Athlon 64 2800+ on DFI Lanparty nf3 250GB

[gabemcg]

Hello all,

I've just finished installing my new Motherboard and processor (merry christmas to me). I went from:

athlon xp 2000+
asus a7v8x
512 mb ddr pc2700 (333) PNY I think

no I've got

Athlon 64 2800+
DFI Lanparty nf3 250GB

I'm currnetly using the same DIMM, but I am interested in an upgrade that will take better advatatge of my new components (aparently this mobo can handle up to PC4200) And honestly I'm a bit confused, I've done my best to research the preferred options, and I'm having trouble coming to any good conclusions, so I thought I would emplore the collective knowlege base that is this forum.

I realize that many of those posting here are enthusiasts to say the least, I wouldn't quite lump myself in that category, however I would definitly consider myself a "hobbiest." Therfore, I am not inclined to upgrade every time bleeding edge tech gets a speed boost, nor to employ any means neccisary to squeez every bit of performance out of my hardware.

personally I like to keep my system somewhere just behind the curve, which is where the best values tend to be, which happens to be my primary concern with upgrades.

I'm looking for a memory solution somewhere in the $100-$200 range. As for specs, all I ask is that hopefully through discourse in this thread, myself as well as others in similar situations (of whom I'm sure there are plenty) will be enlightend as to the best "Bang for the buck" available for this setup.

Here are some crieteria I'd hope to achive in my price range:

name brand
1 DIMM
at least 512 MB
Ideally 1 GB

I don't know if the typical usages of my comp make much of an impact on the decision making process, but I do not do very much gaming (Half Life 2 was the first computer game I'd played all the way through in 8months to a year). Mostly my activities tend to be multimedia related, such as photoshop, adobe premiere, managing my mp3 collection, I tend to deal with alot of large files, and large transfers.

since I know this motherboard has the ablility for a ton of custimization as far as overclocking goes, feel free to offer solutions that involve low level (read: idiot-proof/safe) overclocking

I will continue to do research on my own, but please lend me your thoughts, and feel free to offer a variety of options you think may suit me or others like me.

Thanks in advance for your help

Gabe

 

[ts3433]

I'll see what I can do for you, hobbyist.

If you want 1GB of RAM, it's cheaper to get 2 DIMMs. This can be done for around $140 with Corsair or Mushkin value RAM. You could just get one more stick of PC3200 512MB, though, since PC2700 bandwidth does not really starve an A64 in most applications--see Zebo's S939 memory roundup in the CPU/OC forum (the results should carry over to this platform). (You don't have to worry about having identical sticks since there is no dual channel on S754 and they would run fine in single channel anyway.)

 

[btbam]

new egg has patriot EP XBL ram for $110 per 512mb stick and i got my ram doing 267mhz thats 2.4ghz on a x9 multi, not bad for $110

 

[gabemcg]

Originally posted by: btbam
new egg has patriot EP XBL ram for $110 per 512mb stick and i got my ram doing 267mhz thats 2.4ghz on a x9 multi, not bad for $110

hmm, that sounds pretty impressive, I'm looking more towards the 1GB level now that I've rooted arround for prices, this looks like a good choice to me, also from newegg:

Mushkin Dual Pack 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail


- Specifications -

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184-Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 2.5-3-3
Support Voltage: 2.5V-2.6V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit
Warranty: Lifetime

Price: $136.37


any thoughts?

also, the review of my mobo seems to indicate that best performance is gained when only using 1 stick of ram as opposed to two, is this only when overclocking, or in general with the nf3 250gb ?

 

[ts3433]

The Mushkin RAM is great for non-OCed setups, but check out some Patriot RAM if you must run 1:1 (refer to Zebo's memoru roundup for insight that would advise you to do otherwise).

The "1 DIMM" comment was probably made with regards to overclocking. Even then, I really wouldn't recommend a single 1GB DIMM because they're more expensive and don't seem to overclock as well.

 

[gabemcg]

Thanks for all your help, I just ordered:

One Day Sale, Ends 12/28/2004 5:30 PM PST
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - OEM


Model# VS1GBKIT400
Item # N82E16820145440
Specification
Manufacturer: Corsair
Model: VS1GBKIT400
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 2.5
Support Voltage: 2.5V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit
Warranty: Lifetime


seems like a good deal on decent memory
I also picked up an 80 gig maxtor sata 7200 rpm (8mb) to pop in a raid array

 

[Texsstar]

1GB Consair Select Value Ram $109.00 < Exc Value Ram

 

[Slaimus]

As good as that DFI board is, the memory controller is still on the CPU, and you prob will not be able to achieve the advertised speed and/or latency with 2 double sided RAM sticks.

Crucial single sided 512MB