CAS2 vs CAS3

[Sunday Ironfoot]

Sorry, this question has probably been asked a million times before, I did try search the forums but 'CAS2 vs CAS3' didn't come up with anything. But anyway, does CAS2 make much of a different compared to CAS3.

I'm planning on a new machine with the following hardware...

Ahtlon X2 3800
nForce 4 430 (Geforce 6150) mATX board
X1800XT 512MB (or maybe X1900XT)

It's mainly for gaming, but I wouldn't mind good overal responsiveness from general desktop use. I plan to overclock the CPU and graphics card, but not the memory.

Many thanks for help!

 

[furballi]

About 30 to 40MHz CPU core speed.

 

[Sunday Ironfoot]

So the difference between CAS2 and CAS3 is the equivalent to a 30/40Mhz difference in core speed of the CPU?

 

[Duvie]

Maybe more....If anything cas 2 often allows people to OC their memory to higher speeds and still have respectable cas timings...It is no secret A64s love the low latency, but games often love the bandwidth as much....I personally got PC3200 cas 2-3-2-5 stuff so I can run it at near 500ddr speeds (with ocing of my HTT) and still hold at least cas 2.5....kinda like the best of both world...

 

[Sunday Ironfoot]

I don't intend to overclock the RAM, the mobo I'm getting has fairly limited overclocking options anyway, FSB increase, thats it. Although I plan to overclock the CPU a fair bit, hoping for 2.3 or 2.4GHz on stock voltage. As long as using CAS3 ram doesn't absolutely kill the performance or anything, I think I might go with CAS3, I'm on a fairly strict budget.

 

[nealh]

FYI..the 2x 512 often will oc better than 2 x 1gb sticks..so low latency is much more expensive

 

[Mogadon]

If you're on a budget you'd be better of spending the cash elsewhere, such as your video card if you're a gamer.

 

[Avalon]

2-2-2 memory is often more expensive than 2-3-3 memory, which itself typically isn't much more than CAS3 latency memory, if you look around for good deals. Low latency helps a bit, but memory has very little impact on gaming performance.

I recently did a mini review on a 2GB dual channel kit of Team Xtreem Cronus PC4000 memory, using my 2x512MB kit of Mushkin PC3200 as a reference point. At all stages, the CPU speed was kept the same, with the only thing changing being the memory speed and memory latency.

Test Setup
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice E3 @ 2400mhz (8x300, 9x267)
DFI NF4 Ultra-D Lanparty s939 (modded to SLI, 6/23-2 BIOS)
eVGA 6200 128MB (modded to 6600) 8pp @ 400/650 w/79.11 forcewares
Enermax 460w WhisperII 24pin PSU (33A@12v)
NEC 3520 DVD-RW
Lite-On CD-RW/DVD
60GB IBM Deathstar ATA100 7200RPM 8MB HDD
120GB Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM 8MB HDD
Cooler Master Cavalier 3
2x120mm + 1x80mm case cooling
Thermalright SI-120 HSF
Floppy

Memory
2x1GB Team Cronus PC4000 DDR (Samsung modules, brainpower PCB)
2x512MB Mushkin Blue C2 PC3200 DDR (Winbond UTT modules, brainpower PCB)

Applications & settings
Winrar 3.5 internal benchmark, 3 minute run
Sandra Buffered memory benchmark, int and float results, average of 3 runs
Sandra Unbuffered memory benchmark, int and float, average of 3 runs
Superpi 4M single run
Doom 3 @ 800x600 high settings internal benchmark, average of 3 runs
CS:S @ 800x600 high settings stress test, average of 3 runs

Winrar 3.5
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 3.05v - 597KB/s, 107MB
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.95v - 546KB/s, 97MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.75v - 548KB/s, 98MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz (8x300 @ 166mhz) 2.85v - 607KB/s, 109MB
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz (9x267 @ 1:1 HTT) 2.85v - 592KB/s, 106MB

