Corsair, OCZ or Kingston RAM for Badaxe2 photography PC

[Nubile Nikki]

I am a photographer seeking help with RAM. I have a new computer:

Intel Core2 Duo Desktop Processor E6600 Conroe
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Intel Desktop Board D975XBX2 ATX motherboard
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3 x Caviar 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB
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BFG e-GeForce 7600GT nVidia GeForce 256 MB PCI-E
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1 LG GSA-H22N DVD RW 18x
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Antec P180 case
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Antec TruePower Trio 550W PSU
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Zalman NPS-9500-Cu-LED CPU cooler
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Vantec Stealth 120 mm fan
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Windows XP Pro Edition

Here is what I plan to do with this new rig. It will be solely dedicated to processing large batches of multiple RAW and TIFF files in PhotoShop CS2. I plan to use an even more memory intensive program in the future Adobe Lightroom with Vista 64 BIT. It will NOT be used for gaming, Internet or MP3 burning/ripping. I state this because I think digital photo buffs have much different needs from gamers. I do NOT overclock right now. I think I MAY get in to oc?ing as this system gets older and I need to squeeze everything out of it but that is maybe 4 years down the road when I decide to learn more about oc?ing. I may add another hard drive and set up a RAID configuration in the future when I learn more about this. My passion is photography not computers ? but now that photography is digital I am going to commit myself to learning this stuff since it will improve my photography. I decided to stay away from RAID at this time. My passion is photography not configuring hard drives and worrying about redundancy or data loss. I have a Maxtor OneTouch external HD for backup.

Any advice? I really am stumped as to what RAM to get. Can anyone suggest the what 4 GBs of RAM for a Badaxe2 and an Intel E6600 2.4 Ghz processor? RAM bewilder me ? latency, pins, arrays, DIMM, frequencies, voltages...get my head spinning. I can?t seem to grasp them. Thus I seek your help.
I am a photographer, not a techie. So I ask you bigger-brained guys: Which of these motherboards best suit my needs as a digital photographer who may oc in the future and whose future plans include 4 Hard Drives in RAID. I will also increase the RAM to 6 GBs when I go to Adobe Lightroom on Vista 64 bit in the future.
I am restricted to the 3 brands listed in the title (long story - don't ask as it is boring too).
So do I get:
DDR2 533 which works well at stock speed?
DDR2 800 because it is what I'll need when I oc in the future?
DDR2 667 as it is the happy medium between the other 2?
Does 800 RAM have ANY performance improvement over 533 with the Badaxe2 at stock? Or is it not worth the extra expense?
Which of the 3 brands above do I get? Are some more friendly with the Badaxe2 than the oters?
Also - do i get the value RAM or is the quality RAM going to have some type of benefit (but only if I oc?)?

 

[Roguestar]

Unless you're overclocking all you need is DDR2-533. ValueRAM tends to have looser timings (higher latencies) and won't overclock like good performance RAM will. If you want to overclock, get the cheapest DDR2-800 (even valueRAM at this speed will only cap you to 3.6Ghz with that CPU) you can find, otherwise just get the cheapest DDR-533 you can find.

By the by, get a gigabyte 965P-S3, it'll be cheaper and will overclock better should you so desire.

 

[conlan]

Any quality branded value ram will suit your needs

 

[Nubile Nikki]

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Unless you're overclocking all you need is DDR2-533. ValueRAM tends to have looser timings (higher latencies) and won't overclock like good performance RAM will. If you want to overclock, get the cheapest DDR2-800 (even valueRAM at this speed will only cap you to 3.6Ghz with that CPU) you can find, otherwise just get the cheapest DDR-533 you can find.

By the by, get a gigabyte 965P-S3, it'll be cheaper and will overclock better should you so desire.

Thing is, I MAY want to OC in a year or 2 or 3 (whenever the system feels sluggish). I'd be happy to go with the 800 RAM knowing that there is at least SOME performance improvment at stock over 533 RAM. That way I don't have to pay for 800 when/if I decide to OC.
But I wonder if 800 RAM will be much cheaper in 3 years. If so getting cheaper 533 RAM now (if there is little difference at stock with 800RAM) and then buy what I hope is much cheaper 800 RAM 3 years from now. Just wondering. I don't know how the industry prices itself so I have no knowledge or experience to go from.

