Help with 2x1GB RAM Choice!!!!

[DJSfurry]

Hi Guys, Ive been doing a lot of research on the 2x1GB sticks of RAM lately and had originally planned to get the OCZ PC4000 Platinum EB 3-3-2-8 RAM but thats got supply issues.... then when cruising through the Xtremesystems forums i noticed that the Crucial Ballistix Z503 RAM was performing really well, better than the OCZ EB stuff... then, further research into this at DFI street saw that the RAM was having premature deaths and many people having RMA'd the things 3 times over.

So, doing more research i heard about the new G.Skill sticks, the HZ (3-4-4-8 @ DDR500) and the ZX (2.5-3-2-8 @ DDR400) and i think these two would be the best value for money while providing pretty high end performance, and AFAIK the HZ clocks higher but on those loose timings whereas the ZX are more of hit or miss, but can offer the potential to go really high if theyre good. Opinions about this RAM would be greatly appreciated, along with any pointers.

The current situation is this, im in australia now, where computer stuff is far more expensive than Hong Kong (my home) but they have a range of stuff here that is available in the American markets, but not in Hong Kong. Anyhow Ill be stopping in Singapore for a couple of days, and it looks like they have Gskill, OCZ and Crucial, albeit being somewhat hard to find, but at cheaper prices.

Cliffs:
Looking for 2x1gb sticks
Narrowed down to G.Skill HZ and ZX
Open to new suggestions if there is anything better

PS could anyone find me the post by zebo about memory latency vs bandwidth, i tried but cant find it.

 

[TecHNooB]

I'm wondering the same thing you are. I've been thinking about getting G.Skill since it's $199 without rebate. I've heard good things about Mushkin Redline, but haven't seem them on newegg. I think the name has been changed to extreme performance? Btw, can someone explain to me what PC3200 PC4000 etc is.

 

[potato28]

Mushkin Redline is very rare, and needs to be bought directly from Mushkin in most cases. PC3200, PC4000 is the speed of the memory. PC3200= DDR400, and PC4000=DDR500. G.Skill is a good company, and most people have very good experiences with the RAM. I'd buy it at that price...

 

[DJSfurry]

Take the PC number and divide it by 8 to get the DDR number it will run at.. ie pc4800/8 = ddr600 which means the RAM can run at a FSB of 300mhz, at stock. Im not able to get mushkin i dont think, in singapore, hk OR australia.. i think im gonna stick with my idea of G.Skill though.. maybe lean towards the HZ's... i heard they can do 3-3-3-8.. but not sure whether it was at 250mhz... waiting for confirmation on that coz if it does, it would swing me in favour of it

 

[Elfear]

I just traded my Patriot LLK 1x2GB sticks for some HZ modules and they have tested pretty high. Did you go through all the recent 2GB threads over at Xtreme? Almost all the ones I read agreed that the Ballistix Z503 was the best but, like you found, they have a tendency to die. Most agreed that the 2nd best choice were the HZ sticks.

If you're topped out at 2.75GHz you might be able to run 1:1 with th HZ sticks if you get a decent pair. I bought two pair from Newegg this last week and withou much tweaking at all, one pair tops out at ~270MHz and the other at ~275MHz. I'll have to do some more testing to see where they top out at with 2.5-3-3-6 timings.

 

[DJSfurry]

Hmm what timings did you get the HZ running at. XS was down yesterday so i didnt spend as much time there as i wouldve liked. Ive had my processor boot into windows at 2.95 i think. but stability wasnt too good. i had a divider on the ram too, keeping it below 200mhz, and im hoping because of that, it was unstable.. I just got the opteron a couple days before i came down here to aus, so i plan to do more extensive overclocking when i get back to get the absolute max i can.

in your sig you have a modded ultra D. i guess you mean that you did the chipset mod.. what kind of material or whatever did u do to join the soldered connectors?? and do you think it will be more stable if I were to mod my mobo, also what voltages do you run on LDT and chipset?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: potato28
Mushkin Redline is very rare, and needs to be bought directly from Mushkin in most cases. PC3200, PC4000 is the speed of the memory. PC3200= DDR400, and PC4000=DDR500. G.Skill is a good company, and most people have very good experiences with the RAM. I'd buy it at that price...

What are you talking about? I bought my Redlines from Newegg last week.

OP - The 2gb Mushkin XP4000 Redline use the same chips as the OCZ 3-3-2-8 kit, Infineon CE-6. I replaced my Crucial Ballistix w/ the Redlines the Ballistix would die after only a few months. I'm on my second RMA for them. The Ballistiz are probably the best all around 2gb out there but there's currently a bad batch out there.

The GSkill HZ are probably your best bang for the buck right now.

 

[DJSfurry]

Hmm yeah thats what im leaning to. dont wanna spend too much with DDR2 around the corner with M2.. ill be keeping this rig into probably mid 2007.. the thing is on XS forums, you hear about the cheaper ZX RAM thats using the Infineon CE-6 chips which occasionally can do 3-3-2-5 @ 275mhz where as this one is guaranteed to run at 275 albeit with the laxed timings.. just not sure whether to play it safe or run the risk of getting the ZXs. im leaning towards the guaranteed HZs though.