Sandra Buffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5918MB/s, Float:5862MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5858MB/s, Float:5805MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5827MB/s, Float:5797MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:6362MB/s, Float:6304MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:6594MB/s, Float:6526MB/s

Sandra Unbuffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4071MB/s, Float:4060MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:3960MB/s, Float:3942MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4039MB/s, Float:4018MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:4651MB/s, Float:4650MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:4959MB/s, Float:4957MB/s

Superpi 4M
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.907s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 4.906s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.922s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 2 min, 59.250s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 2 min, 57.672s

Doom 3
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 88.2/67.4 (cached average/first run)
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.3/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.25/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 88.5/68.5
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 88.5/68.5

CS:S
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 141.80
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.74
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.81
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 141.93
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 140.98

My advice is to get a cheap set of 2-3-3 memory.
CAS3 doesn't seem to be too friendly to games, at least using the Doom/Source engine, and 2-2-2 is often too expensive.
Enjoy

 

[Duvie]

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1475190&enterthread=y

Check out this great review....Use to be a stickied item for almost a year in this forum...

 

[hans007]

good 2-2-2 ram costs like twice as much as good 3-3-3 ram.

i dont think its worth the difference honestly. you could buy twice as much ram etc.

sure cas2 is faster, but its not worth it. this is assuming the same speed ram.

 

[Acanthus]

It isnt worth it.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Avalon
2-2-2 memory is often more expensive than 2-3-3 memory, which itself typically isn't much more than CAS3 latency memory, if you look around for good deals. Low latency helps a bit, but memory has very little impact on gaming performance.

I recently did a mini review on a 2GB dual channel kit of Team Xtreem Cronus PC4000 memory, using my 2x512MB kit of Mushkin PC3200 as a reference point. At all stages, the CPU speed was kept the same, with the only thing changing being the memory speed and memory latency.

Test Setup
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice E3 @ 2400mhz (8x300, 9x267)
DFI NF4 Ultra-D Lanparty s939 (modded to SLI, 6/23-2 BIOS)
eVGA 6200 128MB (modded to 6600) 8pp @ 400/650 w/79.11 forcewares
Enermax 460w WhisperII 24pin PSU (33A@12v)
NEC 3520 DVD-RW
Lite-On CD-RW/DVD
60GB IBM Deathstar ATA100 7200RPM 8MB HDD
120GB Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM 8MB HDD
Cooler Master Cavalier 3
2x120mm + 1x80mm case cooling
Thermalright SI-120 HSF
Floppy

Memory
2x1GB Team Cronus PC4000 DDR (Samsung modules, brainpower PCB)
2x512MB Mushkin Blue C2 PC3200 DDR (Winbond UTT modules, brainpower PCB)

Applications & settings
Winrar 3.5 internal benchmark, 3 minute run
Sandra Buffered memory benchmark, int and float results, average of 3 runs
Sandra Unbuffered memory benchmark, int and float, average of 3 runs
Superpi 4M single run
Doom 3 @ 800x600 high settings internal benchmark, average of 3 runs
CS:S @ 800x600 high settings stress test, average of 3 runs

Winrar 3.5
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 3.05v - 597KB/s, 107MB
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.95v - 546KB/s, 97MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.75v - 548KB/s, 98MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz (8x300 @ 166mhz) 2.85v - 607KB/s, 109MB
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz (9x267 @ 1:1 HTT) 2.85v - 592KB/s, 106MB

Sandra Buffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5918MB/s, Float:5862MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5858MB/s, Float:5805MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5827MB/s, Float:5797MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:6362MB/s, Float:6304MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:6594MB/s, Float:6526MB/s

Sandra Unbuffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4071MB/s, Float:4060MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:3960MB/s, Float:3942MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4039MB/s, Float:4018MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:4651MB/s, Float:4650MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:4959MB/s, Float:4957MB/s

Superpi 4M
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.907s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 4.906s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.922s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 2 min, 59.250s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 2 min, 57.672s

