Need cheap RAM recommendations

[Alex C]

I was going to order this Mushkin kit, but it sold out. Now I'm looking at this Corsair XMS2 kit, and this OCZ SLI-Ready kit.

They both got good reviews at new egg, but it seems like the SLI kit has a few issues on non-SLI systems, anybody have any experience with that? I'd like to do a little bit over overclocking, and since these two are both the cheapest things I could find, I'm doubting they'd be good for it. I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone who has used either of these kits, or any suggestions for a good sub $100 4GB RAM kit. Thanks.

 

[DSF]

What kind of overclocking are you talking about doing? What CPU and motherboard, and how far are you trying to take things?

 

[Alex C]

I'll be using a E8500 and a Gigabyte EP35-DS3L, I've never overclocked before so I'm not sure how far I'll try to go. I don't want to push it too far and break something, so I'd probably aim for around 3.5GHz at first and try for more later if I feel the need. Is that a reasonable expectation with that combo? Most people seem to be hitting 4.0GHz with that CPU, so I should be able to get to 3.5, right? Would either of the linked RAM hold me back? Thanks.

 

[DSF]

Any DDR2-800 gives you the potential to take an E8500 up to 3.8GHz without holding you back.

 

[Alex C]

Okay, thanks. I think I'll go with the Corsair kit then.

 

[Yellowbeard]

I have not actually heard of an SLI ready kit causing issues on non-Nvidia chipsets. The BIOS should simply ignore that information as it is in a normally unused section of the SPD. If you have any issues, let me know.

 

[z1ggy]

With your board all you have to do is go into the advanced settings and change the fsb from what ever it is..and just raise it up in steps. I dont know what the multiplier is but lets say its 8. Then the fsb will be 395. So first, raise it to 415 and then reboot and see how it goes. That should be fine.. prob. no need to run orthos. Now raise it to 430 and reboot. Maybe it will boot up fine.. but run orthos overnight..see if you get any errors. During this OC, you might need to raise Vram by .1v (over volt by .1) and possibly raise the Vcore by a little bit. Do NOT let the BIOS control any of the voltages. Take everything off auto, but you may need to fool around with the ram linker (mine is on 1:2). Just fiddle around and keep raising the fsb little by litting, but with an 8x multi. raising the fsb to 437 will get you 3.5Ghz.