 

[Nubile Nikki]

I considered the Gigabyte board - excellent oc'ing board/GREAT price and value but I gave Intel's expensive board the wink as it is STABLE at stock. These are my life's photos and I valued stability over all.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Nubile Nikki

Originally posted by: Roguestar
Unless you're overclocking all you need is DDR2-533. ValueRAM tends to have looser timings (higher latencies) and won't overclock like good performance RAM will. If you want to overclock, get the cheapest DDR2-800 (even valueRAM at this speed will only cap you to 3.6Ghz with that CPU) you can find, otherwise just get the cheapest DDR-533 you can find.

By the by, get a gigabyte 965P-S3, it'll be cheaper and will overclock better should you so desire.

Thing is, I MAY want to OC in a year or 2 or 3 (whenever the system feels sluggish). I'd be happy to go with the 800 RAM knowing that there is at least SOME performance improvment at stock over 533 RAM. That way I don't have to pay for 800 when/if I decide to OC.
But I wonder if 800 RAM will be much cheaper in 3 years. If so getting cheaper 533 RAM now (if there is little difference at stock with 800RAM) and then buy what I hope is much cheaper 800 RAM 3 years from now. Just wondering. I don't know how the industry prices itself so I have no knowledge or experience to go from.

You can get 2GB of DDR2-800 for less than $200, I'd say get it now and don't re-buy in the future.

 

[Nubile Nikki]

I scoured the internet & computer forums for info on the performance at stock of RAM at different frequencies and have found nothing but people's opinions. People ASSUME that there is a significant performance increase from using 533 to 667 to 800 MHz RAM but nobody knows how much. Those who have experimented have anecdotal 'evidence' that the improvement is small but none of thes people did any controlled measurable benchmark studies. I did read a review in AnandTech that suggested that value RAM performed almost as well as performance/overclocking RAM on the Conroe motherboards but this is not of interest to me because my question is about performance at STOCK, not overclocked.
I gave up looking - I do want to know, but not THAT bad.
Thanks for your help!

 

[Nubile Nikki]

well, after asking about DDR2 6400 RAM - I ended up getting OCZ DDR2 8500 RAM. Women!! With a mail-in rebate it wasn't much more expensive than the others. I decided not to scrimp. I am NOT hurting for cash so I went with the best.

Now I just have to learn how to use what I bought.

Anyone know of any "Easy 1-2-3 Conroe E6600-Badaxe2 Overclocking Guides for Computer Noobs"? Didn't see any at Amazon -LOL.

Have read some articles about Overclocking but they are mainly about AMD systems or ASUS boards with Pentiums...I suspect overclocking a Badaxe2 with an E6600 is different.

Whenever I read about the OC process it bothers me. I don't want to deal with a mobo that won't boot or crashes as I try to find an optimum voltage or whatever. With this RAM and mobo is there a simple and easy OC I can do that will not increase system instability? This PC is not a gamer PC - it has some irreplaceable photos and data.

 

[Nubile Nikki]

oh - the RAM I went with was 4 GBs (4 x 1 gb sticks) OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel Kit
Yes - I seem to have more money than sense (computer sense)

 

[wazzi]

Originally posted by: Nubile Nikki
oh - the RAM I went with was 4 GBs (4 x 1 gb sticks) OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel Kit
Yes - I seem to have more money than sense (computer sense)

lol, btw for 975x chipset boards asus p5w dh deluxe out performs every other competitor not outperformin bad axe by a reasonable margin but it does but its the most expensive board tough for us $ 220 , i've also read that it is the best over clockin board compared to the competitor version of intel gigabit n abit, anyways the corsair ram that u chose is the best except there is this model 8500c5df Features: with E.P.P. Technology, matched Dominator with DHX Technology and Dominator Airflow Fan probably one of the best money can buy for about 380 us $ on new egg this price is for a 2 gb kit but the fan help keep ur pc cool in extreme ocin condition

 

[Nubile Nikki]

Why thank you for the extraneous information!!

In the same vien, how's your cricket team doing?

 

[Skeeedunt]

That is some fat RAM you bought. You'll be able to overclock your ass off before you're taxing it.

At the same processor clock, the gains from running RAM at a higher frequency (i.e. using a non 1:1 divider) is pretty minimal. You'll have plenty of OC headroom though.

 

[wazzi]

my pleasure well to be honest ppl r quite disappointed with our team but it was quite expected to some extent by me but nobody expected them to loose from ireland, anyways which team u'r supportin?

 

[Nubile Nikki]

Originally posted by: wazzi
my pleasure well to be honest ppl r quite disappointed with our team but it was quite expected to some extent by me but nobody expected them to loose from ireland, anyways which team u'r supportin?

