is a WAY better deal than your Corsair.

I'm not such a big fan of mixing & matching RAM, but as long as you keep the pairs to their own channels, you should be okay.

And a 2 GB ReadyBoost USB drive is just an added bonus!

BTW, seriously, you should look into the 64-bit version of Vista if you haven't opened/used your 32-bit one yet.
i already got the 1GB ready boost drive 'free' with Vista ... you have to take the 2GB one to get the Crucial discount.

No, they will run *together* ... at the slower RAM's timings ... you can't put them on separate channels.

that way i get to test my *everything* OCed at the fastest possible speeds and timings ... and then run it at the slower speed with the "extra" +2GB for everyday to see how i feel about it
... until i sell the XMS ... i am gonna take a big loss on it, aren't i?

forget 64-bit for me ... the *only* issue is addressing OVER 4GB of RAM ... [question] when will we see games that need over 4GB of RAM? ... [answer] the NEXT generation ... DX11 ... 3 or 4 more years ... by then i will have DDR4

and 64 bit


EDIT: i just *RIPPED OPEN* the 32-bit OEM Version of Vista's packaging ... so you can stop encouraging me to return it for the 64-bit version

2nd edit:

ArchAngel777, uh, no ... that Crucial RAM is some really special OC'ing stuff ... Waaaaaaaaa ..... aaaay better than my Corsair [period]
 

Gnitepracdlo

Member
Feb 26, 2006
33
0
0
Originally posted by: ND40oz
In this weeks best buy ad (comes in the Sunday paper) it says all Visiontek cards are 20% this week. Even if the website says it's $399 they should still give you the 20% off instore because of the Ad (usually they have them at the front of the store too). Best Buy can do a customer fullfillment for a product, when I went the second time, they had 3 available for customer fullfillment. I don't know if this a regional number or national, but you can call the store and ask them if they have any available for customer fullfillment. One store wouldn't even bother checking for me, but I called another and they looked it up for me. If you're a reward zone member you should have had coupons emailed to you for Fathers Day, they have a 12% off coupon that you can use on the card as well instore.

very nice..i followed your advice and it worked. i went to the store and i was able to order it shipped to the store for the sale price. :)