General Memory Questions

[foodfightr]

I'm building a PC with my buddy and we ordered a 512mb stick of PC3200 ram from kingston. When it arrived, it was the "HyperX" model. LINK It came in a really attractive looking blue outer shell. I'm wondering what sets this memory appart from the standard 512mb kingston memory. In general, what should I compare when shopping for memory or is all memory created equal?

Thanks

 

[Frew]

Costs more.

 

[jpeyton]

Memory is not created equal.

First, look at the official rating. You're guaranteed to run the memory at the official speed at minimum. PC2700/DDR333 might or might not run at PC3200/DDR400 speeds, so make sure you get the RAM to match your system.

Second, what makes a stick of Kingston HyperX PC3200 different from say, a stick of Corsair Value PC3200? The memory timings, and more importantly, the overclockability.

Corsair Value PC3200 will run at a memory timing of CAS2.5 at stock speed, and in my experience has a max overclock of DDR440 (sometimes less).

However, Kingston HyperX PC3200 can run at CAS2 at stock speed, and many have overclocked it to DDR500 speeds and beyond.

So in conclusion, if you overclock your FSB, it matters. If you don't, it doesn't matter.

 

[Sapiens]

Typically memory costs more if a) there's more RAM on the stick (2x512 tends to be cheaper than 1x1024) or b) the CAS latency of the RAM is lower or c) the RAM is a higher speed. The Kingston HyperX RAM that you got probably has a lower CAS latency than most of what they sell, so it got fancy packaging and a new name.