DDR3200 RAM - three choices & opinions needed

[WT]

I picked up a 2500+ Barton from Newegg about a month ago, an AQZEA core, and am currently running Samsung 2700 RAM. I am not daring enough to try for 200 FSB on that RAM, preferring to wait three more weeks til I can buy 3200 RAM. To be honest, there's always a chance the 2700 would pull 3200 speeds but I would prefer to keep it stable. Anyhoo, I'm looking at three different brands of memory fron Newegg right now:

GEIL DDR RAM 512MB PC-3200 Value 400MHz Ultra- CAS 2.5, 2T Command With Heat Spreader

OCZ DDR 512MB PC-3200 Performance Series w/ Copper heatspreader

Buffalo Technology 512MB 6 Layer PC3200 DDR Memory Module CL 2.5 32X8 (Winbond Module)

I noticed the RAM prices at Newegg have fluctuated at least $10 on RAM in the past week. There's even Corsair Value Select to be had for a good price. I'm looking for 200 FSB, no more (honestly).
I've heard the Buffalo RAM may take a small voltage bump to maintain stability, and that the Geil and OCZ vary wildly in their ratings, i.e one stick will do 225 no sweat and another will only manage 210.

Like I mentioned, I won't have the $ for three weeks, and it looks like RAM is climbing in anticipation of an Xmas rush. Anything over $90 is a budget buster to me, as it took me months to save up for the Nforce2 board and the 2500+. Comments and recommendations are always welcome. I honestly don't anticipate a majority decision but wanted some thoughts from guys who were using a similar setup and could say without a doubt they had success in their particular situation. TIA

 

[bootoo]

Yeah, I need memory too but this month I needed a video card more. There's my $$$. I get my buffalo over at amdforums from marmaduke; he's a standup guy and I think he's having a sale. I shouldn't post this, by the time I have the $$$ again the memory will be gone and prices up.

I don't like ocz; it works for me and others great or doesn't work at all. Buffalo is a good value for a good price and I can live without heatspreaders really really well. Geil and I don't seem to get along either but your results may vary.

 

[MDE]

Buffalo PC3200 is great stuff. Running mine at 11-3-3-2 @ 200MHz.

 

[Necrolezbeast]

I ordered from marmaduke over at amdforums and it took 3 weeks for him to ship...and 2 weeks to even respond to my e-mails asking him what was going on with my order. Kinda odd, as everyone else I have talked to said they had nothing but good experiences with him, while my experience sucked and personally I will not ever buy from him again. The extra $20 saved isn't worth an extra 3 - 4 weeks, or even the good service of newegg or the like.

 

[ponyo]

I used that Geil ram on my sister's computer along with EDRA+ and I had no problem with it. Ran it at 205 and 6,3,2,2.5 at default voltage. It was only around $69 when I ordered it months back and I got it because it was the cheapest 3200 512mb stick I found at the time. Now I see the same stick is almost $20 more expensive.

Geil is pretty popular ram in Europe and Asia. In US, people seem to not like it as much.

 

[edmundoab]

i've heard alot of good reviews about the Buffalo ram,
and for its price, I think its your best bet...

overclocks well for many current users

I hear geil has some compatibility problems with certain boards...

 

[nick1985]

go straight for the buffalo 3700

 

[Sunny129]

it seems like most prices at newegg right now are over your $90 budget, coming in around $100-110.

taking that into consideration, Buffalo looks pretty good, as its not too far over your budget. the only problem there is that none of it is rated at cas2. their best is cas2.5 (provided monkeydrive got his to run at cas2).

GeIL's PC3200 dual channel kit (2 x 256MB) w/ coppoer heat spreaders is $107.85, and does cas2. or you could spend $5 more and get GeIL Golden Dragon cas2 memory, but i honestly don't know what makes it better than the previous stuff...it has the same timings.

Corsair's XMS3200 (2 x 256MB) is cas2, but $121.

Kingston's HyperX PC3200 cas2 (2 x 256MB) is $109.

the OCZ you mentioned in your original post is nicely priced @ $106.75 for cas2 memory. the only problem is that its one stick, and therefore cannot be run in dual channel mode. their kit is ridiculously more expensive, @ roughly $130. however, you can buy two individual 256MB sticks of the same stuff for $53 apiece, which makes it much cheaper for a dual channel solution.

it seems that OCZ, Kingston, and GeIL are your best bets right now. you'll just have to monitor prices over the next 3 weeks until you have the $ to make a purchase. by the way, these prices were taken from newegg only. you might be able to find better prices at places like zipzoomfly.com (the old goolgegear.com) and such.

