Quality vs. Quantity : 4 GB DDR2-667 vs. 2 GB DDR2-800

[ethugholla]

What to choose?

There's a nice deal for 4 GB of HP DDR2-667 RAM for less than 100 dollars. But there's also a nice deal for 2 GB of Patriot DDR2-800 RAM for less than 100 dollars.

I'm not sure which to choose.

Some notes:

I plan on gaming a lot. In fact, the rig is mostly used for gaming with a few Office apps.

The specs are:

Intel E4400 (which I want to overclock A LOT i.e. to about 3.0 ghz)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
Corsair HX520 PSU
nVidia 8800 GTX
CM Centurion 5
Samsung Spinpoint T 500 GB
etc.

 

[blackangst1]

It's funny you posted this I was about to post the same question lol. I currently have PC2 533 2BG and thinking of another 2BG, or go with 2GB of 800.

Abit AB9 Pro mobo
C2D e6600
GTS8800 640

Thanks for the replies!

 

[chizow]

As long as your RAM speed won't hold back your OC (if your mobo can run RAM and FSB independently) I'd probably go with 4GB of the slower RAM. Ideally you have a 64-bit OS ready to go also, but I think overall you're going to see a much bigger improvement going 4GB @ DDR2 667 vs. 2GB @ DDR2 800.

 

[skriefal]

If you want to push your FSB up to or beyond 400MHz, then get the Patriot 2GB DDR2-800. Otherwise get the 4GB DDR2-667. In most cases you're better off going with the larger amount of RAM, even if it's a bit slower. The exception is when overclocking or pursuing bragging rights via fast benchmark numbers.

 

[Acanthus]

if youre not OCing beyond 333fsb, 4GB hands down.

memory speed makes very little difference in anything but synthetic benchmarks.

 

[lopri]

Well it's kinda interesting that lots of folks assume CPU OC as something natural but become stringent when it comes to memory. There is no doubt that today's CPU has a lot more OC headroom in an enthusiast's system, memory sticks also have to have some safety net. And memory chips don't need to clock such high amount for 'overclocking'. DDR2-800 is running at nominal frequency of 400MHz only. DDR2-667 being 333MHz. We're talking about 67MHz overclocking.. tiny, isn't it? As a matter of fact, one could even consider most enthusiasts-oriented DDR2 sticks in the market as overclocked part. JEDEC's DDR2 standard is currently topping @DDR2-800/CL5/1.80V. If any of the 3 (frequency, timing, voltage) are rated higher, it's theoretically overclocked.

I would think you'll have a very good chance to hit DDR2-800 with DDR2-667 sticks.

 

[chizow]

Well ya, there may or may not be some headroom with RAM, but historically the OC'ability, stability, and reliability of RAM has been more of a crapshoot than anything else. If it weren't people wouldn't be peeling the heatsinks off their modules looking for IC part #s. When you're buying a CPU with an expectation to hit a certain clock speed, you'll want to minimize all other moving targets as too many variables will lead to more troubleshooting if you aren't hitting your expected clock speeds. Again, all of this is much less of an issue if you have a mobo that can run your FSB and RAM speeds independently.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: chizow
all of this is much less of an issue if you have a mobo that can run your FSB and RAM speeds independently.

What C2D mobos support running RAM at DDR2-667 and FSB at 400, so you could run a Q6600 at say 9x400 and not overclock the ram at all?

 

[blackangst1]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: chizow
all of this is much less of an issue if you have a mobo that can run your FSB and RAM speeds independently.

What C2D mobos support running RAM at DDR2-667 and FSB at 400, so you could run a Q6600 at say 9x400 and not overclock the ram at all?

Mine does: Abit AB9 Pro

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: lopri
Well it's kinda interesting that lots of folks assume CPU OC as something natural but become stringent when it comes to memory. There is no doubt that today's CPU has a lot more OC headroom in an enthusiast's system, memory sticks also have to have some safety net. And memory chips don't need to clock such high amount for 'overclocking'. DDR2-800 is running at nominal frequency of 400MHz only. DDR2-667 being 333MHz. We're talking about 67MHz overclocking.. tiny, isn't it? As a matter of fact, one could even consider most enthusiasts-oriented DDR2 sticks in the market as overclocked part. JEDEC's DDR2 standard is currently topping @DDR2-800/CL5/1.80V. If any of the 3 (frequency, timing, voltage) are rated higher, it's theoretically overclocked.

I would think you'll have a very good chance to hit DDR2-800 with DDR2-667 sticks.

A lot of 667 sticks will not do 800.

 

[postmortemIA]

I have 4GB, Vista loves it. Or 3.25GB that it can use. Pretty muc h that means that most of your apps are gonna load straight from RAM (after superfetch finishes loading data into RAM). Often my drives go to sleep mode because they are not used much after boot.

On XP it is different sotrry, really nothing allocates more than 2GB including OS.

With 64-bit apps this is gonna change.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

There are many conflicting opinions posted here, so here's my $0.02-worth.

Even the "hype-the-enthusiast" magazine Maximum PC in the most recent issue stated succinctly per their "Dream Machine '07" build -- that you probably won't be able to use the full potential of 4 GB -- not just yet.

I've been very judicious about picking memory and the amount of memory. My 2002-2003 system was "short" at 512 MB, and I had to replace the two modules with 2x512 = 1 GB.

Forward to 2004, and I started with 1 GB in a socket-478 system, only replacing it several months ago with a 2 GB kit. From the looks of it -- through Task Manager and benchmarks -- it is more than adequate.

