Is the memory speed more important or latency?

[DaveCSparty]

Should I opt for higher speed memory such as PC4000 cl3 or will PC3200 cl 2? And will the current mobos utilize the PC4000's fully? Thanks in advance.

All the new memory is confusing me. It used to be you use PC133 and that's it. Get the lower CAS.

 

[aggie113]

unless i'm mistaken there is no offical pc4000 memory yet so what you are getting isn't officially supported. that's not to say it isn't that fast or anything. memory isn't that expensive so i wouldn't mind getting the pc3200 with the lower latency now. if future proof memory is what you need then maybe the pc4000 is for you.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: aggie113
unless i'm mistaken there is no offical pc4000 memory yet so what you are getting isn't officially supported. that's not to say it isn't that fast or anything. memory isn't that expensive so i wouldn't mind getting the pc3200 with the lower latency now. if future proof memory is what you need then maybe the pc4000 is for you.

Corsair and Kingston both have released pc4000

as for the latency issue, check out the article on the find page

 

[aggie113]

wow, he can quote but can't read. the pc4000 standard isn't a standard yet. there is no official pc4000 standard, the memory that is being sold is fine i'm sure, but it isn't gonna work in as many motherboards as a pc3200 stick will because the pc3200 is a standard that the mobo makers can test.

 

[prvteye2003]

Originally posted by: aggie113
unless i'm mistaken there is no offical pc4000 memory yet so what you are getting isn't officially supported. that's not to say it isn't that fast or anything. memory isn't that expensive so i wouldn't mind getting the pc3200 with the lower latency now. if future proof memory is what you need then maybe the pc4000 is for you.

Shady06 can read just fine...that is exactly what you wrote; maybe not what you meant but that's how it is written. pc4000 will run in a mobo that supports pc3200 it just won't run at pc4000 speeds. I think that is what aggie113 is trying to say. Correct me please if I am wrong.

 

[prvteye2003]

Originally posted by: aggie113
wow, he can quote but can't read. the pc4000 standard isn't a standard yet. there is no official pc4000 standard, the memory that is being sold is fine i'm sure, but it isn't gonna work in as many motherboards as a pc3200 stick will because the pc3200 is a standard that the mobo makers can test.

I believe this to be wrong. The pc4000 will run in any mobo that will run pc3200, just not at pc4000 speeds. Just like pc133 sticks would work in a pc100 mobo, only run at pc100 speeds. Backward compatablity I believe is what it's called.

 

[Soulkeeper]

i just picked up a gig of mushkin black hi perf level II pc3500 the other day
it has the tightest timings of any other ddr i could find
you pay for it tho

but i'm hoping it is worth it i can't wait

P4 systems where people run high front side buses while overclocking might not worry about latencies but are more interested in raw bandwidth

 

[BurnItDwn]

its not one or the other, BOTH are important. However sometimes what its oficially rated for, and what its really capable of, are two completely different things (for better or for worse) ie ... I have a 512mb PC2700 Cas 3 stick (so it should be running 333) of Samsung in my main gaming rig, and its currently running at 406mhz cas 2.5 ... and its quite stable. On the other hand I also have a 256mb stick ot "OCZ systems PC3000" ram in another box (bought it a long time ago, when the kt333 chipset came out) , and it can't even run at 333 Cas 2 stable (I think its just a remarked generic PC2100 stick with a heatsynch on it).

If you go with PC4000 CL3 it "should" run at PC3200 speed with CL2. If you get PC3200 CL2, you could probably get away with bumying up the Cas Latency in the bios and pumping up the clockspeed a bit.

 

[Lonyo]

If you get a stick of PC4000 rated CAS 3 it will probably run at PC3200 speeds CAS 2 or 2.5.
The PC3200 may run at PC4000 at CAS3.

Usually PC4000 type memory (PC3700/4000 etc) is overclocked PC3200 RAM, hence why it has slower timings, because as you up the speed of the memory, often you have to relax the timings.
The PC4000 is able to run at that speed with most probably 2.5v or 2.65v, whereas PC3200 will need probably more voltage (2.8v possibly) to run closer to PC4000 speeds if overclocked.

They are probably similar speed RAM, I expect both might run at PC3500 speeds with CAS 2.5.

If you want to overclock, I would get the PC4000 memory, as it is "certified" to run at 500MHz, and that way if it doesn't you can return it. If you do not wish to overclock that much, and maybe have your FSB set lower, you could lower the timings and run it at say PC3500 speeds with CAS2.5.
If there is a big price difference between the 2, get the cheapest of them.