newbish memory questions

[EBH]

Why all the different ddr2 speeds?

Most mobo's I look at are ddr2 800 standard so.

Why choose a slower speed of ddr2?

What is the difference between ddr2 400 and ddr2 800.

What makes memory overclockable? volts, latency, speed?

Now that memory has gotten price hike, what would be a bang for the buck example?

Do you get a slower speed and overclock it, or get a higher speed and undervolt it?

If one spends 300$ on 2 gigs or ram what should they look for? volts, latency, speed?

 

[Bobthelost]

Why choose a slower speed of ddr2?
Complicated, short version is that the optimal speed for RAM is 533 (for core 2 duos) as the CPU and RAM talk directly to each other at the same time (this is due to the FSB speed, 266 for C2D which equates to 533mhz DDR2 as it's Double Data Rate 2). If you use faster RAM then you can send more data but it costs more and it doesn't improve performance much. (Think a half empty 4 lane highway, adding on another 3 lanes isn't going to speed it up much is it?)

What is the difference between ddr2 400 and ddr2 800.
800 operates twice as fast as 400. You have twice as many bits of data transmitted in the same time interval with 800 as 400, this is good.

What makes memory overclockable? volts, latency, speed?
All of the above. Increasing the voltage means the RAM operates faster, which means you can increase the speed. Relaxing the latencies means you can increase the speed a bit more (think as latency as turnaround time for a F1 car, even if it's really fast in the straights it wants to be as quick in the pits as possible). Faster RAM (ie 800 or 1000) is rated to operate faster. Why this is good is more complicated but relates to the way you OC your CPU.

Now that memory has gotten price hike, what would be a bang for the buck example?
Depends, not overclocking = 533 value. Overclocking = 800 Value.

Do you get a slower speed and overclock it, or get a higher speed and undervolt it?
Depends what you want to do, almost no one undervolts RAM, the only reason to do that would be to reduce power, when you're doing that to your RAM you care too much.

If one spends 300$ on 2 gigs or ram what should they look for? volts, latency, speed?
I wouldn't. I'd get the cheapest DDR2 800 mhz set you can find (assuming it works with your motherboard choice, check the mobo forum).

All this information and more has been posted before, have a look in the CPU forum for more info or google it, there's a lot out there.

 

[EBH]

awsome thank ye