Doom 3
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 88.2/67.4 (cached average/first run)
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.3/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.25/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 88.5/68.5
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 88.5/68.5

CS:S
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 141.80
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.74
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.81
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 141.93
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 140.98

My advice is to get a cheap set of 2-3-3 memory.
CAS3 doesn't seem to be too friendly to games, at least using the Doom/Source engine, and 2-2-2 is often too expensive.
Enjoy

That all well and good, but when you discard all of the synthetics and look the real world, Winrar is the only application that sees a tangible increase, so unless you sit around raring stuff all day, the extra money for LL simply isnt worth it.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Mogadon
If you're on a budget you'd be better of spending the cash elsewhere, such as your video card if you're a gamer.

QFT. For a gamer if you already have budget for dual SLI 7900GTX, then sure, buy the more expensive stuff. Otherwise don't bother.

Avalon pointed out something else... sometimes you can get 2-3-3 RAM (versus 2-2-2) for a decent price. Recently Newegg had a weekend deal for 2GB Corsair XMS 2-3-3 RAM for $120 after rebate.

 

[Sunday Ironfoot]

Thanks some good advice, and thanks for the benchmarking info Avalon and Duvie. I just bought some CAS 2-3-3-6 RAM, only a little bit more than the CAS3 stuff. Better play it safe I suppose. As for rest of my system I got....

Item: Corsair (TWINX2048-3200C2PT) 2GB (2 x 1GB Matched Pair) DDR PC3200
2x128Mx64 non-ECC 2x184
DIMM unbuffered 2-3-3-6 64Mx8 DRAMs Matched Pair Silver Heat Spreader Lifetime
Warranty
Cost: £123.87

Item: PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI PCI-E
Cost: £242.51

Item: AMD Athlon 64 (ADA3800BVBOX) X2 3800+ Socket 939 Dual Core 2.0ghz 512Kb
and 512Kb Cache
Cost: £175.31

Item: Antec TruePower II 480W PSU - With Blue LED
Cost: £52.99

Item: Asus A8N-VM CSM Socket 939 NVC51PV M-ATX VGA Sound Lan USB 2.0 1394 1000
FSB SATA
Cost: £47.44

-----------------------------------------------------------

Shipping method: Free Shipping Offer at: 0.00

Subtotal: £642.12
VAT total: £112.39
------------
Total: £754.51
------------


Should be arriving by Thursday this week, can't wait!!!

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Avalon
2-2-2 memory is often more expensive than 2-3-3 memory, which itself typically isn't much more than CAS3 latency memory, if you look around for good deals. Low latency helps a bit, but memory has very little impact on gaming performance.

I recently did a mini review on a 2GB dual channel kit of Team Xtreem Cronus PC4000 memory, using my 2x512MB kit of Mushkin PC3200 as a reference point. At all stages, the CPU speed was kept the same, with the only thing changing being the memory speed and memory latency.

Test Setup
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice E3 @ 2400mhz (8x300, 9x267)
DFI NF4 Ultra-D Lanparty s939 (modded to SLI, 6/23-2 BIOS)
eVGA 6200 128MB (modded to 6600) 8pp @ 400/650 w/79.11 forcewares
Enermax 460w WhisperII 24pin PSU (33A@12v)
NEC 3520 DVD-RW
Lite-On CD-RW/DVD
60GB IBM Deathstar ATA100 7200RPM 8MB HDD
120GB Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM 8MB HDD
Cooler Master Cavalier 3
2x120mm + 1x80mm case cooling
Thermalright SI-120 HSF
Floppy

Memory
2x1GB Team Cronus PC4000 DDR (Samsung modules, brainpower PCB)
2x512MB Mushkin Blue C2 PC3200 DDR (Winbond UTT modules, brainpower PCB)

