help re: comparison of ram performance

[crumply]

buying a new computer. trying to decide if i should save the $70 and buy value ram.

anybody know of links comparing the effects on performance of otherwise equivalent systems, the only variable being the ram? i figured there would be tons of reviews, but i cant find any.

i've never tried overclocking. may or may not do it in the future.

 

[mwmorph]

the memory matrix is stickied. if you oc with amd64, buy value and set dividers to keep stock speed and buy value ram. any other chip, by real brand for oc or if you dont oc, buy value ram.

 

[mwmorph]

whoops double post

 

[crumply]

thanks morph.

i read the thread, but the specifics exceded my understanding.

what i was looking for is something simple, e.g., on an A64 3200, running stock, how many frames per sec on Half Life 2 at various settings am i goiing to lose running value as opposed to premium ram.

 

[mwmorph]

almost none. unless you overclock, value ram is just about as good a prenium ram. espically if they run at the same timings(which can be done with a bit of tweaking of the bios or just buying the right ram) 2-2-2-10 is fastest. generally lower first 3 numbers and higher last number.

between value and premium, id say you lose anywere from 0-2% performance depending on application.
that $70 is better spent on a better video card or cpu.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

You say "buying a new computer". Does that mean you're buying new parts to build a new computer? I assume it does, since you're fishing for RAM modules.

I didn't consider over-clocking until around October, 2003. At that point, I was building a X-mas gift for my sister-in-law, financed by my bro'. For her system, I didn't want the cheapest RAM, nor the most expensive, and I settled on a Corsair 1 GB kit that was supposed to be reliable at DDR400 with latencies of 2, 3, 3, 6, although it booted from the SPD settings as PC2700. There was a problem with it, and Corsair turned around a replacement pair in a matter of three days.

Then I started planning my "MOJO". I might have got a pair of value-rams, or some Kingstons, but THG had posted this article on OCZ DDR500 modules and it matched my other choice of hardware. Maybe I could've run this system with the OCZ DDR400 Platinum revision 2's people speak of here, but I'm very happy with these EL Gold modules. This was where I intended to spend some money strategically, anyway.

If you're not too sure about future over-clocking, follow the advice of earlier posts. You may be able to get some great over-clock settings with moderately priced modules, and I would still suggest you find some with low latency SPD defaults. Barring the uncertainties of getting stable 1:1 results at higher FSB settings, at least the low-latency DDR400's will get you better performance. These days, you should be able to find some Mushkin DDR400 or DDR433's that will run at 2, 2, 2, 5.