Canada of course. I was in India last December and also was supporting them only for that reason. I was in Amritsar and made it to the border show with Pakistan.
I also was in Jaisalmer and a few kms from the border in the That desert.
I will one day travel down the Kakaoram highway.

 

[Nubile Nikki]

Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
That is some fat RAM you bought. You'll be able to overclock your ass off before you're taxing it.

At the same processor clock, the gains from running RAM at a higher frequency (i.e. using a non 1:1 divider) is pretty minimal. You'll have plenty of OC headroom though.

But is there a simple and easy oc I can do that will improve performance? Something that doesn't require alot of effort, risk or voltage changes?
I will oc in the future when I learn more about it. Now that I have my computer I am spending my time with my real passion - photography. So I've little time or inclination to learn about overclocking at this moment. I am having too much fun doing other things ...

Any easy, simple performance enhancing tricks for a Badaxe2, E6600 and fat DDR2 800 RAM that a noob like me can do?

 

[cleanerPA]

If you're not interested in learning about overclocking, I think it's a waste of time to pursue it.

That said, if you're not hurting for money, IMO, you would be better off skipping overclocking and just getting stuff that works best for photoshop:

WD Raptor HDs- you really should be running a raptor for your OS, a raptor for your scratch disk and possibly a third for apps.

Then for storage, running some enterprise-class drives (raptor is also enterprise-class)- Barracuda ES, WD RE series, etc.

The Bad Axe 2 is what I came up with as well.

BTW, configuring a RAID array isn't hard to do- I'm running a Promise 8350EX RAID controller (first time to do RAID) and it was no problem setting it up- just followed the instructions in the manual and kind of figured out the rest through the web-based management console. I'm running a 970MB RAID5 array (4x 320GB drives) on it, will probably add a fifth or sixth drive in order to have some hot spares- this system will auto-rebuild on the fly if I have a drive failure.

Also, since CS2 and CS3 will support quad and 8 cores respectively, you're probably better off running a Q6600, especially after they come down in price.

And running 4x1GB RAM is only going to hurt down the road- better off doing 2x 2GB sticks and having space for more RAM later- Vista64 and CS3 will be able to use all of it.

What format digital photography are you doing? With 10MP DSLRs, RAW files get awfully large and you start filling up drives pretty fast (my old system has over 40GB of RAW files and that's only a tiny, tiny fraction what I have need to scan- have tons of negatives I need to scan in addition to any new photos that are purely digital). If you're shooting medium-format, that 320GB is not going to last very long.

Cost no object, I'd get a full-tower or a "real" eSATA enclosure and run a 8x750GB RAID 6 array (Barracuda ES) with a 3Ware hardware RAID controller (make sure it supports eSATA with port multipliers and has a battery backup). That subsystem would run a couple grand alone. Then full tape backups on an autoloader or a second array for backup, or both. You could take the tapes offsite for maximum security.

Bottom line- go quad-core, leave enough space to run 8GB of RAM, get a ton of fast hard drives.

How are you situated for displays? Dual NEC 2690s would be nice.....

 

[Nubile Nikki]

Thanks for your sincere and honest reply. Obviously I am not going to go ripping out the E6600 for a quad core now. Nor will I go out and buy super expensive 2 GB RAM sticks - haven't even seen any yet. The system above is the system I have and the one I am going to go with. I do have a Raptor as boot disk and have placed the Photoshop scratch disk and the Windows file page on separate drives. ALL of your suggestions are good and would improve performance. But I can't implement most of them. I am sorry if I gave the impression that cost was NO BARRIER. I already have bought and built the system. I am not going to spend any more on it. RAID may be something I do in the future when I have the time and desire to slog through boring subjects like redundancy, disk allocation and whatnot. Right now my focus and attention is on USING my new computer, not learning too much more about how it is built. That WILL come later. Like a drunk waiting for his drink I am engrossed in PLAYING with my images on my computer. I WILL learn more later when I have the desire. Right now I am procesing lots of hot exciting photos - I couldn't concentrate on FSBs or disk I/O if my life depended on it - LOL
I just thought that since I have an excellent mobo, processor and fat RAM that maybe there was an EASY SIMPLE oc I could do in the meantime.

That's ALL I really want. If there isn't any easy simple oc that will improve performance without adding undue risk of instability then I will wait until I am ready to invest time in to the nuts and bolts of pin timings, latency, voltage and all that other stuff.
I figured YOU guys would know. If not so be it, I am patient, I can wait. Thanks for your help.