Applications & settings
Winrar 3.5 internal benchmark, 3 minute run
Sandra Buffered memory benchmark, int and float results, average of 3 runs
Sandra Unbuffered memory benchmark, int and float, average of 3 runs
Superpi 4M single run
Doom 3 @ 800x600 high settings internal benchmark, average of 3 runs
CS:S @ 800x600 high settings stress test, average of 3 runs

Winrar 3.5
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 3.05v - 597KB/s, 107MB
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.95v - 546KB/s, 97MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.75v - 548KB/s, 98MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz (8x300 @ 166mhz) 2.85v - 607KB/s, 109MB
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz (9x267 @ 1:1 HTT) 2.85v - 592KB/s, 106MB

Sandra Buffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5918MB/s, Float:5862MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5858MB/s, Float:5805MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5827MB/s, Float:5797MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:6362MB/s, Float:6304MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:6594MB/s, Float:6526MB/s

Sandra Unbuffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4071MB/s, Float:4060MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:3960MB/s, Float:3942MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4039MB/s, Float:4018MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:4651MB/s, Float:4650MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:4959MB/s, Float:4957MB/s

Superpi 4M
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.907s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 4.906s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.922s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 2 min, 59.250s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 2 min, 57.672s

Doom 3
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 88.2/67.4 (cached average/first run)
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.3/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.25/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 88.5/68.5
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 88.5/68.5

CS:S
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 141.80
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.74
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.81
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 141.93
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 140.98

My advice is to get a cheap set of 2-3-3 memory.
CAS3 doesn't seem to be too friendly to games, at least using the Doom/Source engine, and 2-2-2 is often too expensive.
Enjoy

That all well and good, but when you discard all of the synthetics and look the real world, Winrar is the only application that sees a tangible increase, so unless you sit around raring stuff all day, the extra money for LL simply isnt worth it.

When did I say LL was worth it? I specifically said it wasn't worth the price premium, and then went to show him with my results that no matter what memory you get, memory performances makes almost zero difference to actual system performance.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Sunday Ironfoot
Thanks some good advice, and thanks for the benchmarking info Avalon and Duvie. I just bought some CAS 2-3-3-6 RAM, only a little bit more than the CAS3 stuff. Better play it safe I suppose. As for rest of my system I got....

Item: Corsair (TWINX2048-3200C2PT) 2GB (2 x 1GB Matched Pair) DDR PC3200
2x128Mx64 non-ECC 2x184
DIMM unbuffered 2-3-3-6 64Mx8 DRAMs Matched Pair Silver Heat Spreader Lifetime
Warranty
Cost: £123.87

Item: PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI PCI-E
Cost: £242.51

Item: AMD Athlon 64 (ADA3800BVBOX) X2 3800+ Socket 939 Dual Core 2.0ghz 512Kb
and 512Kb Cache
Cost: £175.31

Item: Antec TruePower II 480W PSU - With Blue LED
Cost: £52.99

Item: Asus A8N-VM CSM Socket 939 NVC51PV M-ATX VGA Sound Lan USB 2.0 1394 1000
FSB SATA
Cost: £47.44

-----------------------------------------------------------

Shipping method: Free Shipping Offer at: 0.00

Subtotal: £642.12
VAT total: £112.39
------------
Total: £754.51
------------


Should be arriving by Thursday this week, can't wait!!!

Awesome rig, you should enjoy the hell out of it.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Avalon

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Avalon
2-2-2 memory is often more expensive than 2-3-3 memory, which itself typically isn't much more than CAS3 latency memory, if you look around for good deals. Low latency helps a bit, but memory has very little impact on gaming performance.

I recently did a mini review on a 2GB dual channel kit of Team Xtreem Cronus PC4000 memory, using my 2x512MB kit of Mushkin PC3200 as a reference point. At all stages, the CPU speed was kept the same, with the only thing changing being the memory speed and memory latency.

