RAM Choices

[dr0be]

I'm looking between some different RAM and they looks to be almost identical except for voltage and timings, which im not familiar with. My first choice was GSKill DDR2800 but looked around at others.

2 others I looked at were Patriot Extreme DDR2 800 and Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800.

How come the 4-4-4-12 timings are most expensive than the 4-4-3-5 timings? Isnt it the lower the numbers the better? Or is it the fact that the GSkill doesnt have a recommendation for high performance or gaming.

Also this OCZ DDR2 800 is more than the Patriot Extreme when its timings are 4-4-4-15 1T, not sure what 1T is. But between these 4 choices what would you suggest for high performance gaming (i.e. HL2, Crysis, Supreme Commander, etc)

 

[Quiksilver]

OCZ would be out of the question mainly because of poor customer service and based on others experiences (although mine have been superb).
G.Skill has issues with a few extra picky motherboards and I think someone on here recently had their G.Skill RAM fail on them so I wouldn't go with them even if your motherboard isn't picky about ram.

Leaving two choices, Crucial and Patriot.
I'd go with crucial as the chips are always made by micron which OC better than anything else out there.

You might want to look at these too...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820148144

I got 4 GB's of that RAM sitting in a box waiting for my next build, the rebate isn't as much but it costs less upfront. Choice is yours.

 

[dr0be]

What about timings? What should I aim for? I know CAS latency should be low as it can go within my price budget (which seems to be 4) but what about precharge delay (tras) and the other 2 numbers?

If i search by Patriot and Crucial, <4 CAS, 240pin, ddr2 800, and high performance, I get 3 choices. I pulled them up in a compare chart and they all have the same exact specs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...6565%2CN82E16820148144

Theres the compare chart. Which would you suggest? I dont need SLI because my mobo only have 1 PCIex16 so its basically comes down to to which has better reviews or what?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: dr0be
If i search by Patriot and Crucial, <4 CAS, 240pin, ddr2 800, and high performance, I get 3 choices. I pulled them up in a compare chart and they all have the same exact specs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...6565%2CN82E16820148144

That's because they all use the same IC's, and will all perform identically. Buy whichever pair you want.