Intel D865PERLK & D875PBZLK Memory Questions

[RalfHutter]

I'm going to get one of these Intel boards and am going to run One Gigabyte of RAM on it. I want to run this RAM 100% stable at DDR400, dual channel and the best possible timings. Are there RAM issues with these boards?

I'm looking at 2 x 512MB of the Kingston PC3500 HyperX, Corsair XMS3200LL, or the Buffalo PC3700/Winbond stuff. Only the Buffalo RAM has been tested and certified for the Intel boards.

Does anyone have any experience running 1GB of DC-DDR400 at fast timings on either of these Intel boards?

The Buffalo is about 2/3 the cost of the Corsair and Kingston but I'd gladly pay the higher price if I have a better chance of running DDR400 at CAS2. Money isn't too much of a problem.

Any help or links would be appreciated.

 

[RalfHutter]

Bump.

Please help, I gotta buy RAM today and spent most of the day yesterday trying to get a handle on this. If anything I'm more confused now than I was 24hrs ago when I first posted this.....

 

[RalfHutter]

No one has any ideas for good RAM to run in dual channel mode at DDR400 on these Intel boards?

 

[PLaYaHaTeD]

I just got my perlk and my Kingston HyperX 3200 will be here tommorow morning (2x512). I'll tell you how things go when everything is up and running. Oh, i purchased the hyperx 3200 revA with 2-3-2-6 timings because it was way cheaper than the 2-2-2-6 stuff. Plus, i heard that 865 boards dont care much about memory timings, especially compared to the nForce 2 boards for athlons. This was a big factor in going with the cheaper stuff.

 

[RalfHutter]

Well, I broke down yesterday and ordered a Dual Pack (2x512) of the Mushkin Level 1 PC3200, pretty much for the same reasons you did. I went with Mushkin because I've had good luck with it in the past and I couldn't find any posts saying anything bad about thier 3200/3500 and 865/875 boards. We'll see how it works.

 

[Shide1]

I have this board. You will have no trouble running any of the above at cas2. However, you may have some problems running them at 2-2-2-5 or even 2-2-2-6. I could not get corsair twin x mxs platinum to run at the tightest timings of 2-2-2-5/6, only 2-3-3-6. Look at this link. It is from mushkin, but is indicative of results with any brand probably.

<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.storefront/3f309e6c0d4d4396273fc0a801050657/Product/View/990891#inteld865perl
">mushkin mainboard qualification page</a>

 

[RalfHutter]

I actually eneded up with Mushkin Level II RAM on my board. I could not get the level I stuff to run any faster than 3-4-4-8 without getting Memtest86 errors. I exchanged it for Level II and have been running at 2-3-3-6, 100% stable for the last month.

Big props to Mushkin too. They sent my replacement RAM via FedEx Overnight at no charge so I had my replacement RAM the next morning. That's the best RMA service I've ever had.

 

[Kmogg]

Is the level 2 Mushkin the blue or the black line? I see they have the level one and level two distinction within both lines. THe black level 2 is $199 for 512 on their site. They just had the Bue 512 for sale at $109 the other day ( now its back to $129!). Do you feel the performance improvement is that significant?

Kevin

 

[karmasalad]

Originally posted by: Kmogg
Is the level 2 Mushkin the blue or the black line? I see they have the level one and level two distinction within both lines. THe black level 2 is $199 for 512 on their site. They just had the Bue 512 for sale at $109 the other day ( now its back to $129!). Do you feel the performance improvement is that significant?

Mushkin's high-performance modules are the black line. That's the stuff you want if you want to overclock or push your system harder. The Blue line is their mid-range level of RAM with slower timings.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: Kmogg
Is the level 2 Mushkin the blue or the black line? I see they have the level one and level two distinction within both lines. THe black level 2 is $199 for 512 on their site. They just had the Bue 512 for sale at $109 the other day ( now its back to $129!). Do you feel the performance improvement is that significant?

Kevin

The Level II Mushkin is the Black stuff. It's the best RAM Mushkin makes. It's made with the Winbond BH-5 chips. I never even considered the Blue line of Mushkin RAM. I started (unsuccessfully) with the Level I Black (CH-5 chips) which wouldn't run at default speed on my board without Memtest86 errors. I traded up to Level II and it runs fine.

The blue may run fine on another board. RAM on 865/875 boards seems to be a crapshoot. What works great on one board may be flakey on another, even from board to board of the exact same model.