 

[idiotekniQues]

i do a lot of photo editing. you can see my portfolio in my sig.

let me tell you, an OC really gives substantial time benefits. the 1ghz oc i have can make a nice tidy time benefit when converting 300 raw files from my 30d.

id oc if you feel comfy doing it.

if i get around to it ill bench a conversion of 200 raw files when i am at stock speeds of 2.13ghz compared to at my 24/7 stable 3.2ghz OC

oc'ing is fairly foulproof if you do your research and are just aiming for a good solid oc rather than seeking that crazy oc to run that one benchie on for bragging rights.

 

[Nubile Nikki]

WOW!! Breathtaking photos - especially on a conceptual level. Thanks...really - thanks.
One day when I have time to explore the creative side of photography I'd love to be able to get such interesting shots.

I am glad to hear of your performance improvements. I figure that is EXACTLY what I want once I get around to learning about oc'ing. Just need to concentrate on it some day....

...but as I said earlier, until then any easy simple oc'ing suggestion that will improve performance without adding undue risk of instability would be greatkly appreciated....

C'mon all you BIG BRAINED guys!!!

 

[Nubile Nikki]

Originally posted by: idiotekniQues


oc'ing is fairly foulproof if you do your research and are just aiming for a good solid oc rather than seeking that crazy oc to run that one benchie on for bragging rights.

no doubt....no doubt. I am not run by testoterone so I have no desire to do ANYTHING that would decrease my baby's stability. I want performance - not bragging rights. If I only was able to concentrate on the dry subject at hand....yuck!!

 

[Boyo]

You really should overclock that CPU. It's very easy and there are tons of guides and websites that will walk you through an OC. Just Google Overclock E6600.

 

[Nubile Nikki]

Originally posted by: Boyo
. Just Google Overclock E6600.

Already did that.
Saw a WEALTH of info.....information overload. It all started will incredibly boring talk about FSB, latency, pin settings, voltage...yaaawn. I don't have the attention span NOW to do that. Also the info was extremely AMD-centric and had lots of advice for gamers using ASUS/gigabyte boards. I want a small oc that won't cause too much instabiity. I crave stability - heck, I chose a badaxe2. The techniques called for stages of pin timings(?) settings, voltage settings. OK - I'd rather do something else right now than learn that crap. i have a honking new PC that I can DO things with and have been dying to do things with for several months....so you can see where my heart, passion and attention is drawn to.

Some day I'll sit down and learn this stuff - it is essential that I do. But my attention is elsewhere right now. My pc is sufficient for my needs now. But I can get increased performance for free, so some point I will learn how.
I was just hoping there was a SIMPLE and EASY oc i could do to improve my OC's performance in the meantime.
If not, then I'll forget about it and one rainy day when I am bored I will sit down and see if I can learn how. I just thought it would be a shame if there was a easy simple quick OC out there that I could do, then I should do it.
I wondered if there was a simple OC that the Badaxe2's FSB,E6600 and DDR2 RAM could do.

 

[wazzi]

Canada of course. I was in India last December and also was supporting them only for that reason. I was in Amritsar and made it to the border show with Pakistan.
I also was in Jaisalmer and a few kms from the border in the That desert.
I will one day travel down the Kakaoram highway.
[/quote]

why not supportin canada?, sorry about your team tough, i hope a miracle happens for ur team that didn't happen for mine, anyways its sad to see both cricket lovin nation disappointed, so ur reason for bein in india was professional? n ur talkin about thar n karakoram right, btw both of these place r interestin to photograph specailly gilgit is a beautiful place to visit which is at the foothills of karakoram..

 

[jpeyton]

4 x 1GB Super Talent DDR2 667 ($240-something shipped or less).

 

[Nubile Nikki]

actually Wazzi, Canadians do NOT love cricket. They love hockey. Baseball is more popular than cricket. Our cricket team is made up of aging players who emigrated from India, Pakistan and the West Indies. 98% of Canadians have NO idea we are in the World Cup. I only know because I was in India which, as you know, is cricket crazy.
As I said earlier my passion is nude photography and landscapes. I was in India for the landscapes: Rajasthan, Amritsar and Varanasi. I went to the Khumb Mela festival. I have heard about Gilgit - I'd like to be there when they have that religious festival there. I would find that fascinating.

All the oc guides I've come accross are generally about either AMD processors or ASUS 965 chipset boards....But if anyone can find me an idiot proof guide to a moderate overclock for the Badaxe2, E6600 and 1066 RAM - I am ALL ears!!!