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Need Recommendation On RAM Choice

P

Playmaker

Golden Member
I am ordering parts for a new rig and they include an Abit IS7-E, P4 2.4C Retail, and AS Ceramique. I hope to run the P4 2.4C at 3.0ghz with the Retail HSF and the Ceramique with the 5:4 divider and 250FSB. If I get the system stable like that I will be satisfied as that is already overkill for what I'll be doing for at least 6 months.

What I need is a recommendation on RAM that will run at PC3200 with fast timings on this setup. I would like to spend ~$200. I feel I have 2 options in this regard. Best Buy has a 256MB stick of Kingston HyperX PC3500 on sale for $50 after MIR. I would buy 4 sticks, which would mean I would have to hassle to get all the rebates because they are 1 per customer. My other option seems to be 4x256MB or 2x512MB (not sure which route to go here after reading the latest article on RAM at AnandTech) of GeIL Golden Dragon PC3200. It should run fine on this board at 250FSB with the 5:4 divider correct? A review I read showed that the Kingston was a bit faster at low latency, but if the difference is negligable I'd rather avoid the rebate hassle. What do you all think? If there are any options I'm overlooking please let me know.
 
let me restate that.

Well-rated PC3200 1GB for under $200 is hard to find 😛

the corsair stuff looks like it might work, no guarantees on timing though.
 
The only problem is I've seen performance differences between the GeIL and Kingston/Corsair/Mushkin in reviews. Maybe because they make their own chips while the other 3 companies use Winbond?

BTW JustAnAverageGuy, that GeIL is 2x512MB (1gig) PC3200 rated 2-6-3-3-1T IIRC for $199...
 
I decided to go with the GeIL. All I want is to run 250FSB with 5:4 divider and the GeIL is rated to do that with better timings then the Kingston, even though the Kingston could probably OC higher. $199 is a good deal IMO considering memory prices for 1gig PC3200 with those kind of timings lately.
 
Post an update once you have it installed -- it should work fine since you're not OCing the DDR (just the P4) but you never know.
 
Will do. I was hoping they'd ship it out today, but looks like I got it in too late. I've seen REALLY good things about GeIL and REALLY bad things. Hopefully I'll get lucky and get some good sticks. If not it's not a problem to RMA back to Newegg because I'm already saving $20 compared to the Best Buy deal after the rebate hassle and $40-$50 compared to any other brand. Not saying I wouldn't take Mushkin Black if I could, but hopefully this ends up being a good value.
 
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