Motherboard / Memory combo help.

[Zenoth]

Hi.

I will upgrade my current system soon, and right now I'm still not sure if I'd have to change my current Memory or just keep it until maybe later this year or next year, on my next system.

My current system is:

Pentium IV 2.6C
ASUS P4P800
Kingston KVR PC-3200 No-Ecc X64 C3A
ATi 9800 Pro

I will stay with the AGP technology for at least this entire year, until maybe sometime around Q1 2006. So I decided to go with, of course, an AGP-based Motherboard for GPUs.

Next system will be:

AMD 64 3500+ 90nm
ASUS A8V Deluxe

It'll be my first ever AMD CPU, mind you. But I read a good number of articles about those.

If I'm not mistaken, right now only 400 Mhz (maximum) can be used on AMD Socket 939 CPU-based systems, right ? So, buying PC-3500 (and plus) Memory would be useless, since the Memory frequency would be reset at 400 Mhz, am I right ?

Anyways...

On the ASUS web-site, on the descriptions page of the ASUS A8V Deluxe Motherboard, the Qualified Vendors List (QVL) DDR 400 memory modules table shows my current Memory model and vendor.

So, right now, I know my current Memory has been tested and is compatible with that Motherboard I'm planning to get. Which is superb.

But...

I'm looking for the "best" quality DDR (Or even DDR2 who knows) Memory I could currently get for that next system I'm planning to build. I heard Corsair is a good brand, and good Memory models would be "Value Select" and / or "Winbond", from them. I'm not sure if I'm going to over-clock any of my next system's parts, but I know my current Memory runs at 2.5-2-2-5 without problems and superb stability.

So perhaps keep in mind I might consider over-clock one day, either the CPU or the Memory or, of course, both.

I'm going to buy and apply some Artic Silver 5 Thermal Paste, too, which I think will of course help to maintain a constant temperature, so if I over-clock, that might help.

So, I ask, what would be the "best", or a guaranteed good and efficient Memory for my next system ? Of course considering the Motherboard involved here.

Should I keep my current Memory ? Or get a new one ?

Thanks for your time and help !

 

[SunSamurai]

buying 3500 ram is not useless for any "limit" becuase there is none. its more due to the fact memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck like it is in P4 systems. The memory stuff is don on chip, so 3200 value ram is best. $140 for a gig

 

[otispunkmeyer]

well 400mhz is the effective speed, the real speed is of course 200Mhz (the DDR effect makes it effectively like 400Mhz) at the moment on any platform the higest supported FSB speed is 200Mhz, now im not saying ti cant go higher im saying the manufactures dont support a speed above 200Mhz or PC3200. this is no JDEC specification for anything faster, but of course it does exist

for Athlon 64, its important to note that it really isnt fussy about timings or memory bandwidht as such, so good quality value ram will serve you well, if u have a gig of ram currently then why not save your money and just use your current ram? im sure that kingston stuff will allow you to overclock too. unless your keeping the second system to run as a 2nd computer

no A64 system currently supports DDR2 yet i dont think,

i really dont think you need AS5, ive found it doesnt do much, i just got a zalman CPU cooler and used the goop that came with it and temps are lovely n low. also the TIM that comes on the AMD stock HSF is very good quality stuff. people have gotten impressive oc's on the stock cooling.

keep the ram you have now, its got much better timings than value ram (not that it matters) and i see no point in buying more ram, that is unless you are wanting to use the old rig after you build your new one

what might be an idea though is to buy the value ram anyway, put your kingston stuff in your A64 rig and put the value ram in your P4 rig and keep it a second system. or sell it.

corsair, kinston, geil, ocz, crucial are all good makes to look out for

 

[gobucks]

if you plan to overclock, then getting fast ram, i.e. DDR500 or something, can help a lot. Otherwise, you'll have to run a divider, like i did. If you're looking for a good value, then the Corsair Value Select is the best way to go. the latencies are decent (2.5-3-3-8) and it's guaranteed compatible with any major brand motherboard. Performance is pretty good, and there's even a little bit of overclocking potential, although i wouldn't hold too much hope of getting past DDR433, i.e. PC3500, speeds.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

oh i forgot to mention, make sure you run 1T command rate on a A64 system, it gave me a nice dolop of extra bandwidth, i know A64 isnt that sensitive to bandwidth but ive noticed a few things being more smoothe, HL2 being one of them

gobucks kinda condensed what i said, he is 100% right though

 

[Zenoth]

Thanks guys

I really appreciate this place. Serious people, serious suggestions. Best place I've been to ask for help so far.

I will keep my current Memory, finally. Decision is taken Thanks to you guys again.