Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Originally posted by: jck8r
What?
In theory lower timings are always better than higher timings for a computer system. As others have mentioned, the additional money spent for such 'luxury' is questionable as the amount of ram matters much more.
In other words
1) if you have no Ram right now and want to buy Ram from scratch, getting 1 Gig for $130-140 is better than 512mb of low latency ram
Why 1 gig of value ram over 512 of latency ram if you could only choose one or the other for the same price?
World of Warcraft Performance You simply wont get these types of gains with latency timings. Also watch the video on the right to see just how much smoother the game runs with more ram.
Doom 3 Memory Performance
2) if you are simply upgrading and adding more ram to your current setup, then the fastest ram will run at the speed and latency of the slowest memory stick in which case you better have 2-2-2-5 PC3200 if you are getting another stick of the same specs or better.
3) If you truly want a stick with 2-2-2-5 somewhat cheaper i'd get PDP Systems TCCD w/XBL for
$107 as it's extremely good. The first Corsair stick you've added uses the same TCCD chips. The 2nd corsair stick is old and not worth buying.
One thing to keep in mind, memory timings matter more for A64 than does memory bandwidth (except WinRAR) and memory bandwidth and timings matter together for P4. In both cases, the effect of timings is rather small however. (P4 and AXP enjoy additional bandwidth a lot more however).
The best overclocking sticks out now are Crucial Ballistix PC3200, OCZ Rev 2 PC3200 and Geil Ultra X. Otherwise any stick based on TCCD design is excellent.
Basically, this what you need to know:
1) if you are an enthusiast that cares for every 2% increase, it's worth spending money on 2-2-2-5 ram because 2% here and 2% there all add up (but then I doubt you'd be asking this question)
2) if you are a normal user who wants to get the best bang for the buck get 1 gig over 512 of any timings. More ram is better (assuming its not too slow like SDRAM) than less ram with tight timings
3) You can achieve a balance between 1 gig and 2-3-2-5 timings (which are extremely good) by getting PDP PC3200 1 gig which costs $185 (about $55 more than value ram). However, if you can commit the additional $55+ towards a faster cpu or videocard, then do so instead. The difference between 2-2-2-5 and say 3-4-4-8 timings assuming equal speed might be 5%. So you can extrapolate how small the difference will be between 2-2-2-5 and say 2-3-3-6.
*Note: Optimal latency for P4 is considered 2-2-2-5 and 2-2-2-10 for A64 and AXP on Nforce 2 platform.
The main advantage of overclocking ram is its ability to run at tight timings and increased bandwidth which together along with increased Front Side Bus (FSB) help to contribute towards a faster system. These 3 factors help increase the overall comptuer speed by a lot more than 5%. So at the same time it is misleading to say that overclockers ram is a waste of money. Many users forget that if you run ram at 280mhz (560 effective) from stock 200 and still maintain decent 2.5-3-3-7 timings, at 280FSB you are getting all of these benefits at the same time. Still each platform responds differently to these changes. If you are interested please read these:
2-2-2-5 vs. 2-2-3-6
Memory Speed vs. Timings on P4 (250FSB/250RAM 3-4-4-8 vs. 250FSB/200RAM 2-2-2-5)
Low Latency (TCCD) roundup on Intel
The TCCD-pire Strikes Back? Athlon 64 S754 Memory Roundup
Excellent FSB and Memory Bandwidth scaling for AXP and P4 CPUs
Poor FSB and Memory Bandwidth Scaling on A64
FSB, Memory timings, and Memory Speed Scaling on AXP and P4
Finally,
Anandtech's Memory Reviews - includes =F-A-S-T= DDR Memory: 2-2-2 Roars on the Scene and Athlon 64 Memory: Rewriting the Rules which might be useful for you.
Hope this helps you make the right choice.