Test Setup
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice E3 @ 2400mhz (8x300, 9x267)
DFI NF4 Ultra-D Lanparty s939 (modded to SLI, 6/23-2 BIOS)
eVGA 6200 128MB (modded to 6600) 8pp @ 400/650 w/79.11 forcewares
Enermax 460w WhisperII 24pin PSU (33A@12v)
NEC 3520 DVD-RW
Lite-On CD-RW/DVD
60GB IBM Deathstar ATA100 7200RPM 8MB HDD
120GB Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM 8MB HDD
Cooler Master Cavalier 3
2x120mm + 1x80mm case cooling
Thermalright SI-120 HSF
Floppy

Memory
2x1GB Team Cronus PC4000 DDR (Samsung modules, brainpower PCB)
2x512MB Mushkin Blue C2 PC3200 DDR (Winbond UTT modules, brainpower PCB)

Applications & settings
Winrar 3.5 internal benchmark, 3 minute run
Sandra Buffered memory benchmark, int and float results, average of 3 runs
Sandra Unbuffered memory benchmark, int and float, average of 3 runs
Superpi 4M single run
Doom 3 @ 800x600 high settings internal benchmark, average of 3 runs
CS:S @ 800x600 high settings stress test, average of 3 runs

Winrar 3.5
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 3.05v - 597KB/s, 107MB
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.95v - 546KB/s, 97MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.75v - 548KB/s, 98MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz (8x300 @ 166mhz) 2.85v - 607KB/s, 109MB
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz (9x267 @ 1:1 HTT) 2.85v - 592KB/s, 106MB

Sandra Buffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5918MB/s, Float:5862MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5858MB/s, Float:5805MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5827MB/s, Float:5797MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:6362MB/s, Float:6304MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:6594MB/s, Float:6526MB/s

Sandra Unbuffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4071MB/s, Float:4060MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:3960MB/s, Float:3942MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4039MB/s, Float:4018MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:4651MB/s, Float:4650MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:4959MB/s, Float:4957MB/s

Superpi 4M
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.907s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 4.906s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.922s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 2 min, 59.250s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 2 min, 57.672s

Doom 3
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 88.2/67.4 (cached average/first run)
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.3/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.25/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 88.5/68.5
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 88.5/68.5

CS:S
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 141.80
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.74
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.81
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 141.93
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 140.98

My advice is to get a cheap set of 2-3-3 memory.
CAS3 doesn't seem to be too friendly to games, at least using the Doom/Source engine, and 2-2-2 is often too expensive.
Enjoy

That all well and good, but when you discard all of the synthetics and look the real world, Winrar is the only application that sees a tangible increase, so unless you sit around raring stuff all day, the extra money for LL simply isnt worth it.

When did I say LL was worth it? I specifically said it wasn't worth the price premium, and then went to show him with my results that no matter what memory you get, memory performances makes almost zero difference to actual system performance.

Yeah i wasnt going against what you said, sorry if it came off that way. I was just interpreting the results as i see it.

 

[imported_Seer]

Originally posted by: Sunday Ironfoot
I don't intend to overclock the RAM, the mobo I'm getting has fairly limited overclocking options anyway, FSB increase, thats it. Although I plan to overclock the CPU a fair bit, hoping for 2.3 or 2.4GHz on stock voltage. As long as using CAS3 ram doesn't absolutely kill the performance or anything, I think I might go with CAS3, I'm on a fairly strict budget.

Um... doh ><

RAM speed is based on fsb speed....how do you think it gets to the cpu??? through the fsb of course.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Avalon

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Avalon
2-2-2 memory is often more expensive than 2-3-3 memory, which itself typically isn't much more than CAS3 latency memory, if you look around for good deals. Low latency helps a bit, but memory has very little impact on gaming performance.

I recently did a mini review on a 2GB dual channel kit of Team Xtreem Cronus PC4000 memory, using my 2x512MB kit of Mushkin PC3200 as a reference point. At all stages, the CPU speed was kept the same, with the only thing changing being the memory speed and memory latency.

