Corsair XMS2 CL5 and Kingston HyperX CL4

[unr3al]

I am currently using 2x 512MB Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 and my RAM is capable of reaching 944MHz overclocked at 2.1V (my motherboard's max). One gig of RAM is way too little these days and I want to turn off pagefiling completely, so I want to buy 8GB (4x 2GB, paired DIMMs) RAM.

Yes I am aware of XP's memory limitations, but I use x64 so that's not a problem. My board's max is 8GB physical RAM. I can get XMS2 for a lot less than HyperX at the same frequency as my current RAM, but I am just wondering about overclockability.

Would the Corsair XMS2 memory be capable of reaching the speeds I have reached with my HyperX? I am not asking this as a newbie to PCs, been working with them for 8 years now. But I want advice from someone who has used either Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 CL5 or both that and Kingston HyperX DDR2-800 CL4.

Latencies don't worry me, because I have an AMD64 CPU and my motherboard only runs at CL5 anyway, with no adjustable latencies.

Thanks in advance for any replies I might get.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

No matter how good your memory is, it will be very hard to overclock it because you will have four very dense (2gb) sticks. That places more strain on the motherboard... Or maybe not for AMD.

 

[unr3al]

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
No matter how good your memory is, it will be very hard to overclock it because you will have four very dense (2gb) sticks. That places more strain on the motherboard... Or maybe not for AMD.

What do you mean by that?

 

[unr3al]

Well, answering my own question, the DHX version of Corsair's XMS2 PC6400 at CL4 was taken to 1149MHz so I think Corsair would be the way I am going. I have expressly looked at a 4GB kit's review. Amazing stuff. It was done at 2.3V but I should have no problem reaching 945MHz on 2.1V.

Review:
http://www.overclock3d.net/rev...dhx_pc2-6400_4gb_kit/1

The cost will be a little bit higher, then, but still no higher than the Kingston's and Corsair does indeed have a good rep.

Considering the price of R3000 including delivery, for 8GB of dual-channel, high-performance 800MHz memory, this is a kit I can't miss lol

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Sure, why not.

I said that because AMD does not have a memory (RAM) controller in their north bridge. Instead it is integrated into the CPU. Intel's next processor, Nehalem, will also use this design. I think because of the integrated memory controller on AMD CPUs it might be more sensitive to changes in memory.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: unr3al

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
No matter how good your memory is, it will be very hard to overclock it because you will have four very dense (2gb) sticks. That places more strain on the motherboard... Or maybe not for AMD.

What do you mean by that?

He means that the memory controller in your system is located on the CPU, instead of on the northbridge chipset. The same rules apply, though. 8GB is extremely hard to overclock, compared to 4GB.

 

[unr3al]

Yes I know the mem conroller is on my CPU. This means that the strain would be more CPU related than motherboard related, am I correct?

I am not planning to do any crazy overclocking on my CPU, max 2.8GHz everyday (completely sufficient for my purpose until I upgrade anyway) so the memory won't have to go as far as I have taken the Kingston. I don't think it should pose any problems.

Won't know before I actually do it, of course...

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[n7]

I don't follow memory for AMD much these days, but if it can clock anywhere close to how it does on Intel (I'm sure it will), you'll be more than fine.

The Corsair uses Powerchips, which will generally hit at least DDR2-1000+ 5-5-5, usually more, depending on how well or low they are binned.

Again, not sure for AMD, but for Intel, the key to reaching good speeds isn't voltage (usually anything over 2.0-2.1v is unneeded with Powerchips), it's a nice loose tRFC.

 

[Qbah]

I have a 2x2GB XMS2 DHX CL4 kit. I'm not overclocking it (yet ) however the heat sinks look extremely solid and massive (and they're pretty heavy) and should greatly increase stability at higher temps. Btw. make sure it will fit on your mobo if you're using some exotic CPU cooling (don't think I can squeeze another kit with my TRUE and a 120mm fan). Anyway, I strongly recommend the Corsair ones

 

[unr3al]

Originally posted by: Qbah
I have a 2x2GB XMS2 DHX CL4 kit. I'm not overclocking it (yet ) however the heat sinks look extremely solid and massive (and they're pretty heavy) and should greatly increase stability at higher temps. Btw. make sure it will fit on your mobo if you're using some exotic CPU cooling (don't think I can squeeze another kit with my TRUE and a 120mm fan). Anyway, I strongly recommend the Corsair ones

The aftermarket HSF I have in mind should pose no problems on my board. However, I have found this OCZ kit, four 2GB DIMMs in an 8GB kit. I have no knowledge about OCZ except from biased fanboys, so I wonder how they would fare, overclocking and lifetime wise?