DDR2 800 or DDR2 1000

[YabbyU]

Getting ready to upgrade and I must say things are much more confusing now than they were 3yrs ago. I'm going with an AM2 or AM2+ board and I'm looking at these for memory

GSKILL 2x2gig DDR2 800 149.99 4-4-4 12
or
GSKILL 2x2gig DDR2 1000 139.99 5-5-5 15

I'm shocked by these prices btw...I paid 2x that for a gig of PC3200....

I've never done much overclocking so my question is, if I save 10 bucks and get the 1000, would I "underclock" it in my bios to 800 speed and could I set the 4-4-4 12 timing.

I'm probably going with the ASUS MZN32 Wireless which says it supports DDR2 800, unless they release a AM2+ nvidia board in the next 3 weeks

Thanks

 

[dan442]

I have 2x1 Gig Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800, and CPU-Z shows SPD EPP for 400 and 500 mhz. (DDR2 800 and DDR2 1000) I have run this memory at 500 mhz with voltage set to normal (Everest reports 1.95v) and memtest returned no errors.

$60 for 2 Gigs at Newegg, and it has Micron ICs.

Edit:

I should read more carefully, I thought the DDR2 1000 was more expensive.

Go with the cheaper DDR2 1000, if you get an AM2 board run it at DDR2 800 and go for tight timings. An AM2+ board will use up to DDR2 1066 with the right CPU, there is a good chance the DDR2 1000 will be able to do that.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Another one of us Crucial/Micron devotee's!!

Let me know if Crucial makes a 2 x 2GB kit of DDR2-1000 -- or even 800's -- and where to find them.

Otherwise, I might be tempted to get those GSKILLs.


Incidentally -- to those with more modest experience -- it may be that the manufacturer certifies memory at a higher speed, but uses the same basic design with a variation in parts quality, so you would find that DDR2-800's run at 4,4,4,12, while DDR2-1000's rated at 5,5,5,15 running at 800 Mhz also run at 4,4,4,12. But that's been the big trade-off in memory technology just about forever, with latencies slowly coming down and speeds going up as the technology moves forward.

 

[cozumel]

I was just taking a stroll through the forum and felt I had to comment on this thread as I too have had the same decision to make. It was choice between 4x1GB Ballistix PC2-8500(micron) or the GSkill 2x2GB PC2-8000 (Powerchip). I ended up going with the Ballistix for overclockability event though I will not get a lot due to using 4 slots.

Originally posted by: dan442An AM2+ board will use up to DDR2 1066 with the right CPU, there is a good chance the DDR2 1000 will be able to do that.

The GSkill 2x2GB PC2-8000 PQ Series is using Powerchip ICs. I have read a lot of opinions and reviews on these modules. They indicate that typically you will not be able to overclock from 1000MHz to 1066MHz and extra voltage doesn't appear to make any difference. Some lucky people though have managed to get to 1100MHz but mostly not.

Crucial, as far I am aware do not make Ballistix 2x2GB PC2-8000

For your information here is a link that will give you the ICs for various brands.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Sure . . . . your information is useful. But how well to the GSKILLs under-clock? How tight can you set the latencies at lower megahertz? Someone else said they used Micron D9 parts, so I'm going to take a look at the link you gave here.

 

[cozumel]

I don't think it's actually listed on that link but it is on here and the PQ Series GSkill 2x2GB PC2-8000 is Powerchip.

PC2-8000 PQ (2x2GB) F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ 5.0-5-5-15 @ 2.0 ~ 2.1V - Powerchip 6-layer PCB

Edit: Apologies to the O/P. I didn't read your original post properly. For underclocking purposes the GSkill should do the job nicely

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Crucial apparently doesn't sell a kit of twins, but they're producing this:

Crucial Ballistix 2GB single module only

But that's gonna cost double the price of the GSKILL kit . . .

 

[nefariouscaine]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Crucial apparently doesn't sell a kit of twins, but they're producing this:

Crucial Ballistix 2GB single module only

But that's gonna cost double the price of the GSKILL kit . . .

they just have a bad description on it

http://www.crucial.com/store/p...DULE=BL2KIT12864AA1065

same part number and it reflects a 2 gig kit - I would love it if Crucial was able to come out with a high performance 2x2 gig Kit...I can dream....

-----
OP - you must also remember that running 4 gigs in any set up regardless of 4x1 or 2x2. To actually use all 4 gig you need to be running a 64 bit OS - 32 bit versions of XP or Vista have a physical address limit of 3 gigs