Test Setup
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice E3 @ 2400mhz (8x300, 9x267)
DFI NF4 Ultra-D Lanparty s939 (modded to SLI, 6/23-2 BIOS)
eVGA 6200 128MB (modded to 6600) 8pp @ 400/650 w/79.11 forcewares
Enermax 460w WhisperII 24pin PSU (33A@12v)
NEC 3520 DVD-RW
Lite-On CD-RW/DVD
60GB IBM Deathstar ATA100 7200RPM 8MB HDD
120GB Maxtor ATA133 7200RPM 8MB HDD
Cooler Master Cavalier 3
2x120mm + 1x80mm case cooling
Thermalright SI-120 HSF
Floppy

Memory
2x1GB Team Cronus PC4000 DDR (Samsung modules, brainpower PCB)
2x512MB Mushkin Blue C2 PC3200 DDR (Winbond UTT modules, brainpower PCB)

Applications & settings
Winrar 3.5 internal benchmark, 3 minute run
Sandra Buffered memory benchmark, int and float results, average of 3 runs
Sandra Unbuffered memory benchmark, int and float, average of 3 runs
Superpi 4M single run
Doom 3 @ 800x600 high settings internal benchmark, average of 3 runs
CS:S @ 800x600 high settings stress test, average of 3 runs

Winrar 3.5
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 3.05v - 597KB/s, 107MB
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.95v - 546KB/s, 97MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz (8x300 @ 133mhz) 2.75v - 548KB/s, 98MB
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz (8x300 @ 166mhz) 2.85v - 607KB/s, 109MB
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz (9x267 @ 1:1 HTT) 2.85v - 592KB/s, 106MB

Sandra Buffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5918MB/s, Float:5862MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5858MB/s, Float:5805MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:5827MB/s, Float:5797MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:6362MB/s, Float:6304MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:6594MB/s, Float:6526MB/s

Sandra Unbuffered
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4071MB/s, Float:4060MB/s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:3960MB/s, Float:3942MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - Int:4039MB/s, Float:4018MB/s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - Int:4651MB/s, Float:4650MB/s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - Int:4959MB/s, Float:4957MB/s

Superpi 4M
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.907s
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 4.906s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 3 min, 2.922s
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 2 min, 59.250s
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 2 min, 57.672s

Doom 3
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 88.2/67.4 (cached average/first run)
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.3/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 87.25/67.7
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 88.5/68.5
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 88.5/68.5

CS:S
Mushkin 2-2-2-7-1T 200mhz - 141.80
Mushkin 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.74
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 200mhz - 137.81
Team 2.5-3-3-7-1T 240mhz - 141.93
Team 3-4-3-7-1T 267mhz - 140.98

My advice is to get a cheap set of 2-3-3 memory.
CAS3 doesn't seem to be too friendly to games, at least using the Doom/Source engine, and 2-2-2 is often too expensive.
Enjoy

That all well and good, but when you discard all of the synthetics and look the real world, Winrar is the only application that sees a tangible increase, so unless you sit around raring stuff all day, the extra money for LL simply isnt worth it.

When did I say LL was worth it? I specifically said it wasn't worth the price premium, and then went to show him with my results that no matter what memory you get, memory performances makes almost zero difference to actual system performance.

Yeah i wasnt going against what you said, sorry if it came off that way. I was just interpreting the results as i see it.

Ahh. I originally had commentary in there, but I cut it out to keep the length down. I guess I probably should have left them in.

 

[Shimmishim]

Well this discussion again huh?

This is my take on it. If you have the cash and you WANT/NEED every bit of performance, then pay for the high end stuff such as gskill tccd or old school bh-5/6.

If you're just the casual gamer/user, then go for the cheapest thing possible.

Heck, I just bought a 2x1 gig set of g.skill hz's that are 3-4-4-8 @ 250! all i know is that it is an upgrade from 2x512 @ 272 running 2.5-3-3-7.

I could have gotten some Mushkin redline pc4000 that's rated 3-3-2-8 but they are almost double what I paid!