Corsair XMS 3200 Good Enough?

[HiTek21]

I decided to upgrade rigs and I dont think my Crucial PC2700 RAM will cut it anymore. I don't have the money to spend on the low latency version, so will the Corsair XMS 3200 2-3-3-6-T1 be good enough to overclock the following setup

Asus A7N8X Deluxe Mobo
AMD Barton 2500+
Radeon 9700 (non pro)

 

[Overkiller]

i think the XMS is 2-2-2-6 T1


and by what i read , i think the answer is *yes*

yes u want high , pure mhz..but u also want low timings and i think that while other ram can give u higher mhz...this gives it to u @ the lowest timings...my .02 cents

and i'm looking at a very similar upgrade to you as well . 'cept i already have radeon 9700 PRO..hehe

 

[HiTek21]

theres 2 model of XMS which was to my surprise since I thought XMS was all the same except for the speed.

2-2-2-6-T1 is the XMS Low Latency $142
2-3-3-6-T1 is just XMS $95.20

I wish i could afford the Low Latency model but is it really worth the extra $50 dollars?

 

[Overkiller]

save up another week

i would say yes just because i dont upgrade frequently. i upgrade every 2 years roughly and try to make it a huge upgrade so for me yes it is worth it.

 

[Corporate Thug]

xms 3200 can do 220mhz so its past pc3500

 

[HiTek21]

Is the XMS Low Latency really worth an extra $50 per stick? Is there really a huge difference in performance between the two sticks of ram?

 

[MurphMike]

It was my understanding that the LL chips had some problems with the nForce2 boards at 200+FSB.
The LL chips should be better than the regular XMS chips on other than nForce2 boards, but may cause problems on the nForce2 boards unless some kind of fix has been found.
I know for a fact that the XMS 3200 CPT in my Epox 8RDA+ is doing 200FSB atm at the higher latency of 2-3-3-6 T1.

 

[Amorphus]

as for the -LL sticks...

decide for yourself. listen.

I got an 8rda+ (nForce2 board). no problems with any of the ~4-5 BIOSes that I've gone through with this board (except for 3129, odd, and it reported a RAM error, didnt work even with the "corsair hacked" version).
also, along with that, i got the XMS PC2700-LL version (166mhz/DDR333 @ 2-2-2-5 1T) and an AMD AthlonXP 2100+.

the ram is now running at DDR420 (210mhz) @ 2-3-3-6 1T.

its great. plus, I got the black heatspreaders version. (I like to say its because "black radiates heat better" )

 

[althes]

The regular sticks are just as good. Save for a vid card

 

[Jojo1971]

use the $50 for something else...

 

[touchmyichi]

I agree, save the money. Personally, I would go for some pc 3200 x 256 of kingston hyper x. That stuff is just as good, but much cheaper. Thats the ram I'm currently recommending.

 

[chr6]

save the money, put the $50 towards an slk-900u

 

[Dustswirl]

but is it worth all the $?

Corsair for Asus

All bout XMS

As for hyperX well some ppl aren't very happy with the results :s

 

[Lyfer]

Regular XMS3200 will do 200MHZ and a few MHZ past that easily, but if your talking 215MHZ+ and higher that is pure luck. You're better off getting PC3500 ram, also btw the XMS3200C2 uses high Nanosecond memory chips, where as the XMS3200LL uses faster chips (usually winbond BH-5) which overclock better.


btw since your overclocking an Athlon, 200MHZ is perfect for your needs.

 

[sodcha0s]

It's not worth $50 for the lower timings.

 

[HiTek21]

Thanks for the advice, I think I will just go for the Regular XMS and use the 50 bucks on some other upgrade.

 

[NesuD]

Originally posted by: HiTek21
Thanks for the advice, I think I will just go for the Regular XMS and use the 50 bucks on some other upgrade.

Good choice!thats what i did and i can run this ram at 210 all day with no problems at all.

 

[4x4expy]

 

[4x4expy]

Originally posted by: sodcha0s
It's not worth $50 for the lower timings.

I agree $50 for tighter timings don't really pay off. There will be a difference in your benchmarks but I would be suprised if it is anything that you will feel. It is more important to be sure that the memory can be stable at the fsb speeds that you plan to push.

 

[30wolverine30]

Get some Twinmos PC3200 w/Winbond BH-5 chips HERE!! I had 2x512 sticks running @ 221mhz @ 2-3-3-6 stable w/ a 2500 Barton on an A7N8X. Or try the CH-5 chips!! I ran Corsair XMS for a long time and was really impressed by the Twinmos. Of course YMMV.