So now -- 75% through to the end of my C2D system with a C2-Quad swap that will occur today or tomorrow -- 2 GB seems ample. But go figure -- if Maximum PC spins a lot of hype and limits their review comparisons to show their biggest advertisers on top, why would they choose 2 GB of PC2-10000 Corsair modules over 4 GB of same, when a 2005 Dream Machine with dual dual-core Opteron 175s was outfitted with 8 GB?

In the world of "Dress for Success," there was an old adage that I found to be golden wisdom: "A poor man cannot afford a cheap suit."

Put your money into bargain-priced high-quality memory, and don't buy more than you need -- or better -- more than you can use.

 

[lopri]

WAIT A MINUTE. 4GB of RAM for less than $100?!!! Where?

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Put your money into bargain-priced high-quality memory, and don't buy more than you need -- or better -- more than you can use.

But Vista will use as much as you feed it with.... Then again the OP hasn't mentioned the OS of his choice so.. where is the OP? I want to know where he bought 4GB for $100.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Originally posted by: lopri
I want to know where he bought 4GB for $100.

See this hot deals thread. After $160 in rebates, you can get 4GB (4x1GB) for less than $70.

So, here you have some very cheap DDR2-667 memory that probably won't do 800 easily, and you're wanting to match it up with a C2D/Q with a 9x or lower multi and overclock. The new chips look like they clock well on air, and 3.6ghz doesn't seem out of the question.

How do you get these sticks to 400mhz (for 9x * 400), or what mobo should you get in order to run memory at stock and only raise FSB? There doesn't appear to be many good mobos that all that as far as I can see.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: lopri
I want to know where he bought 4GB for $100.

See this hot deals thread. After $160 in rebates, you can get 4GB (4x1GB) for less than $70.

So, here you have some very cheap DDR2-667 memory that probably won't do 800 easily, and you're wanting to match it up with a C2D/Q with a 9x or lower multi and overclock. The new chips look like they clock well on air, and 3.6ghz doesn't seem out of the question.

How do you get these sticks to 400mhz (for 9x * 400), or what mobo should you get in order to run memory at stock and only raise FSB? There doesn't appear to be many good mobos that all that as far as I can see.

He has an E4400, the latest steppings of allendales dont like to do more than 350fsb without the "hit and miss" pin mod that changes the strap.

 

[deadseasquirrel]

I was actually asking for myself... plan on building a Q6600 and running 400*9x. I'm just doubtful that these sticks will do it.

 

[ethugholla]

I'm here, I'm here.

I see that the deal has been linked.

I plan on using 64-bit everything. I'm waiting for Vista to release SP1 (which could take... forever) and until then, I plan on using Ubuntu / XP dual boot. XP for my games, Ubuntu for everything else.

 

[Wigwam]

I was also mulling over this question: I am trying to decide between 4 Gb (2x2gb) Crucial PC5300, or OCZ CL 5-5-5 [at 2.1v] or OCZ CL 6-6-6 [factory set to 667MHz and hav to be manually set to 800MHz and vcore upped!] or Patriot Extreme Performance [but build quality seems not to be consistent].

It would seem there is visrtually no "wiggle room" with these PC6400 sticks [I don't know how well the Crucial stuff o/c]
It will go onto a new build initially with a P35 mobo and E6750.

What I was just thinking though was the latest cpus are 1333FSB [PC5300 speed] and it seems unlikely to me that I'll be pushing o/c beyond PC6400 speed [1600 FSB] and that there are not likely in the next nest year or so to be 1600cpus

In which case "wiggle room" should be irrelevant shouldn't it? If I buy PC6400 RAM and o/c my cpu then a reasonable o/c would still lie within the parameters of even the "non-overclockable" RAM I listed above??

I would appreciate some help!

 

[silentvois]

Go with the 4GB of HP DDR2-667 that's on sale. Those sticks use Micron D9HNL IC's which can overclock well to 450-480. It's pretty much guaranteed you'll hit 400 with decent timings on these.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: deadseasquirrel

Originally posted by: lopri
I want to know where he bought 4GB for $100.

See this hot deals thread. After $160 in rebates, you can get 4GB (4x1GB) for less than $70.

So, here you have some very cheap DDR2-667 memory that probably won't do 800 easily, and you're wanting to match it up with a C2D/Q with a 9x or lower multi and overclock. The new chips look like they clock well on air, and 3.6ghz doesn't seem out of the question.

How do you get these sticks to 400mhz (for 9x * 400), or what mobo should you get in order to run memory at stock and only raise FSB? There doesn't appear to be many good mobos that all that as far as I can see.

He has an E4400, the latest steppings of allendales dont like to do more than 350fsb without the "hit and miss" pin mod that changes the strap.

All my E4300s (L2 stepping) were able to hit 400MHz FSB with ease.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: silentvois
Go with the 4GB of HP DDR2-667 that's on sale. Those sticks use Micron D9HNL IC's which can overclock well to 450-480. It's pretty much guaranteed you'll hit 400 with decent timings on these.

My four would top out at 403MHz with 2.0V and 5-5-5-15-2T.

 

[Wigwam]

it's not available here in the UK...

 

[Wigwam]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal

Originally posted by: silentvois
Go with the 4GB of HP DDR2-667 that's on sale. Those sticks use Micron D9HNL IC's which can overclock well to 450-480. It's pretty much guaranteed you'll hit 400 with decent timings on these.

My four would top out at 403MHz with 2.0V and 5-5-5-15-2T.

in which case why not just get cheapo PC6400 RAM? [or is that still more expensive than this HP stuff?]

 

[silentvois]

Up a bit more volts into it, I've seen a lotta people get 440 and up with more volts.