Is the Buffalo ram any GOOD

wicktron

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2002
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It's decent. It uses the famous Winbond BH-5 chips, but their PCB quality and overall quality control are a bit questionable.
I've used/overclocked 4 different sticks of their PC3700, non of them ran over 210MHz at 2-2-2, whereas all other BH-5 I've used do this easily.
 
Apr 17, 2003
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it's one of the top brands IMO. neweggs i believe uses CH-5 now. both sticks i have had did 225 mhz @ cas 2.5

edit: 512 sticks of pc3200
 

Lyfer

Diamond Member
May 28, 2003
5,842
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If you plan to overclock this is you're best bet or Geil (which is a bigger gamble).


I would personally get some Hyper-X or Mushkin Rev II.
 

SuPrEIVIE

Platinum Member
Aug 21, 2003
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Originally posted by: Lyfer
If you plan to overclock this is you're best bet or Geil (which is a bigger gamble).


I would personally get some Hyper-X or Mushkin Rev II.

yea but i want 1G mem those mushkin mems will be 300+ and there only PC3500...and i haven't seen PC3700 from kingston hyperx and i would have to get 4 of them to get best performance out of those

 

SuPrEIVIE

Platinum Member
Aug 21, 2003
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Originally posted by: touchmyichi
I have some and its very nice


u mean those buffalo ram i am talking about? if it is do u have them in DC?

EDIT:eek:ops i see the mem u got!sorry!
 

SuPrEIVIE

Platinum Member
Aug 21, 2003
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Are the PC3700 bufalo ram at newegg use the BH-5 or CH-5 chips i want to oc can these do 5:4 w/tight timings?
 

touchmyichi

Golden Member
May 26, 2002
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Originally posted by: SuPrEIVIE
Originally posted by: touchmyichi
I have some and its very nice


u mean those buffalo ram i am talking about? if it is do u have them in DC?

EDIT:eek:ops i see the mem u got!sorry!

Yeah I have them in dc. I haven't been able to fully push them because my rev 1.0 a7n8x has been holding me back. But I am able to run 190 2-2-2-11 easily. I wish I could fully push them though. Definently worth 45 bucks a shot.
 

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
31,466
47,884
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Mushkin's good stuff, but it's hard to beat Corsair. I'm verrrrrrry happy with the PC3500 Platinum stuff I procured. I've heard the Hyper-X uses less voltage for what's it worth.
 

joe2004

Senior member
Oct 14, 2003
385
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I do not understand, Why don't they just manufacture BH-5 chips?
There is quite a lot of memory around with BH-5.
Buffalo 3700 is one of the best. Whenever somebody complains about not being able to squeeze the performance out of Buffalo I'd say 99% is because the person does not know how to set the proper timings/interface or the motherboard does not allow that. Mushkin Level 2 PC 3500 is not an iota better. I had 2 different pairs in the past and they both scored lower than my Buffalo or Kingston 3200 non-A version. There is no way anybody is going to convince me they are better than other BH-5 sticks. I am not "larva" from overclockers.com but I agree 100% with his opinion about Mushkin 3700.
The reviews are misleading because the reviewers get the best sticks directly from dealers, like Mushkin and Corsiar, and then these always turn out to be the "best".
The only other memory I got a higher bandwidth with than with BH-5, was Geil PC 4300 which is a monstruous memory by itself. I grant OCZ 4300 is probably the same quality but the prices are much more than Buffalo 3700.
 

Richdog

Golden Member
Feb 10, 2003
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Originally posted by: joe2004
I do not understand, Why don't they just manufacture BH-5 chips?
There is quite a lot of memory around with BH-5.
Buffalo 3700 is one of the best. Whenever somebody complains about not being able to squeeze the performance out of Buffalo I'd say 99% is because the person does not know how to set the proper timings/interface or the motherboard does not allow that. Mushkin Level 2 PC 3500 is not an iota better. I had 2 different pairs in the past and they both scored lower than my Buffalo or Kingston 3200 non-A version. There is no way anybody is going to convince me they are better than other BH-5 sticks. I am not "larva" from overclockers.com but I agree 100% with his opinion about Mushkin 3700.
The reviews are misleading because the reviewers get the best sticks directly from dealers, like Mushkin and Corsiar, and then these always turn out to be the "best".
The only other memory I got a higher bandwidth with than with BH-5, was Geil PC 4300 which is a monstruous memory by itself. I grant OCZ 4300 is probably the same quality but the prices are much more than Buffalo 3700.


I'm afraid I have to disagree on your Mushkin Lvl II theory. I've heard personal accounts from loads of people on Xtreme Forums and Extreme Overclocking Forums who have had their Mushkin sticks far surpass anything they've ever tried, all @ 6-2-2-2. Buffalo is known for using BH-5 chips i'll grant you that, but as someone said above, their PCB design, a factor often critical to overclocking stability and high frequencies is questionable, as they are more budget orientated than Mushkin, who can throw money at designing top-end RAM.

My pair of 256MB Mushkin PC3500 Lvl II's arrive Monday so i'll be able to see for myself how they perform. I'd be willing to wager I can get around 225-230Mhz FSB out of them before something like a Voltage Mod will be required.:beer:
 

boyRacer

Lifer
Oct 1, 2001
18,569
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its hit or miss... i got dud sticks... despite all the success stories here... just my luck i guess. :(
 

joe2004

Senior member
Oct 14, 2003
385
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their PCB design, a factor often critical to overclocking stability and high frequencies is questionable
And what is the evidence for that?
This, as "larva" on overclockers.com put it plainly, is only the mistique around many dollars people spend on Mushkin. Once again, I had two pairs of PC 3500 of Level 2 from Mushkin, black PCB, and I for one don't see anything that would make them better than Buffalo, or Kingston HyperX non-A 3200, or Kingston HyperX 3000, or Kingston Value Ram with BH-5, or Corsair LL 3200. They are all about the same, and my Buffalo beats my Mushkin. They are all BH-5 and they are all good so the differences are small, to be honest.
What makes you believe that some small US manufacturer (Mushkin) makes anything better than a small Japanese manufacturer (Buffalo)? I would actually think the opposite.
You'll get good customer service with Mushkin but since Buffalo comes from newegg and newegg has the best CS in business, that is completely irrelevant anyway.
 

joe2004

Senior member
Oct 14, 2003
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By the way, I forgot something. I am talking mostly from the "Intel view" of the things. BH-5 in general cannot run much more than 220 with tight timings. So your hope is a little on a high side. You can try 3.0+ V though I would be careful about that since the memory can burn if not cooled properly with that much voltage.
I think, again in case of Intel, the best to expect is about 220-223 on 2-3-2-6. 2-2-2-6 is more applicable on AMD boards.
 

bootoo

Senior member
Apr 13, 2002
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I have the buffalo 3200 - 2 sticks with ch-5 chips - and couldn't be happier. I don't know about the bh-5 chips but on another forum people really have to play with the vdimm a tad and then they perform VERY nicely. The ch-5 chips are locked at one vdimm (at least the ones I have, and I've read that from others) no matter what you set.

I think buffalo's a very nice value for the price but I'm talking about ch-5, and pc3200's great for me.
 

MDE

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
13,199
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Originally posted by: bootoo
I think buffalo's a very nice value for the price but I'm talking about ch-5, and pc3200's great for me.

Couldn't have said it any better myself. Have a 512 stick of Buffalo PC3200 and it's running @ 200MHz 5-3-3-2 rock solid. Great stuff for the money.