Memory?!?

[sammyunltd]

I need some help. I will buy a gaming rig, but I'll not overclock, or if I do, it will be very minimal. That means that I'll buy 512 MB (not Dual Channel) of DDR PC3200. Now, I've planned to buy Kingston Value RAM, for $102.82 CAD (Canadian Dollars), but I've found this today:

Samsung 512MB PC-3200 400MHz (OEM) - $78.00
Samsung 512MB PC-3200 400MHz 16 Chips Double Sided(OEM) - $84.00

1- What's " 16 Chips Double Sided" ?
2- So, is Kingston's RAM worth the 20+ bucks?

I forgot: I have a question about Hard Drives. I'm planning to buy a Seagate SATA 160 GB. But I wondered if it is worthe the 20+ bucks (compared to Western Digital and Maxtor)?

Thanks!

 

[SrGuapo]

Don't know much about the RAM. I would probably just get the cheapest stuff I could find that I at least can recognize the brand.

About the HDD: Do you need a fast drive, or a quiet drive? Seagate makes quiet, reliable drives, but they tend to be a bit slower than the other brands.

 

[sammyunltd]

Huh? I saw some benchmarks, and the Seagate was actually way faster than the Maxtor one? Anyways.. I want something balanced... something that can be reliable, fast (not speedster but correct speed) and quiet but I don't care about a little bit of noise.

I'm confused. You said that Seagate's HDD were slow.. but benchmarks tend to prove the opposite:
http://www.thetechlounge.com/r..._160gb_sata&page=3

Is Samsung a good RAM brand?

 

[Baked]

The newer Seagate .7 and .8 are not as quiet as the previous version, so if you're gonna buy it for low noise, the $20 is not really worth it for the same amount of space.

Get the cheaper of the 2 Samsung RAM choices. Double sided means RAM chips are on both sides of the RAM stick, that's it. Kingston's not worth the $20. Yes, samsung is a very good brand.

Thetechlounge knows how to do benchmarks? heh. Go over to storageview.com and see what real HD benchmarks look like. Maxtor is the king of 7200 rpm HDs right now.

 

[LTC8K6]

There is no dual channel DDR memory. Dual channel is the way the chipset accesses the DDR memory. The memory is the same old DDR.

 

[sammyunltd]

I know... just wanna say that I'll not buy 512 MB (2X256).

As for the HD... yeah you're right... sounds like I'll get a Maxtor

I have other questions: Since I'll go with AMD, I chose the MSI K8N Neo 2 (w/ Athlon 3200+ S939). Is the onboard sound good? And, will I be able to overclock a bit with DDR PC3200?

 

[Baked]

Good mobo, if you're gonna OC, you'll need some faster RAM, PC3500+. Get a Chaintech AV-710, it'll spank the onboard realtek sound.