 

[Sunny129]

Originally posted by: nick1985
go straight for the buffalo 3700

buying PC3700 memory for an AMD 2500+ system is a waste of money. these AMD systems will never use all that memory bandwidth, which is why no AMD users need memory faster than PC3200.

 

[edmundoab]

well there are some people who get PC 3500
coz they can push higher than 200 FSB

 

[WT]

the only problem is that its one stick, and therefore cannot be run in dual channel mode

Sunny, I am always thinking ahead to the next upgrade, and buying ONLY 2 256 sticks means my next move to 1024 (which will, sooner than we all think, look like a necessary upgrade) would mean the 256 sticks are wasted. My reading up on dual channel shows about a 5% boost to system performance. So any 2 stick kits seem to be not a productive upgrade, at least for my setup.

I've watched the Geil and Buffalo RAM both go up about $10-14 since ... well, about 2 weeks ago ... and I am kicking myself for not buying it sooner, but if I woulda bought RAM, then I'd be kicking myself for waiting and getting a locked Barton 2500+ !!

I think 3700 RAM is not what I should be looking at, since my only requirement was 200 FSB and no higher. I can't remember the last BSOD I had on this rig, and EVERYTHING works as expected.

I guess I'm holding out for that one big sale from one of these vendors as they try and start an Xmas sales push off with a bang. Other vendors may be cheaper but Newegg has sold me a LOT of stuff in the past 6 months and I haven't been disappointed with ANYTHING I've gotten.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Sunny129

Originally posted by: nick1985
go straight for the buffalo 3700

buying PC3700 memory for an AMD 2500+ system is a waste of money. these AMD systems will never use all that memory bandwidth, which is why no AMD users need memory faster than PC3200.

except its really damn cheap and you will be able to match any FSB you want to run with 2-2-2-5 timings and never worry. plus, it can be used for future upgrades

 

[high]

running my ocz 3200 performance at 11 3 2 2 @ 220mhz and can go higher

 

[Sunny129]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: Sunny129

Originally posted by: nick1985
go straight for the buffalo 3700

buying PC3700 memory for an AMD 2500+ system is a waste of money. these AMD systems will never use all that memory bandwidth, which is why no AMD users need memory faster than PC3200.

except its really damn cheap and you will be able to match any FSB you want to run with 2-2-2-5 timings and never worry. plus, it can be used for future upgrades

your buffalo PC3700 must have the winbond BH5 chips on them. those are hard to come by these days. buffalo has been producing PC3700 w/ micron chips lately, and i'm not so sure you'll be able to squeeze the same timings out of the new sticks.

Originally posted by: WT
Sunny, I am always thinking ahead to the next upgrade, and buying ONLY 2 256 sticks means my next move to 1024 (which will, sooner than we all think, look like a necessary upgrade) would mean the 256 sticks are wasted. My reading up on dual channel shows about a 5% boost to system performance. So any 2 stick kits seem to be not a productive upgrade, at least for my setup.

well in that case, a single stick of everything i mentioned (some of which you already discovered at newegg) will save you a few bucks, as you are already aware of.

Originally posted by: edmundoab
well there are some people who get PC 3500
coz they can push higher than 200 FSB

i should have asked if WT was going to OC in the first place. and you're right, if someone is going to OC w/ a low multiplier and a high fsb, PC3500 would come in handy. i suppose even PC3700 would be a good idea if you can get your fsb up to around 233mhz.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: Sunny129

Originally posted by: nick1985
go straight for the buffalo 3700

buying PC3700 memory for an AMD 2500+ system is a waste of money. these AMD systems will never use all that memory bandwidth, which is why no AMD users need memory faster than PC3200.

except its really damn cheap and you will be able to match any FSB you want to run with 2-2-2-5 timings and never worry. plus, it can be used for future upgrades

i tried buffalo pc3700, wouldnt boot @ cas 2 on any settings

buffalo pc3200 on the other hand ran 6-2-2-2 @ 200 mhz like a dream